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Harman Kardon's MAS 102 stereo has a petite profile, luxury looks and matching $999 price tag
Harman Kardon has departed from its austere design language on occasion and come up with some questionable aesthetic results, but its latest compact stereo system sports the clean and classic lines for which H/K is famed. Of course, looks aren't everything, so the MAS 102 slings songs at your skull using a two-channel 65W amp, five-inch mid bass drivers, and one-inch waveguided dome tweeters. The MAS 102 also has dual USB ports for accessing digital music and a phono input for those who prefer sourcing tunes from an old school turntable. It's not all sonic bliss, however, as an optional dock (sold separately) is needed to hook up the iDevice of your choosing. That's a glaring omission for a stereo that costs just under a grand -- but forgiving that flaw should be easy for the form-over-function crowd. More info can be found in the PR after the break.
Electronic House crowns iOS-equipped dwelling 2011 Home of the Year
Electronic House just announced its pick for 2011 Home of the Year, and from the look of things, this iOS-enabled abode has the stuff to put your robotic butler out of work. The mammoth craftsman's interiors, designed by OCD poster boy Jeff Lewis, were automated by HD Media Systems using the Savant app. Everything from lighting to shower temperature are controlled using wall-mounted iPads or a series of unencumbered iOS devices. A pre-programmed "party button" immediately adjusts lighting and temperature, and bumps music to the 15 different Sonance in-ceiling speaker zones while displaying a slideshow on monitors dispersed throughout the house. Among the extravagant extras at work here are a switch in the master closet for flipping on the iron in the laundry room, a chandelier that flickers when it's time to switch out the toilet paper, and a virtual butler that warns of impending visitors. Looks to us like Rosie the Robot's days are numbered. Check out the source link for more automated overkill from this year's runners up.
Paul Allen compares working with Bill Gates to 'being in hell' (video)
Paul Allen doesn't give many interviews, but Microsoft's famously eclectic co-founder recently decided to sit down with 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl, to discuss his juicy new memoir, The Idea Man. It's a book peppered with old stories of Allen's early days as a programmer, when he and Bill Gates would spend their days searching for discarded code in dumpsters and building software for the original Altair computer. But the memoir's most intriguing (and controversial) revelations revolve around Allen's personal and professional relationship with Gates, whom he described to Stahl as a gifted businessman with a penchant for being a total jerk. According to Allen, Gates would regularly engage in testy shouting matches with his Microsoft brethren, and wouldn't hesitate to sling "personal verbal attacks" against anyone who dared to disagree with him. Allen says he tolerated Gates' explosions, for the most part, even though he desperately wanted to tell him that "working with you is like being in hell." The two hit a particularly rough patch after Gates allegedly plotted to squeeze Allen out of the company, not long after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma -- an incident that spurred Allen to leave Microsoft, shortly thereafter. Gates, for his part, hasn't commented on Allen's tell-all, nor, apparently, has he even discussed it with his former partner. The next time the two men sit down for a chat, however, Allen says he expects a "heated discussion." Naturally. You can watch the interview after the break, along with a glimpse at some of Allen's most jaw-dropping toys.
EV milestone: Fisker rolls first Karma off the assembly line, aims to deliver 7,000 this year
Patience can bear such wonderful fruit, can't it? The electrified (and electrifying) Karma, which first graced the world with its presence back in 2008, has managed to negotiate the slalom course of funding and logistical issues that faces any new upstart company and can now boast its very first production unit. The Karma 1 above will be making its way out within a month (presumably after every nook, cranny and capacitor has been polished to perfection) and company spokesman Roger Ormisher says the plan is to ramp up very slowly and carefully, reaching "over 7,000 deliveries" by year's end. Considering the rate at which Leafs and Volts have been selling so far, that doesn't actually sound half bad.
Steampunk USB cufflinks are as awesome as they are pricey
You wouldn't think something classifiable as "wearable storage" would look so darn dapper, but here we are, staring at just about the finest cufflinks we ever did see. Not only are these handmade shirt cuffs beautiful in the most steampunk of ways, they're also pretty useful as each features an 8GB flash storage chip with the utterly ubiquitous USB connector attached. Basically, they're what James Bond would wear if James Bond wore really awesome cufflinks. The general idea behind them might not exactly be original anymore, but we can't really fault the execution here. What we could probably find fault with is our lack of $225 of disposable coin, the price one will have to pay to sport this unique pair of hand-carved, walnut-enclosed memory sticks. [Thanks, Amelia]
11 The Beautiful Game is to foosball tables as Vertu is to basic Nokias (video)
Foosball, it's the game of champions too afraid to step outside and get their boots muddy. If that's a sentiment you can relate to, you'll have no trouble understanding why a team of Dutch designers has put together this here foosball table deluxe, which they've called 11 The Beautiful Game. In development since way back in 2008, the 11 has just made its way into limited production with a pre-order available via GRO Design's website. We had a little looksie inside the company's portfolio of past works and, as it turns out, it's already responsible for designing the Nokia 6500 and 6500 Slide, meaning it should be well versed in the art of massaging metal into beauty. Each unit ordered takes 12 weeks of meticulous handcrafting to build, but if you haven't got that long to wait, the video's just after the break right now. [Thanks, Martin]
Æsir's Yves Béhar-designed phone starts at just €7,250, plenty left for mortgage on the summer home
Okay, okay, €7,250 (about $10,150) sounds positively exorbitant for a phone with a microscopic 2-inch display that dares to boast of "200 calendar entries" as a "feature," but hear us out -- that's a drop in the bucket compared to the €42,000 ($58,800) you'll pay for the gilded version. That's right: for €7,250 you get nothing more than common stainless steel coating the front and rear of your Æsir Yves Béhar, the latest entry in the long-running luxury phone trend that includes Mobiado, Gresso, and Nokia subsidiary Vertu, among others. As the name implies, the phone -- which, we'll admit, is pretty gorgeous -- was penned by none other than famed designer Yves Béhar... but then again, so is the $200 Jawbone Jambox. Six of one, half-dozen of the other, right? Look for it to ship around the world in the summer and fall.
Pure Luxury takes DARWINmachine's Hammerhead PC, adds primo parts and lifetime warranty
Does this badass gaming rig look familiar? It should -- it's basically a DARWINmachine Hammerhead HMR989 with some sweet, sweet cherries on top. In an attempt to live up to its name, Pure Luxury's pimped it out with an Intel Core i7-990X processor, 12GB of pricey Kingston RAM, two NVIDIA GTX 580 graphics cards, two 128GB SSDs, 2TB of magnetic storage, and a Blu-ray drive for good measure. The company claims the killer combo can boot in four seconds, and run Call of Duty: Black Ops at 1920 x 1200 resolution with 8xMSAA at 285fps. All of those components plug into an ASUS Rampage III Gene motherboard and a 1.2 kilowatt modular power supply to juice the blood-red monster machine, and there's a lifetime warranty with 24/7 phone support. Should any of those expensive parts fail, Pure Luxury says it'll replace them with equal or better performing components and foot the shipping bill too. Of course, all this luxury doesn't come cheap -- you'll drop $9,500 before you see one of these puppies shipped to your house. Makes the original $2,900 Hammerhead look downright affordable, no? %Gallery-118728%
Fisker Karma enters production on March 21st, our future shortly thereafter
It's been a long road for the Karma to reach production, but now it finally has an end in sight: March 21st. That's the date Fisker promises to start rolling its gorgeous PHEV off assembly lines, with deliveries to the first humans to reserve one coming up in April. The price for the 2012 Karma remains a mighty $95,900, though if you ask our brethren over at Autoblog, that's a bunch of pennies well spent. Fisker expects to start producing 1,500 Karmas per month starting in October and to then sell 15,000 a year from 2012 onwards.
Leica M9 Titanium unboxed, handled with all the care a $32,000 camera deserves (video)
Even in its "standard" magnesium alloy body, the Leica M9 is an exclusive piece of kit that prices out all but the most fervent and deep-pocketed rangefinder lovers. Nonetheless, Leica has a habit of putting together even more limited editions of its shooters, one of which has recently been subjected to a thorough unboxing and video overview. Only 500 special edition Titanium M9s cameras have been produced, each one individually numbered and costing nearly £20,000 (or about $32,000) in a set with a Summilux-M 35mm F1.4 lens, also made from titanium. With a full frame 18 megapixel CCD sensor and dual image processors inside, it's a fully fleshed-out beast of a portable shooter, but you'd probably expect nothing less given the fact it costs more than most cars. Go past the break to ogle this special M9. [Thanks, Aaron] Update: Leica reached out to clarify that the M9 Titanium costs $26,500 in the US.
Ocean Empire LSV is the self-sufficient superyacht for the super-rich
It looks like your luxury extra-national seafaring utopia just got one step closer to reality. The Ocean Empire Life Support Vessel is a 144-foot Catamaran Superyacht manufactured by Sauter Carbon Offset Design, and it features not only "all of the hotel amenities of a luxury global voyager" but two hydroponic farms and fishing facilities and three sustainable power sources: a 400 square meter 70kw solar array, an auxiliary 80 square meter (200kw) automated SkySail that drives the ship to 18+ knots and charges her battery systems, and a Motion Damping Regeneration (MDR) system developed with Maurer Sohnes Gmbh that can produce up to 50kw of electricity as it steadies the ship on rolling seas. How much will it cost you to take yourself, nine of your closest friends, and a crew of eight to the sea -- and remain there indefinitely? About $17 million. Hit the source link to order a couple for yourself. The vessel is built to order and you can have it ready to go in about eighteen months. At least it's cheaper than Saddam's yacht!
Vertu Ascent Ti Ferrari is a celebration of extreme self-indulgence
International jet-set elite, your new phone is here! That's right, Vertu and Ferrari have teamed up yet again to produce the phone that serves two important purposes: showing the world that you own a Ferrari, and showing the world that you don't need a phone that does much besides receiving calls from your accountant. Essentially the recently announced Ascent refresh, this bad boy features a 2-inch QVGA sapphire crystal display and quadband 3G. The case itself is constructed from forged titanium with a matte black PVD finish and the same hand stitched leather as the interior of the car it's inspired by. But you better be fast! Only 2,011 will be made. (Get it?) Hit the source link to order three or four for yourself. [Thanks, James]
Gresso classies up the iPad with 18k gold logo and ancient wood case
We'll openly admit we never knew what African Blackwood was until Gresso started applying the stuff to its line of extremely luxurious cellphone mods, but now we can't imagine a new product from the Russian company without the 200-year old timber making an appearance. And sure enough, the Gresso iPad's rear is composed almost entirely of Dalbergia melanoxylon, broken up only by the insertion of an 18-karat gold Apple logo. Strangely, in spite of its extravagant constituent materials, this design is a very restrained, dare we say, classy, affair. It goes on sale on New Year's Eve at an unannounced price, but you know what they say: if you have to ask or you have to work for a living, you probably can't afford it.
$600k a week iPad-controlled charter yacht
First land, then air, and now sea. This $600,000 per week charter superyacht, called "Solemates," is also controlled by Apple's iPad device. When you rent the boat and step onboard, the captain hands you an iPad with a custom-made app that allows you to control the lights and climate systems on the boat, control entertainment systems, and even summon crew members while onboard. Pretty snazzy, though of course it's far from cheap -- anyone with enough money to spare to rent this boat probably doesn't have any issue picking up an iPad anyway. Of course the iPad isn't the only amenity on the craft -- a wood interior fills up with natural light and has spaces for dining and partying, and there's a sun deck on top with a jacuzzi for relaxing in when you're not staying in one of the cabin spaces for 12 guests. Quite a boat to be on, indeed. [via 9to5Mac]
Fisker raises Karma plug-in hybrid base price to $95,900, brings that 750i back into consideration
Oh, sure -- gas is bound to hit $4 a gallon before 2020, but you can buy an awful let of petrol with the money you'll save from dodging Fisker's increasingly expensive Karma. 'Course, those looking to blow 100 grand on an eco-friendly automobile are probably doing so just to throw Ma Earth a bone, but still -- money matters. Originally teased way back in the fall of 2007, Fisker's first plug-in hybrid still hasn't ended up anywhere near mass production, but it has managed to see two rather significant upticks in price all the while. Right around two years ago, we saw the $80,000 MSRP boosted by $7,000, and today, prospective customers are being notified via email that the Karma's base price is now sitting at $95,900 before a $950 destination fee. Granted, the company insists that this includes an integrated solar roof panel (valued at $5,000), and it still starts at $1,400 less than a Panamera S. And yeah, that base price does shrink to $88,400 after you include federal tax incentives. That said, we're doubting high-rollers that were dead-set on handing over $73,000 or so after tax breaks are currently stoked about an increase this large, particularly when there's still no definitive ship date. To Fisker's credit, we've seen General Motors go through similar trials and tribulations surrounding the Volt, and even at $95k, you'll be hard pressed to find more sexy than this on four (street legal) wheels.
Tonino Lamborghini's Evoluzione runs Android, shares little with an actual Lamborghini
If you're looking for something a little smarter than Tonino Lamborghini's Spyder series of luxury phones (and we mean "smarter" in the operating system sense, not the wisdom of purchasing such a device), look no further than the Evoluzione. This puppy runs Android 2.1 (Froyo might be available in the future), but falls well short of its automotive namesake by sticking with a middling HVGA display of 3.2 inches and a 600MHz processor. Can you picture a Murcielago with a V-6? We can't. Good news is that it costs a whole hell of a lot less, too: S$788, which works out to about $600.
Moine-Garde offers finely rendered watch apps for indiscriminate Android owners
Moine-Garde recently came to our attention, and we were quite frankly amused by its offer of "fine virtual timepieces" -- if only because, in this context, "fine" and "virtual" would seem to cancel each other out. But like the best websites and catalogs catering to the wealthy, social climbers, or the just plain gullible, this company is not just selling Android apps, it's selling a lifestyle. Some of our favorite item descriptions: EX-01 Homme ($15) Entering the boardroom at 8:30 AM - everyone awaits a decision. Mentally going over the broader picture. Calmly sitting down at the end of the table. Placing the phone quietly on its black glass surface. Time: 8:31. Let the meeting begin. F-01 M'elle ($7) Strolling down Rue Saint-Florentin. New dress: Check. Artichokes: Check. Hometown Crémant: Check. All is ready. Thinking about his smile on the last date. Loving the scent of vanilla from the bakery across the road. 7:10 PM. Incoming text message: "Chéri - Can't wait to see you tonight." M-01 Jaune ($3) Finally got around to reading Fritz Neumeyer's essay on Mies Van Der Rohe. 3:05 PM, Sunday afternoon - Coldplay in the background. Sitting comfortably with a tall glass of Chablis. The patterns of rain on the terrace windows are simply amazing. Page 122. M-02 Verte (Coming soon!) 12:30 PM, Singapore. Lunch break at the School of Art & Design. On the rooftop enjoying a Katong Laksa. Green as far as the eye can see. Remembering a Murakami sentence. Watching a plane go by. How time flies. Have to return to the lecture. Guess that's ok. At this point you're probably asking yourself if this is all a joke, or if these guys are serious -- and to be honest, we can't tell either. But we do know this: $15 is quite a lot to spend on a watch app, even if it does display hours, minutes, and seconds. PR after the break.
Luxury iPhone 4s, iPads a great idea for well-heeled givers
Looking for a Christmas gift that is so unique that only a handful of people on the planet will find it beneath the Christmas tree? If you happen to have a wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket, then you might want to contact luxury electronics designer Stuart Hughes. Liverpool, UK-based designer Hughes recently created a £5,000,000 ($7.9 million) rose gold and diamond encrusted iPhone 4, but he has a bargain available for holiday gifting. For a mere £39,995 ($63,200), you can pick up one of ten iPhone 4s that have had the everyday glass back replaced with materials from a 65 million-year-old T-Rex tooth and a meteoric stone. This lovely iPhone has a bezel made of 8.5 carat diamonds, and the Apple logo is made of platinum and diamonds. If you miss out on picking up one of these iPhones for whomever you're trying to impress, you can always pick up one of the luxury iPads that Hughes has designed. The Supreme Fire iPad (£109,995, $173,814) is made from a 64GB 3G iPad draped in 2.5 kg of 24 carat gold. If that seems like it would be a cheap gift for your loved one, you can always upgrade to the £299,995 ($474,053) Solid Platinum iPad Supreme Edition. The casing is made of 2.7 kg of pure platinum, encrusted with 173 diamonds weighing in at 85.5 carats. For many of us, these products are slightly out of reach, but we have video on the next page featuring Mr. Hughes and some of his earlier designs for you to drool over. [via Computerworld UK]
Ona Union Street DSLR / laptop messenger bag review
Ever heard of Ona? Up until last week, we hadn't either. Turns out, Ona's a purveyor of "fine" camera bags and accessories, and given that it's the holiday season, we figured it prudent to have a gander at the outfit's latest and greatest -- you know, just in case you've a camera lover in your family who you've yet to buy for. The all-new Union Street ($279) is quite clearly an upscale messenger bag on the outside, but the internals are arranged in a way that the amateur photog / gadget lover would appreciate. There's room for a few pens (of the lens and / or ink variety), a smartphone, a navigation system, a 15-inch (or smaller) laptop and -- according to Ona -- a DSLR along with three lenses. The other notable aspect is the waxed canvas exterior (dubbed Waxwear), which is generally more rugged and weather resistant than your average patch of suede or leather. How's it all shake out? Join us after the break for our pair of pennies. %Gallery-109233%
LG's next set of 3D glasses were designed by a designer, will grace CES 2011
Alain Mikli, for those of you (and us) who didn't know, is a highly regarded designer of eyeglasses. LG, as we're all aware, is a 3D-peddling purveyor of HDTVs. Marry the two together and the offspring is a rather fetching set of 3D goggles, built out of "select metals," and featuring a co-patented nose bridge and perfect weight balancing for the utmost in user comfort. LG promises to let us play around with the new eyewear at CES next month, which we'll be more than happy to do -- telling you about the eventual price tag, on the other hand, probably won't be such a pleasant experience. More imagery of the specs and the full press release follow after the break.
