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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%
Skype for Mac design competition announced
Designers, start your creative engines! Today, on its official blog, Skype announced a chat styling competition to find the world's best theme for Skype for Mac. "We want you to create the chat style for an upcoming version of Skype for Mac that will be enjoyed by millions of people around the world," states the official website for the competition. "When we first launched our new Mac app, we were delighted to see so many custom styles emerge from the design community, so we thought we'd make it official," Krishna Panicker wrote on Skype's Big Blog. "We're inviting you to design your own chat style for Skype for Mac." Skype officially begins accepting entries for the first stage of its three-stage competition on Friday, April 8. Each stage of the contest will last three weeks and result in a people's choice winner selected by users of the site and a judges' choice winner anointed by Skype's panel of experts. The six winners, two from each stage, will continue to compete for the grand prize: Skype will include the winning design in a future version of Skype for Mac. The grand prize also includes an 11-inch MacBook Air, iPad 2 and a one year subscription to Skype's Unlimited World Extra calling service. In addition, the five runners-up will receive some useful trophies that include an iPad 2, an AppleTV and a copy of CSS3 for Web Designers. Skype's software allows users to connect with other Skype users using instant messaging, voice and video conferencing. The company's telephony services also enable customers to place and receive voice calls between a device or computer running Skype and nearly any traditional landline or mobile phone. According to an SEC filing from 2010, Skype has approximately 560 million total registered users worldwide. Full details about the design contest, including prize lists, judging criteria, key dates and terms and conditions, are available on Skype's official competition page. Good luck to everyone who enters. We can't wait to see the winning design.
Illusion PC hides hardware elegantly, still plays Doom
Given the absurdity of the AlphaGrip Handheld Computer, we're pretty stoked to see something fairly snazzy emerge from entries in Microsoft's Next-Gen PC Design Competition. The Illusion PC is a 8.25-inch cube that hides a Mini-ITX motherboard, 200-watt power supply, slot-loading DVD burner and provides room for two internal hard drives. Theoretically, a 6-inch LCD and TV tuner card could also be thrown in, but we're digging the minimalist feel, personally. Hit the read link for a gallery of shots -- heck, the magician even reveals his secret to pulling the whole thing together. Like, that never happens.[Via SlashGear]
AlphaGrip Handheld Computer concept mimics Atari Jaguar controller
You never really know what you're going to get when peering through entries in Microsoft's Next-Gen PC Design Competition, and the above pictured device is definitely evidence of that. The AlphaGrip Handheld Computer (or AlphaGrip HC, for short), boasts full-size rocker keys on the front along with a flip-up display and a keypad made specifically for thumb-typing. There's also a trackball for mousing about and a slew of buttons to handle "sophisticated PC games" while standing on a crowded subway. Still, we can't help but notice just how much this thing reminds us of our days tinkering with the defunct-from-birth Atari Jaguar, and we also can't imagine anyone with a shred of dignity ever pulling this abomination out in public. Kudos for imagination, though.[Via OhGizmo]
Microsoft / IDSA Next-Gen PC Design contest candidates
We're suckers for good design -- even the occasional eye-catching concept -- and Microsoft's annual Next-Gen PC Design contest never fails to disappoint with interesting if not innovative takes on future devices. .NET Passport users are free to hit up the competition site and vote for their picks in the contest, but everyone can check out the eye candy, like the slice "auxiliary bowl unit" above. (We've also done some of the legwork for you and thrown together a gallery of the best images from each contestant.)%Gallery-1781%
