Mimique Cell Phone

Mimique Concept -
The Mimique is a response to feature-heavy cell phones that look more like PDAs than phones. Playful and engaging, the Mimique's design marries the heritage of old-school cell phones with next-generation style and touch-screen technology. The Mimique will use the new open-source cell phone software which will allow users to download features and "skins." With downloadable upgrades, users won't need to buy a new phone to get new features.

And the "skins" will allow users to change the graphic interface to match their mood or preferences. Designed for users who don't take themselves or their phones too seriously, the eye-catching Mimique concept phone is poised to play a whole new game. [source]

Life Index

Life Index Will Tell You How Long You Have Left to Live -

In the year 2154, biometrics might be so advanced that they will be able to tell us how long we have left to live based on data retrieved from our bodies. Or at least that’s the type of technological advancement that the creator of the Life Index is hoping for in the future.

Envisioned by One & Co for the Timex 2154 competition, the Life Index is worn like a nicotine patch that acquires biometric feedback from the skin, including fitness level, stress, nutrition level and the environment. It then uses this information to make an educated guess on how long you have left to live.

I guess the real question is whether you’d want a gadget that could put a number on your life or a guesstimate from one of those stupid online surveys. And more importantly, would the ever decreasing number convince you to quit $moking, dr!nking and having unprotected $ex while simultaneously shooting intravenous drugs with dirty needles? [gearfuse]

Rival Cable Satellite

Pay TV? Says who? Sezmi aims to rival cable, satellite -

NEW YORK — A start-up is betting that people are tired enough of their cable and satellite bills to take a look at an alternative pay TV system that combines a number of different technologies to deliver programming.
Silicon Valley-based Sezmi is revealing a system Thursday that amounts to a way for phone companies and local TV broadcasters to team up for an end run around satellite and cable. Technical trials are starting shortly, with full-blown commercial trials in some markets, yet unnamed, later this year.

The carrot for consumers: monthly fees that are about half those of cable or satellite, according to Sezmi founder Buno Pati.

Sezmi's system takes some explaining. At its heart is a TV set-top box that receives video content in three different ways. Two are available through other means: digital over-the-air local broadcasts, the kind that are available to anyone with a digital TV and a rabbit-ear antenna; and Internet downloads through the home's broadband connection.

The third delivery method would be unique to Sezmi. It plans to have local TV stations use vacant portions of their airwaves to transmit basic cable channels like Nickelodeon and Discovery. Given the limited spectrum available, the stations won't be able to transmit a full lineup, and only some of it will be in high definition. Sezmi plans to mitigate that by having stations send out the most-watched shows and have the set-top boxes save them on their hard drives, making them available for viewing on demand.

None of these features are completely original. The set-top box combines the feature of a digital TV tuner, a TV-style digital video recorder and an Internet video box like the Apple TV. The additional over-the-air cable content is reminiscent of a service called MovieBeam, which was started by The Walt Disney Co. When it shut down in December after a four-year run, it had 1,800 subscribers. [source : usatoday]

Panoramic Digital Cam

Panoramic Digital Camera That Can Be Thrown -

Finalist for BraunPrize 2007, Triops is a robust digital camera which allows the user to experience new perspectives and perceptions and takes the potential of digital photography to a new level. The camera is equipped with three protected fisheye lenses and allows for an active, spontaneous and playful photography experience.

This product can take images while being thrown, suspended or just being placed in an unusual location. It captures the moment by responding to sound or movement, or by reacting to the manually operated release. Sequentially taken photographs are possible as well as 360 degree panorama images. All working parts are integrated in the robust casing and can be operated easily and intuitively. Pictures can be wirelessly transmitted to a separate display unit for display. This unit functions as a processing and storage device and the camera‘s charging station. [franziskafaoro]

The Future of Books

The Future of Books -

With everything turning towards technology, we have adapted the out with the old, in with the new mentality. Designer Kyle Bean has created a design that illustrates the issues with “technology and the Internet, and the effect it is having on the way we source information”. We are becoming a society that is more virtual. We download music rather than purchase CD’s, we research on the net, rather than going to the library and reading books. According to Kyle, “Books also have personality - they have textures and smells which the internet can’t offer”. Kyle wanted to illustrate this issue by using a book turned into a laptop. The object is made from a book purchased at a discount bookstore for only £1.50, as well as a few electrical components to illuminate the screen.

The book/laptop, has a CD-Rom drive complete with CD, a keyboard that can be removed so as to access the battery, and a switch that turns off the screen light once the book is closed. The book when closed, looks just like a regular book until opened. The words, “The Future of Books” is inscribed on the spine. I think Kyle did a wonderful job expressing the changes the world is facing regarding technology. [kylebean]

Extreme Extension Cord

Extreme Extension Cord -

Instead of just having power outputs on one end of an extension cord, designer Wilson Song placed them all along the cord itself. We’re not electrical engineers here at Yanko Design but we have our doubts. If a device is plugged into one output, doesn’t that prevent power from reaching the other outputs? On paper it sounds like a great idea. The cord itself can act as a flexible power strip. [via: mail]

Smallest Battery Charger

The Smallest, Lightest Battery Charger in the World -

Main Features

• Recharge batteries via any USB port
• Smallest and lightest battery charger in the world
• Recharges all NiMH and NiCd AA and AAA batteries
• LED charging and battery power indicators
• Tough, rubberised casing
• Recharges batteries in 3-4 hours via USB
• Team up with the Freeloader Solar Battery and charge batteries in 1-2 hours (cable provided)

The Smallest, Lightest Battery Charger in the World -
Fed up with using up and throwing away more batteries than an Anne Summers convention? Battery chargers may be no new thing, but then none claim to be the smallest and the lightest AA and AAA charger in the world, and charge conveniently via USB – credentials that catapult the Freeloader Battery Charger sky high above its larger, more cumbersome competitors. At last!

Say goodbye to bulky monstrosities, the featherweight Freeloader portable charger weighs in at just 54g – and that's including batteries – and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. Two complimentary rechargeable AA batteries come with your pack, but this handy battery charger will also happily charge AAA NiMH and NiCd rechargeable batteries too, both via its USB connection.

Pop up to two batteries into the fast battery charger at any one time and charge via the USB port on your PC – it takes three to four hours to reach 75% full charge. Clear LED indicators show the charging status of the USB battery charger, as well as your battery power levels, while tough, rubberised casing stays protected and looks good in the process.

If you hadn't already guessed from the name, the Freeloader Battery Charger is a close relation to another Gizoo favourite, the Freeloader Solar Battery (not included), and conveniently if you have both, you can use the pair together. In short, for all those times you're away from your PC and a USB port you can use the Freeloader cable provided and charge your batteries from this handy unit instead in just one to two hours – ideal for all those days you and your laptop aren't joined at the hip.

Specifications -

• Charge AA or AAA batteries either from Freeloader or from your PC's USB port.
• Includes 2 rechargable AA batteries
• The average time to charge the supplied batereies via USB is 3 to 4 hours
• Product dimensions (H)20cm x (L)13cm x (D)5cm
• Box dimensions (H)8.5 x (L)4m x (D)2cm
• Package weight 109g
• Power requirements USB or freeloader

[via : gizoo ]