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Meizu MX to be Jack Wong's next dream phone, coming with HDMI-out by year's end (update: HSPA+)
It's only been 109 days since Meizu's remarkable launch of the M9 Android, but as we all know, there's nothing stopping our man Jack Wong from teasing his next flagship phone on his forum. Previously known as the M9II, Wong has now renamed this 4-inch handset to MX -- apparently short for "meng xiang" or "dream" in Mandarin Chinese, though X can also cunningly double up as the Roman numeral for 10 here. Also shared is the above real-life shot of an MX mock-up -- not far off from the earlier render -- which is appropriately seen chillaxing on the CEO's bed. In a separate forum thread, we're told that HDMI and coaxial digital audio outputs will be present on the MX, and a 16GB model will be released by the end of the year probably for ¥3,580 ($548). While this is a significant jump from the M9's ¥2,699 ($413), Wong insists that both phones share the same profit margin, and frankly, this will still be a pretty good deal for some Cortex-A9 goodness under a larger screen. We'll be right here waiting for you, Meizu; or we could just pop by your factory again some time. Update: Jack Wong's also confirmed HSPA+ support for some sweet 21Mbps download speed. The phone's getting better by the minute! Update 2: And we now have an 8 megapixel camera with flash.
Holga.D concept is the modernized toy camera of your joyful youth
If your childhood memories contain moments of playing with a cheap point-and-shoot camera that produced odd vignetting, chances are you had a Holga camera -- even if you didn't know it. Designer Saikat Biswas has brightened up our Friday with this concept, a modernized Holga.D digital camera. It's got all the bells and whistles of its muse, and by that we mean it's missing all those bells and whistles of traditional cameras that give the Holga a sense of fun. Expect a previous-gen full frame or 1.5x crop sensor, an aspect ratio changer (3:2 or square -- for romantics, of course), ISO selector, and a snappy E-Ink display. Viewfinder? Flash? All fluff -- but there's an accessory port if you need such superfluous nonsense. Actually, if you want a viewfinder, you can slot in the suggested piece of clear, crosshair-laden plastic... this isn't about accuracy, this is about pleasant surprises! As a bonus for lefties, the top panel can be rotated around to put the shutter button in a more southpaw-friendly position. Requires two AA batteries and a whole lot of imagination. Plenty of awesome, phantasmgorical renders via the source link.
Icon iPhone battery pack combines visual bliss with bona fide utility
Oh, sure -- Mophie's Juice Pack Air may be quite the effective device when it comes to rejuvenating a dead iPhone, but what it sorely lacks is a dash of the atypical. Essential TPE has done the world one better with the introduction of The Icon, or what's better known as the most incredible iPhone battery pack in the history of iPhone battery packs. Put simply, this portable cell plugs directly into the Dock Connector of your 3G or 3GS (iPhone 4 compatibility remains unknown), and an EL indicator lights up to show you how much juice remains in the stick. According to the company, it'll provide an extra three hours of 3G talk time, up to 18 additional hours of audio playback and up to 5.5 hours of bonus web surfing. Currently, it looks as if the company is seeking a worldwide distribution partner, so if you're into distributing awesome wares, well... you know where to get your next fix.
Video: UK Folding Plug concept could flatten that bulky British adapter
Of all the AC adapters stuffed into your personal item when globetrotting, the plug used in Merry Old England must surely be the most cumbersome -- its three copper prongs flung to the extremes of a giant block of plastic. That Victorian holdover gets a major re-do with this UK Folding Plug concept. The two horizontal prongs rotate themselves in-line with the top, vertical one, and the body of the adapter then folds in half, resulting in a thickness of about 1cm. Interestingly the plug would still work in either position, with a slimline power strip envisioned to accept three of these slender lovelies at once. It's positively brilliant, but is just a concept at this point, and while we don't have any news to pass along about its likelihood for production, surely some manufacturer will watch the video after the break and start churning these out by the millions.[Via Pocket-lint]
Gridplane shows off what the NXE could have been
Design and animation studio Gridplane has revealed one of the many mock-ups it developed for Microsoft as a potential user-interface update, which later became the NXE. Tasked with creating new ways for users to interact with multimedia, this particular mock-up showcases some of the style found in the NXE. Notably, the use of full retail packaging to list titles and the panes of information, such as the disc in tray image for Halo 3, can be found on current Xbox 360s.Gridplane also mentions that they dreamt up an "immersive 3D environment" for users to explore games and events within the Xbox Live Community. Which, to us, sounds suspiciously like Sony's Home service. While the mock-up is stylistically impressive, it all looks a little too much like we forgot our glasses somewhere. Luckily, the final NXE nabbed some of the best ideas and ditched the whole "ethereal plane" look this version seems to evoke.%Gallery-43452%
Mock-up for new DS has us wishing it wasn't a mock-up
This thing looks exactly like two iPhones sandwiched together, if you ask us. But, it isn't without its appealing aspects. For one, we like the idea of having a true 16:9 topscreen, because we're often staring at that screen for obvious reasons. Also, the thing looks lighter, which is always a bonus. So, it isn't completely useless and absurd.What do you all think? Take it, or leave it?
Derailing the Apple touchscreen UMPC fantasy
So, if you've been paying any attention to tech news over the past few days, you have probably seen an Apple UMPC rumor floating around. The cats behind these latest whisperings seem to be super-duper whizzes with Photoshop and possess pretty active imaginations. Apparently, when they heard that people were speculating on a new type of touchscreen Apple device, they decided to whip up a couple of specs, the not-so-tasty image above, and a dust cloud of hype based off of a post made on a personal -- yet largely unread -- Apple news blog. It seems to have worked, save for one small problem: there isn't one verifiable or reliable piece of information in the whole thing. Maybe Steve Jobs will see the mock-up and decide to make this thing for real so we can all get a sweet new device -- but really just so the rumor-starters in question won't be proven wrong.
Keepin' it real fake, part LXVI: hand-knit iPhone edition
If you're like some and just couldn't take all that lining up business to buy an iPhone, fear "knot," a knit phone may be for you. Daddytypes posted some pics of an iPhone that his mom knitted for him (we also spotted a hand-knit Pop-Tart) and while hugely strange, it is rather crazy cool at the same time. We're particularly digging the mostly true to life button layout and color scheme on the back -- we're betting If knitting was an Olympic sport, mama Dadddytypes would definitely be a contender for gold. So if your fingers -- or a family member's -- are talented enough, check the how-to on the site to help get you on your way.[Via textually.org]
Uh, not another bad PSP2 mock-up
When making a mock-up of a fake product, you should at least try to make it look better than its predecessor. This dual-screened PSP looks worse than either the DS Lite or PSP. It reeks of further unprofessionalism when you look closely at the logo: PS2P. Good job! (/end sarcasm)Sony has denied the existence of a redesigned PSP, most recently at GDC. However, that won't stop some people from trying to hoax others into thinking its true.[Via digg]
Xbox Portable: Send in your designs
Cesar from TeamXbox created this fabulously fake mock-up of Microsoft's mysterious Zune gaming handheld (known in fanboy parlance as the "Xboy"). It includes all the features he'd like to see, drawn from some obvious sources of inspiration. As the man says, "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Anybody else want to put together or point out a worthy design for this fabled product?
