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IKEA's future kitchen tells you how to cook
For IKEA, your future kitchen shouldn't just have the occasional smart appliance -- it should be a technology hub. The furniture store's Concept Kitchen 2025 includes tech and other helpful additions meant to save both time and resources, such as a pantry with induction cooling (to preserve food longer) and a disposal system that automatically packs your recyclables. The highlight, however, is the Table For Living. It packs a camera-equipped projector that both shows recipes on its surface and recognizes ingredients, giving you an idea of what to make with what you have on hand. There's an induction cooktop hidden in the table, too, so you wouldn't have to run between counters to get that hot stew ready. This is just a vision rather than something you can actually buy, but all of IKEA's technology is realistic enough that you could find some of it in your home within the next decade.
IDEO founder David Kelley talks about Steve Jobs on 60 Minutes
David Kelley is a well-known entrepreneur and design professor at Stanford. The IDEO founder recently sat down and talked to 60 Minutes about his life, his work at IDEO and his time at Stanford. A small part of the segment also discusses his interactions with Steve Jobs and Apple. Kelley's design firm IDEO worked with Apple on the first mouse, the Apple III, the Lisa computer and more. Through his work on these products, Kelley became a personal friend to Jobs. You can jump directly to the Apple parts at the 3:00 and 7:40 marks or listen to the entire 12-minute remarks. [Via MacRumors]
Ideo honors co-founder Bill Moggridge with Galaxy Tab-based Grid laptop
How to honor your legendary late-co-founder? If you're Ideo, it involves putting a modern spin on one of his most iconic creations. The design firm is paying tributing to computing pioneer Bill Moggridge with this Grid Compass-based Galaxy Tab dock, which combines the first laptop with Samsung's slate to add content to a tribute site for the innovator. Like the original Grid, the Tab shows off content with an orange tinge -- oh, and the keyboard works and it'll charge when plugged in. Check out a break down of the Galaxy Grid's creation in the source link below.
William Moggridge, portable computer and human interaction trailblazer, dies at 69
The next time you hinge open that notebook PC and smile at a feature that makes it easier to use, give a thought to Bill Moggridge, who passed away Saturday from cancer at the age of 69. The pioneering designer invented the modern clamshell design seen in all modern laptops, and is also viewed as the father of human interaction software design. The Compass Computer he designed for Grid Systems with the screen folded over the keyboard appeared in 1981, flew on the space shuttle, and inspired virtually every notebook design since. Perhaps more importantly, when he tried to use the machine himself, Moggridge was exasperated with the difficulty and decided to take the human factor into account for software design. To that end, he engaged experts from fields like graphics design and psychology, and tried to "build empathy for the consumer into the product," according to former partner, Professor David Kelly. The pair merged their design firms to form Ideo in 1991, and worked with clients like Apple, Microsoft and Procter & Gamble, designing products like the first Macintosh mouse and Palm V handheld along the way. In 2010, Moggridge became the director of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, and was a recipient of that institution's lifetime achievement award. He also won the Prince Philip Designer's Prize, the longest running award of its type in the UK, given for "a design career which has upheld the highest standards and broken new ground." See why that's true by going to Cooper-Hewitt's tribute video, right after break.
Engadget takes a ride on the Faraday Porteur e-bike
We've watched as Faraday Bicycles' first offering, the Porteur electric bike, went from award-winning concept to a fully-fledged consumer product courtesy of Kickstarter. Recently, company founder Adam Vollmer offered us the chance to ride one, and naturally, we couldn't wait see it for ourselves and put feet to pedals.%Gallery-161281% First impressions are important, a fact of which the folks at Faraday are clearly aware. The Porteur's white frame, wood fenders, and sea foam green trim pieces and rims provide a pleasing visual counterpart to the leatherwork adorning the seat, frame and handlebars. Add in the yesteryear script of the logo and vermilion detailing work, and it's retro done right -- visually arresting without being gaudy. As is often the case, the coolest bits of the bike reveal themselves upon close inspection. We're fans of the leather pouch (for holding smartphones or other sundries) nestled between the parallel top tubes and chain stay guard embossed with the Faraday name. And, the addition of the company slogan claiming it's "the ultimate electric propelled utility bicycle" along with each bike's production number is a nice touch. But enough about its good looks, how's the thing ride?
Faraday Porteur concept e-bike becomes a reality, launches pre-sale on Kickstarter (video)
Last time we saw the Faraday electric bike, it had just emerged victorious from the Oregon Manifest design competition. Designed by Ideo and built by Portland's Rock Lobster Cycles, the retro-styled ride was destined to rot in concept hell for all eternity -- that is until lead designer Adam Vollmer quit Ideo to press the bike into production under the Faraday Bicycles name. Now he's perfected the design, the company's launching a pre-sale on Kickstarter to, er, kickstart the first production run. Don't be fooled by its low-fi looks, parallel top tubes hold a series of lithium-ion batteries which power a front motor, good for between 10 and 15 miles of travel. The two front prongs are the basis of a modular racking system and contain a pair of LED headlamps that activate automatically in bad light. It charges in 45 minutes and weighs around 40 pounds. The bike will set you back $3,500, $300 less than when a second run is produced next year -- significantly cheaper than the current price for the $5,400 Grace One we rode around New York. If you've got some baller-style cash to throw around, you can spend $10,000 on a collectors edition hand-finished by Rock Lobster's Paul Sadoff. After the break we've got video and more details, but be warned -- you might find yourself opening your wallet a little too rapidly.
The Faraday electric bike shows us all how retro the future will be
This ain't no fixie with a minty fresh paint job, this is the Faraday. Built for the Oregon Manifest design competition, ideas factory Ideo teamed up with bike builders Rock Lobster Cycles to produce this retro-technotastic electric bike. Everything futuristic has been hidden inside the frame: those parallel top tubes hold a series of lithium-ion batteries which juice up the front-hub motor -- all controlled from the green box tucked beneath the seat cluster. Those two prongs up front serve as built-in headlights and the base of a modular racking system, letting you swap out various carrying mechanisms like a trunk or child seat with the pop of a bolt. Tragically, the bike is just a concept -- so unless the teams responsible cave into peer pressure and get it into production, you'll have to use old-fashioned leg power to get you over those steep hills. [Image courtesy of Mike Davis] %Gallery-136151%
Gogo launches in-air multimedia platform, details international expansion plans
It's at least six months behind schedule at this point, but we guess late's better than even later. We'd known that Aircell Gogo (yeah, it's officially changed!) was aiming to get into the in-flight entertainment business, and today it's dishing the real dirt. It's hoping to "extend the company beyond internet connectivity," and apparently that means introducing an in-air multimedia platform. Per the company, it'll allow users to tap into "real-time travel information, destination content, news / information and exclusive shopping deals" right within their web browser, and it'll also give airlines the opportunity to offer passengers access to the latest movies and TV shows through Gogo's new streaming video product. We're guessing that last bit is what'll make legacy outfits think twice before shelling out for another round of Panasonic in-seat head units, particularly since there's no air-to-ground connectivity needed. Even today, average JPEGs are compressed when downloaded and uploaded through Gogo, making it just about impossible for folks who actually work with images to get anything finalized in the sky. Upon hearing of its initial plans, we wondered one thing: if Gogo can't handle uncompressed JPEGs, how the heck is your streaming video going to look with every other middle-seater trying to load the latest episode of Weeds? Thankfully, our fears were pushed aside after hearing that the IFE portion (read: the service that serves up multimedia) will be locally based on the plane, with an undisclosed protocol pushing material from the cockpit to your display. Executives confirmed that the goal is to serve an entire plane, but it sounds as if there will certainly be some limits in place at first -- though, unless the entire plane hops onboard with the new program on Day 1, it probably won't become an issue. Read on for more...
IDEO constructs RFID turntable, hearkens back to mixtapes of yore (video)
Once upon a time, you could touch your music -- or at least caress a 7- or 12-inch vinyl disc -- but these days the cool kids stream MP3s (and OGGs, and APEs) off the internet. However, design studio IDEO recently decided to see if they could get back in touch with their audio roots, and -- taking a page right out of the industrial design treatise I Miss My Pencil -- they built the above machine. To put it simply, what you're looking at is a box filled with specially-angled Arduino Pro Mini boards constantly searching for RFID tags on top, and a set of cards each with two RFID tags, with each tag representing one song. When you drop one on the turntable, it begins playing within a second, thanks to the clever array of Arduinos underneath, and you and your High Fidelity soulmate can leave multiple cards on the table to create an impromptu mixtape, or, presumably, flip one of the "cassettes" to play Side B. It's a good thing IDEO isn't selling the device and packs of cards, because we're afraid we'd be compelled to collect them all, and our poor wallet doesn't need any more heartbreak. Don't miss the video below!
Ford looks to 'interaction design' for future dashboards
Ever heard of Ideo? Chances are you haven't (unless you're a hardcore designer), but that very design consultancy is credited with the development of the original Apple mouse and for crafting interfaces for Palm. And now, they'll be credited with helping Ford advance its dashboards for the next generation. A long-winded report over at the New York Times details how the Fiesta's T9-inspired dash looked antediluvian by the time it hit American shores, but a company initiative (codenamed HAL) sought to dramatically improve the "cabin experience." In order to do so, Ford has latched onto "interactive design," a concept conjured up by Ideo's co-founder, Bill Moggridge. Specific guidelines were created in order to generate "a sort of universal logic for all the cars' switches and systems," and we're told that it'll apply to all future Ford models around the globe. Hit the source link for the whole shebang.
IDEO's e-book concepts threaten our enjoyment of reading with social networking, online commentary
Every once in a while we come across a product designed by IDEO, but generally not anything to write home (or at least blog) about. But that doesn't mean that the industrial design firm's not hard at work conceptualizin' stuff, as this promo vid chock full of possible future e-books amply demonstrates. Nelson is meant to clue you in on a book's context by providing online commentary, fact-checking, and statistics about cultural impact, which is great when you're studying global warming for a class, perhaps, but seems a little over the top if you're curling up with the latest Left Behind novel. Coupland? Think Apple iBookstore-meets-Linked In, with colleague's reading lists, recommended books, and book clubs. This is for those of you whose summer beach reading includes Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices. Last but not least, Alice is the e-reader for those of you who want to "experience narratives in new and engaging ways," which seems to mean some sort of Web 2.0 / Choose Your Own Adventure hybrid. Actually, now that we think of it, we're probably better off with our old fashioned print books after all. Speaking of which, where did we put out copy of Left Behind? Video after the break.
Navman intros slimline S100 GPS unit
It looks like those wanting a GPS unit that's a bit more stylish than the usual fare now have a new option to consider from Navman, which has just introduced is IDEO-designed S100 model. In addition to being shiny, this one measures just 13.5-mm thick, and packs a 4.3-inch "super flat" touchscreen, all the usual PMP features, 3D maps, Navman's trademark NavPix photo navigation, and SirfStar's InstaFix II, which promises to deliver a GPS fix five times faster than normal. It also uses Mio's new "Spirit" software with Glide Touch, which provides "simple tap and slide functionality," but apparently not full multi-touch. No word on a release 'round these parts, but folks in the UK will be able to pick this one up in November for $199, or roughly $340.[Via NaviGadget]
Headplay's Personal Cinema System finally available
Nearing on a year from its first unveiling, it's nice to finally see the Headplay Personal Cinema System head mounted display "out and about." That Visor headset is stilling rocking support for up to XGA resolutions with a pair of single LCoS micro-displays that are supposed to reduce eye strain, while the Liberator "brains" of the operation accepts composite, component and S-video inputs, while also playing media off of its built-in CompactFlash slot and USB ports. Finally, the Navigator remote acts as the hook-up for the included earbuds, and allows you to control the system and settings. In addition to plain old flat content, you can view stereoscopic 3D games and movies if you've got the right hardware to plug into. The Headplay is available now online, and goes for $499, or $549 with an internal rechargeable battery. Unfortunately, all we've got for pictures is those same old renders we saw at the start of the year, but hopefully Headplay will hit the true wild soon enough.
