Apple
Tags: Design, Technology,

Apple granted patent for “flexible iPhone” with foldable display

 

In a move reminiscent of the Motorola Razor glory days, Apple has been granted a patent for a flexible iPhone with a foldable display. Issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, the document describes a phone that can be “opened and closed like a book”.

As well as the folding screen, the patent also highlights how screens using an OLED display could bend to face each other or fit back-to-back. While Apple is renowned for filing patents that never see the light of day, it often provides a small glimpse into the company’s future plans.

Following complaints of a fault that meant the iPhone 6 and 6S bent when in peoples’ pockets – an event that became known as “Bendgate” – Apple could potentially be looking for a way to improve the durability of its hardware.

McDonalds
Tags: Art, Design, General, Technology,

To celebrate the 22nd birthday of the Mcflurry, McDonalds Canada has partnered with the University of Waterloo’s Audio Research Group and industrial designers Stacklab to develop the McDonalds Boombox. The portable speaker was available for one day at an event in Toronto and turned drinks trays into a portable, disposable speaker compatible with smartphones.
The 100% recyclable boombox can reach a decibel level of 70.4 dB using double-cone polygon speakers. The ten-sided cones are foil lined, reflecting the materiality and performance of brass instruments.
“When we changed the shape of the cones of the McBoombox, the difference in sound levels was 50 percent,” says Janelle Resch, a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo who developed the project. “When we used the reflective material, you increase the sound level by 43 percent. Inserting your phone increases the sound level by 101 percent.”
The launch of the McDonald’s Boombox coincided with KFC India announcing that it had developed a bluetooth enabled games controller combined with its famous chicken box.

Rechargeable Electric Wheels
Tags: Design, General, Technology,

An Argentinian team has created a quickly folding electric bike with full-size wheels—one that pretty much knocks out every excuse you’ve had for not biking to work. The weatherproof rechargeable bike is made from lightweight aircraft grade aluminum (weighing a total of 17 kg) and offers 40 miles of electric assistance on a single charge, meaning you can effortlessly pedal straight to that afterparty atop a hill, without breaking a sweat. Additional features include a pedal-powered smartphone charger, lights that automatically turn on when your phone detects darkness plus integrated rear lights.

Lexus hoverboard finally launches
Tags: Technology

 

Lexus-Hoverboard-its-nice-that-news

Lexus has launched its hoverboard, Slide. Lexus worked with CHI&Partners to create the board, which is more than a year in the making, and uses what Lexus describes as “magnetic levitation” – a combination of liquid-nitrogen-cooled super-conductors and permanent magnets – to make it float. A new promo video for the product was launched last night showing skateboarder Ross McGouran teaching himself to float. Shot by director Henry-Alex Rubin, we see Ross tackling the Smuggler custom-built hoverpark.

 

Carlsberg
Tags: Advertising, General, Technology,

Carlsberg Creates A Poster That Dispenses Free Beer To Passers-By.

How would you create the best poster in the world? For Carlsberg UK, it decided to turn it into a working beer tap that dispenses actual booze to passers-by.

According to The Guardian, people were limited to one beer each, and there were “plain-clothes security guards” to keep order.

This awesome, beer-dispensing poster was created with the help of advertising agency Fold7 and digital agency Mission Media.

Volvo Lifepaint
Tags: General, Technology,

Volvo Cars presents LifePaint. The best way to survive a crash, is not to crash. Life paint is a unique reflective safety spray. Invisible by daylight, it shines brightly in the glare of car headlights. Making the invisible, visible.

Apple Automotive
Tags: Design, General, Technology,

apple-car-concept

Apple has several hundred employees secretly working on creating an electric vehicle, reported the Wall Street Journal on Friday, citing people familiar with the company’s plans. Code-named Titan, the project currently sports the design of a minivan.

According to the Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook approved the project about a year ago, putting product design Vice President Steve Zadesky in charge. A former Ford engineer, Zadesky has been a long time Apple employee who helped create the iPod and later the iPhone.

Zadesky is said to have created a team strong of 1,000 people, which tends to prove that Apple is serious about the project, rather than considering this electric car a hobby.

But of course, until we get an official confirmation from Apple, project Titan remains just this: a project that may or may not see the light of day. Besides, the technology developed for the project could very well be used for other products (think batteries, a technology in real need of a breakthrough). Either way, if Apple decided to go ahead with Project Titan, it would probably take years for an actual car to go into production.

This report comes a few hours after the Financial Times published a similar story earlier today, claiming that Apple had hired former President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Johann Jungwirth, a report that has now been corroborated by the Wall Street Journal.

The rumors of Apple working on a car project started last week when mysterious vans equipped with cameras spotted around the country had Apple’s name attached to them. Two days later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an interview Apple was trying really hard to hire employees away from his company. It’s now easier to connect the dots.

Note the image attached is a concept and doesn’t reflect Apple’s design, if the company is indeed working on such a project.

Kodak
Tags: Advertising, Art, Photography, Technology,

After years of looking like it’s going to fade into irrelevance, Kodak has just announced that it would be releasing smartphones in 2015, which will no doubt ride on the brand’s heritage in photography.

Apple x Volkswagen iBeetle
Tags: Technology

Apple collaborate with Volkswagon to create the iBeetle.

Chameleon Clock App
Tags: Technology

The Chameleon Clock app for the iPad and iPhone uses each device’s rear facing camera to blend with its natural surroundings. The end result is a seemingly transparent device with a bold clock display. The clock’s numbers can be displayed in either white or black to match your device’s color.

MINI ART BEAT
Tags: Technology

As part of its ‘Not Normal’ campaign, car brand MINI took art to the streets and unveiled a car that plays videos on the go.

Called the ‘MINI ART BEAT, the ride is a MINI Countryman fitted all over with 48,000 hi-res LEDs, so that it’s able to brightly light up like a mobile billboard.

The installation lets fans ‘pimp up’ the car, by streaming a short video through MINI’s Facebook app, or tweeting their Vine videos with the hashtag #MINIartbeat.

On top of lighting up the vehicle with their videos, fans can add custom designs and music—for the car to cruise down the streets in style.

An ingenious new way to advertise—will we see LED-lit cars as ad spaces in the future.

Volkswagon’s Underwater Beetle
Tags: Technology

Volkswagen has teamed up with Discovery Channel to create this awesome “underwater car” that’s actually a mobile shark cage.