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Gucci to follow Prada down mobile rabbit hole?
Yeah, mobile phones have been status symbols and fashion accessories for some time now, but the concept of a designer's name taking top billing in the product name is a fairly recent development. If Gucci really does have a handset baking in the oven, we're guessing the Italian icon isn't doing the heavy lifting of the development all by its lonesome, though we haven't an inkling who might be involved. Heck, we can't even really make out what kind of form factor we have going on here, and all we've got is this one lonely pic up on flickr to go by. Of course, LG and Prada have set the bar pretty high in this arena, so if this is legit, Gucci had best come out with guns blazing.[Thanks, Jack]
Kim Jong-Il's iPod, wine orders to get denied by US
If you've ever wondered what happens when you run an entire nation into the ground, bar almost every type of contact with the outside world, launch nuclear bomb tests against the orders of outsiders, and still try to order an iPod, well, now you know. North Korea's highly dodgy Kim Jong-Il will reportedly be "doing without luxuries" such as iPods, jet skis (saywha?), jewelery, designer clothes, and fine wines as the US implements an all-out ban against selling these goods to the power-trippin' leader. The nation's elite often enjoy lavish luxuries of first-world countries while the vast majority of its people are left without bare necessities, and apparently, new sanctions are trying to put an end to it. While this case has certainly been made before, individual countries were previously allowed to "make their own decisions," however the United States has now taken a stand by barring all luxury sales to Mr. Kim and his constituents -- which will probably do nothing outside of producing a sudden swell in iPod knockoff orders to the DPRK, unfortunately.[Thanks, SRW985]
Samsung's Hauzen washing machine gets gilded
For awhile there, all the latest washing machines were on an impressive roll of adding more and more functionality to that water-filled (or not) clothes tosser, but it looks like Samsung will be the one to bring that streak to a screeching halt. Rather that producing a unit that ran off fuel cells or instantly converted into a dryer when the wash cycle was complete, the firm instead contacted renowned designer Andre Kim to add a touch of luxury to an oftentimes covered household device. For folks who prefer their washing machines to be the center of attention, this Hauzen-branded machine sports a gilded finish, stainless steel door ring, royal emblem on the glass, and a paint job that will admittedly clash horrendously with in-home decor more often than not. Unfortunately, Samsung doesn't go into much detail concerning the cutting edge features on this here washer, nor do we know just how lofty the price will be, but if you're seriously considering something this extravagant, neither of those tidbits are likely to matter anyway.[Via Core77]
Nokia 8800 Sirocco Edition + diamonds = Vertu price tag
We're not sure what the story is behind this shining example of modern excess, but we think it's safe to say that taking a Nokia 8800 Sirocco Edition (not a cheap phone to begin with) and tacking on this amount of designer hardware sends the sticker into Vertu territory and beyond. This fashion slider to end all fashion sliders apparently rocks out with the usual array of diamonds, sterling silver mesh, and stingray (yes, stingray -- as in, the sea creature) leather. We don't know how to buy this, who to talk to, or what it's worth, but we can think of a few stingrays that'll thank you for spending your cash elsewhere (like say, here or here).[Thanks, Steve L.]
Apple designer receives honours
British born Jonathan Ive, designer of the iMac and iPod, became a Commander in The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire today. According to a Macworld article, Ive received this honor at the Queen's New Year Honours ceremony. Ive was recently promoted to senior vice president of Industrial Design at Apple. He has been with Apple since 1992 and was named 2003 Designer of the Year by the Design Museum in London. Ive originally studied industrial design at Newcastle Polytechnic.
Suissa Computers offers up custom wooden PCs
What better to match up with that legnatile wood notebook and elm mousepad than a stay-at-home desktop counterpart that wraps nature's best around the sweetest components available? Suissa Computers is targeting the anti-treehugger in us all by offering up a lineup of custom made PCs geared specifically for gaming, entertainment, or home office use. Sporting unconventional, artsy designs, these computers can be encased in a myriad of woods including maple, walnut, oak, goncalo alves, lacewood, leopardwood, paduak, mahogany, zebrawood or purpleheart. Hidden within is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ / 5000+ dual-core CPU, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, nVidia GeForce 7900 / 7950 graphics card, 600 watt power supply, liquid cooling system, and essentially any other option your mind can envision (and wallet can afford). Each model is only replicated 100 times, when it's then replaced by another freshly-chopped design, so if you see a flavor you dig (and have the $6,150+ to cover the cost of ownership), you should probably snap one up before it hits Suissa's endangered species list.[Via CNET]
Motorola i835 gets fancy, purple for Boost
Where we come from, you can add colors, pinstripes, and all manner of designs to a boring phone -- at the end of the day, it's still the same boring phone. On the other hand, if we were to allow our eyes to gloss over the spec sheet, the dismal internal and external displays, and the fact that this still isn't an iDEN / CDMA hybrid, we can understand how we might manage to get excited about Boost dressing up its workhorse model. Besides the obvious alterations to its appearance, the i835g variant features a redesigned speakerphone mesh (of all things) and matching wallpapers and screensavers. It's available immediately for the same price as the basic i835 on which it's based.[Via SlashGear]
Nakamichi's stylin' Lumos portable DVD player
If you've been looking for a portable DVD player that's a little more stylish than the usual fare, you may want to head down to your local Nakimichi distributor to check out the company's new 7-inch Lumos with its "jewel polished, sensuous black frame." We have to admit that this slot-loading model does look rather sensuous, and is all the more appealing when you find out that it supports both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW discs, MP3 and photo CDs, and even images and movies straight from your digital camera, thanks to the built-in SD slot. Your $512 also gets you NTSC/PAL support, a pair of speakers, digital audio output, leather strap and carrying case, and what looks like a rather poorly designed remote -- hey, you can't have it all.[Via Popgadget]
Taco HTML v1.7.2 is Universal
If Dreamweaver is a bit overkill for some web work on your desk, Taco HTML might just be the editor for you. It's a small yet feature-packed web editor with tag coloring, HTML preview, syntax checking, code snippets and more. It's my favorite editor for HTML pages or tweaking a WordPress PHP page file or two.As far as I can tell, Taco HTML is provided free, and is a Universal Binary. Check it out if you read this post in less time than it takes Dreamweaver to start up.
