[Via Gizmodo; Explosm.net]
Category Archives: Images
Ottman plug-and-play
The Music Chocolate, designed by Michi Jjung, is an ottman that features a connection for an MP3 player and an integrated sound system, built-in speakers and all. Gizmodo puts it most approproately: it “massages your feet with beats.” There’s even a Chaiselong version for those who’d rather recline. Check it out in the gallery below.
Clock displays your energy usage; may promote it
The Energy Aware Clock shows you the time (obviously) and your energy use by way of cool visualziations on its front display. This concept device somehow wireless connects to your power meter and shows in real-time your energy consumption fluxuate with blue spikes. Although the idea itself is interesting and could work, I feel it may cause more energy consumption, at least initially, because who won’t want to show off the awesome blue visualizations, right?
The clock is created by Swedish designers Loove Broms, Karin Ehrnberger, and Sara Llstedt Hjelm and will be shown off at Design September Brussels 2009.
Lexus concept car accomodates your iPhone
The Lexus LF-Ch concept car sports headrest mounts for iPhones.
According to the press release:
“The LF-Ch has four sport seats that feature trim lighting along the cushion’s edge for cabin illumination. Rear passengers can enjoy headrest-mounted iPhone® docking capability for audio and video entertainment. In addition, the LF-Ch has storage in the rear seat armrests for small items such as iPods®, PDAs and cell phones.”
Very cool indeed.
Lady Gaga at the VMAs invokes nightmares
Sweet baby Jesus. I totally respect Lady Gaga’s fashion style and how she is trying to push the envelope when it comes to fashion sense. But I’m sorry–this is fashion non-sense. I thought her bloody performance of “Paparazzi” was good, and her outfit for that was fitting. However, each wardrobe change during the course of the show was horrifying. When she accepted her Moon Man award wearing that red dress and started talking with her face covered up I knew I would have nightmares that evening. Thankfully she removed the face mask and revealed herself halfway through her speech. Check out the gallery below for more of Gaga’s wardrobe malfunctions. The last dress in particular, the one that featured the white wreath/porcupine around her head, was just slightly less scary but equally as strange.
[Via HuffingtonPost]
Lost: The Final Season: characters returning, end date marked
I love me my Lost news. Let’s get right to it!
Remember that exclusive image I posted from Comic Con a while back now? Well here it is in all it’s visible glory! From left to right we can make out Faraday, Boone, Miles, Michael, Ana Lucia, Charlotte, Shannon, Desmond, Eko, Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Locke, Ben, Sayid, Libby, Sun, Jin, Claire, Hurley, Juliet, Charlie, Frank, Richard, Bernard, and Rose. Notice Locke is facing away for reasons not fully explained yet. Who is missing from the poster is equally important: Walt, Nikki, and Paulo. Well, maybe not so much the latter two. But where’s Walt?? WALT!!! He was a season regular back in the beginning, and it is strange that he is not featured here alongside his season regulars (and some non-regulars) from over the years. Check out the gallery below for up close shots of the poster to see for yourself.
In related news, EW has reported that Ian Somerhalder (Boone) is en route to Hawaii. This can mean only one thing. In fact Somerhalder confirms it: “I’m literally getting on a plane in 45 minutes to fly to Hawaii. The only thing I can say is that I’m going back for several episodes….I have a script that weighs like 200 pounds, but I don’t really know what’s happening.” This pretty much officially confirms Boone’s return to the island (or mainland), and the poster points to the remainder of the MIA/dead characters returning to the show.
And finally, I have exciting and sad news bunched into one. The date has been pegged for the series finale of Lost: Wednesday, May 19th, 2010. I just shed and tear and swallowed the bittersweet taste.
Look forward to LOST: The Final Season this January on ABC.
New Saw VI movie poster
Google’s mystery doodle is back for more
Enter the follow-up doodle in the series of alien-related Google doodles. First it was the UFO-inspired doodle that searched for “unexplained phenomena.” Now there is a crop-circle inspired doodle that searches for the keyword “crop circle.” The first doodle’s image file name was “Go_gle.” This image’s file name is “Goog_e.” First the “o” was abducted, now the “l” is missing. What this means no one knows. On it’s Twitter page Google posted the following coordinates: 51.327629, -0.5616088. Followers figured out that these specific coordinates reveal a location in the UK, a town called Horsell in Surrey, England, to be exact. Interestingly this area is infamous for it’s prominent role in H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds;” it is the town where the aliens first land in the novel.
So, what does this all mean? Unfortunately there are no solid answers…again. Some theories include: Wells’ 143rd birthday falls on September 21; “It’s almost certainly a viral marketing campaign teasing people ahead of some launch in a week or two” (via UK Guardian); and my favorite–Google has been taken over by aliens from an unknown planet. Just like before, all there is to do now is to continue theorizing and wait for the next doodle or a possible explanation from Google itself.
The Junk Dunk
Created by Gabriel Dishaw. It’s the Nike Dunks from the future!
This piece was a continuation of my previous piece JUNK DUNK (Right) I wanted to attempt this approach again, with a more refined and detailed outcome. I used very little wire and more glue to keep the piece more clean, and less bulky. I also added new details, a hinged tongue and nike logo’s on both the tongue and back of the shoe. On previous models I used a real nike sole to build of off. With this piece I started from scratch and build the sole from circuit boards.
[Via Gizmodo; GabrielDishaw]
Hip Hop Icons Simpsonized
It’s a Pac-Man chair
Apple Keynote [September 2009] roundup
Guess who’s back, back again? Steve Jobs graciously owned the stage in San Fransisco on Thursday during the latest Apple keynote presentation. There was lots of discussion and reveals on the iTunes and iPod front. Let’s not waste any time and get right to it. Read on for all the juicy details of the keynote.
- iPhone OS 3.1
- Genius will now “automatically make recommendations from the App Store based on the applications you own.” Think of it as iTunes Genius for your music, but now for your purchased apps.
- Ringtones – over 30,000 ringtones available to purchase at $1.29 each. All four major record labels are on-board.
- 3.1 firmware update is a free download available now for iPhone and iPod touch owners (there is a $5 upgrade price for those iPod touch users who have not upgraded to 3.0)
- iTunes 9
- Features a cleaner, easier-to-navigate UI with a redesigned store
- Genius Mixes – Think of this as your own personal DJ spinning your favorite songs continuously. Genius Mixes takes your current music library and groups songs/artists/genres together for you to listen to; it’s like listening to your preferred radio station.
- Improved syncing – Now you have the option to manually sync exactly what you want (for example, you can sync specific artists, genres, albums, etc.)
- App organization – You can arrange your apps in iTunes. Plug in your iPhone or iPod touch and you get a visual copy of your home screen and your multiple pages; you simply drag and drop 1 or more apps at a time. This couldn’t be any simpler.
- Home Sharing – Allows you to “manage your family’s iTunes collection between computers in your home.” You can copy songs, movies, TV shows, etc. with up to 5 computers. For example, say you have 5 family members each with their own computer and iTunes accounts. Now you can all easily share your iTunes content by dragging and dropping other family members’ songs into your library. The files copy right over and viola–you now have songs in your library that originally resided in your brother’s music library.
- iTunes LP – Tools are now given to record labels and artists to create and distribute many album extras in their digital music albums. These extras include behind-the-scenes videos, photos, liner notes, lyrics, chronology of albums, credits, animations, and more. Although digital downloads will never be the same as buying a physical CD or record in a retail store, iTunes LP is a step in the right direction for those who have switched to digital music and who miss receiving the entire “album experience” you get when you purchase your favorite artist’s latest album.
- iTunes Extras (for movies) – Think of the extras you would find on a DVD; they will now be included when you purchase a movie from the iTunes Store
- Facebook and Twitter integration – You now have the option to share your favorite songs and artists with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. There is an embedded option that allows you to link a song, artist, or album information to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- iTunes 9 is available today as a free download
- iPod
- iPod touch
- Lineup: $199 (8GB); $299 (32GB); $399 (64GB)
- cheaper and new storage capacity
- up to 50% faster; OpenGL|ES Version 2.0 (adds more realism in games)
- Publishers discuss upcoming games for the App Store – Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II Discovery; Tapulous’s Riddim Ribbon (an awesome music game that incorporates racing and DJ control); Gameloft’s Nova; EA’s Madden NFL 10
- iPod classic
- Lineup: $250 (160GB) (holds 40,000 songs)
- Same price, capacity upgrade from 120GB
- iPod shuffle
- Lineup: $59 (2GB); $79 (4GB); $99 (4GB Special Edition in stainless steel, Apple Store exclusive)
- all new shiny colors: black, silver, pink, green, blue
- expand range of headphones with an adapter that will allow you to change volume/tracks
- new VoiceOver features ( reads statuses, like battery level)
- iPod nano
- Lineup: $149 (8GB) and $179 (16GB)
- all new colors in polished anodized aluminium: green, blue, purple, black, silver, pink, red, orange, yellow
- larger 2.2 inch display
- new included apps: FM radio, Voice Recorder, pedometer (syncs with Nike +)
- VIDEO CAMERA (the one more thing) – Integrated video camera; only shoots videos (no picture stills); VGA resolution (640×480); includes microphone and speaker
- iPod touch
Note: When asked why Apple did not include a video camera in the new iPod touch, Jobs responded: “Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine. We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to $199. We don’t need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it.”
Check out the gallery below for some official press shots of the new products and services.
[Gallery images via Apple]