For those of you who still think that the whole story of Nokia started in 1984 with the Mobira Talkmen, then get ready for the raw truth: before getting involved with what is now its first source of revenue, Nokia was involved in a bunch of industries! Continue Reading →
All posts in weird
Killing time on Wednesday…
Boring day at work? here’s how to keep you busy and entertained until day ends. This trick also works to keep children quiet for a while. Continue Reading →
Picture of the week – Back to the future: the iPhone of the 80s
Hartmut Esslinger, one early superstar of high-tech design, was responsible for the design of Apple devices in the 80s. He then developed together with Steve Jobs a prototype of a touchscreen phone whose main function was to make possible sending digital bank checks though a phone wire. This quite revolutionnary gizmo – remember that we’re then in 1983 – was part of the Snow White design language applied to the IIc and the original Mac.
Was Apple already trying to raise the buzz?
Ridding my suitcase like a scooter!
I can say with certainty that this is the best roller bag ever made. Why this particular bit of genius hasn’t caught on, I can’t imagine. Possibly because, like those who ride the accursed Segway, riders of this contraption would give off a certain “punch me” vibe. And yet, one can’t entirely suppress the feeling of wanting to switch places with them, if only for a moment. Shameful, but understandable.
The Trolley Scooter from Samsonite und Micro Mobility is the perfect tool for bloggers like myself who cumulates hundred of miles (and that’s no lie…) wandering and running in Airports and at trade shows all year long with packs full of gear.
To be perfectly honest, I’d rather scoot than spend the day sweating my shirt running between airport gates. All the more so as I’ll probably look like the coolest traveller Airport security guys will have ever seen!
No price is given and I can’t find it on Micro Mobility’s site, but I would ballpark its cost at around 100€ — $120 or thereabouts.
walking in circles – Urban navigation system
Forget all your inaccurate and energy consuming mobile GPS (well, except if you managed to put your hand on a Maptor prototype: Map Hole is a new (and FREE) road guidance tool designed to direct pedestrians and travelers to their final destination using existing elements in the urban landscape. It locates the pedestrian with a starting point and provides information on the exact distance or average walk time to the listed landmarks. Clever and simple.
I was precisely wondering which use could big cities make of those hugly and half-useful manholes in their streets…
Designer: Jiae Kwon
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Piano Stairs
To encourage people to take the stairs instead of the escalator, regular stairs at the Odenplan subway station in Stockholm were turned into piano keys. Not surprisingly, after the piano stairs were installed, 66% more people than usual chose the stairs over the escalator.
(via ignant)
a “frog” in your phone *
On September 3, 2009
In environment/green, mobility, trend, Vienna, weird
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I remember the time when cell phones where only used for their mobile telephony features and mostly used to look like this: 
That was a looooooooong time ago. Continue Reading →
Geek (private) joke
Seen in St George’s, Bermuda
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Even Will Smith’s car in iRobot wished it had this ID plate…
Mobilis in mobili* (my 252° Tetris like mini house)
On June 10, 2009
In environment/green, mobility, travel, trend, Uncategorized, Vienna, weird
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From French designers Stephanie Bellanger, Amaury Watine, François Gustin & David Dethoor comes the Mobile Mini House, an ingenious trailer prototype which expans into a five-rooms mobile appartment and folds like a wooden fan when you’re on-the-go.
Unfurled into a 252° semicircle, the Mobile Mini reveals five modular rooms that cover your needs for a bed, bath, living room, kitchen and even an office. Cutouts in all of the walls allow for the various bits to interlock when it’s folded up, and, unfolded, there’s a transparent screen that pulls out to act as the roof and walls.
Even if some parts of this trailer are at an early age of development and raise some questions (“where does the huge floor comes from? Does it overlaps with the rest of the structure or is it towed in a separate trailer? What hapens with theplumbing, water or waste tanks on movable walls? How is the whole structure cooled down in summer/heated in winter? Will it be possible to have an opaque sliding screen instead of the see-trough one?”), the idea per se is really interesting and deserves funding for further development and eventually a mass production for the consumer market (nomads and nature lovers, raise your hand!).
* “moving in a moving thing”
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Sources: Yanko Design
Warm your lunch on your laptop’s USB! Portable heating food system concept by MO:BEN
Here is a prototype of food container specifically designed for office workers (or urban nomads always on the go…) who do not even have time to heat their lunch in the microwave oven during their lunch break. Continue Reading →