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JXE Streams: A real bodyman tackles 'Car Mechanic Simulator 2015'
True story: our very own Tim Seppala worked as a car mechanic for 12 years. He was a bodyman, or an auto collision tech if you want to get fancy. The short version is that the man knows how to tear apart your busted '89 Toyota Cellica after a wreck, get it looking pretty and make sure all the machine parts are working. Does that mean he'll be able to dive right into RedDot's Car Mechanic Simulator 2015, the game that is precisely what it sounds like? We'll find out when he streams it live today at 3:30PM ET.
Oppo's Find 7 smartphone poses for glamour shots, two weeks early
So much for surprises. Oppo has been trying to maintain an aura of mystery around the launch of the Find 7 on March 19th, but the design lovers at Red Dot have spoiled things by showing off the smartphone in their product gallery, nearly two weeks ahead of time. While we've had some idea of what the Find 7 will look like, it's now clear that the 5.5-inch device will have a more upscale look than the Find 5 with a seamless front and a "breath light" at the bottom for notifications. What you don't see, however, is that rumored 50-megapixel camera -- the handset shown here comes with a relatively ordinary 13-megapixel shooter. Nokia isn't likely in danger of losing its camera resolution supremacy, then. Even so, we doubt that many prospective Find 7 owners will complain given the Quad HD screen and other top-tier specs.
Self-sterilizing door handle looks perfect for hypochondriacs, is as real as their ailments
The world of concepts is quite the wonderful place to behold, it's filled with electric supercars, cameras that only ever need one lens, beautiful BlackBerrys, and now... a self-cleaning door handle. The product of one Choi Bomi's hyperactive imagination, this gatekeeper continuously sterilizes itself with a UV light, only taking a break when you actually use it. A clandestine switch in the handle's frame is what toggles the sanitizing illumination on and off, a spark of cleverness that's earned the design a Red Dot award. That's great, now who hands out the awards for making economically viable, mass producible devices?
Twin camera concept floats in water, unites sea and sky
Taking an underwater self-portrait isn't the easiest thing in the world -- even if you're fond of robot DIY -- but this concept camera won a Red Dot award for capturing more than typically meets the eye. The UNDERABOVE floats like a buoy thanks to a pair of watertight ballast compartments, takes images with twin cameras above and below, then stitches the result into a turquoise vertical panorama viewable on the inbuilt LCD screen. If and when this device actually gets produced (and gains some serious image stabilization) the worlds of fish and man will never be the same.
Verbatim's Clip-it is a USB drive with paperclip ambitions
It sure is hard to differentiate yourself in the highly competitive world of ever-shrinking USB storage. To avoid this trend of disregard, Verbatim has sent its latest offering off to paper management school and the results are now apparent for us to see. The new Clip-it comes with an added incision in the middle of its lilliputian body that allows it to act as a paperclip or maybe even a handsome accessory to your geek chique outfit. Verbatim makes sure to tell us (about eleventy times) that the Clip-it has scooped up a red dot Design Award for its ingenuity, and prices the thing at eminently affordable €8.99 (2GB) and €11.49 (4GB) levels. Those correspond to $12 and $15.34, respectively, meaning you could have the whole set of seven colors for less than what you'd have to spend on just one iWatch.
ASUS Eee PC 1218 trades veil of secrecy for popular design award
Well, will you look at that. In its haste to proclaim itself winner of a 2010 Red Dot design award, ASUS has inadvertently or perhaps intentionally announced the brand-new netbook that received it -- the Eee PC 1218. She's a beaut, too, with a slim, one-piece aluminum shell that evokes the MacBook Air but still packs a substantial number of expansion ports. There aren't any hard specs quite yet, but the above shot shows it'll come with a webcam and chiclet keyboard, and in a second pic after the break we can make out three USB sockets, Ethernet, VGA, a pair of 3.5mm audio jacks and an HDMI port -- the last of which possibly suggests a dedicated GPU (here's hoping an Ion 2) for HD video playback. Oh, and lest we forget, ASUS says it's also got a soft-touch plastic underside, for all you coffee-swilling, netbook-slinging butterfingers out there. No word on pricing or availability.
Shape-shifting 'Breathing Chair' looks to make the beanbag fashionable
Shape-shifting chairs may not always be the most attractive additions to your living room, but Taiwanese designer Yu-Ying Wu is hoping to change that with her so-called "Breathing Chair," which has already won a few prestigious design awards but hasn't yet snagged any commercial partners. The secret, such as it is, is the array of "professionally calculated" holes spaced out through the three layers of foam plastic, which are designed to compress into the shape of an armchair when someone sits in it and spring back into a cube when they stand up. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any video of it in action, but the chair will soon be on display at Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore if you happen to be in the area. Update: Thanks to commenter Deny for digging up a video of the chair. Check it out after the break. [Via MAKE]
