Yanko Design - Latest Posts

Posted: 07 Dec 2008 11:17 PM PST

Sleigh ride all finished–
the mare, eating Christmas oats,
hears house noise, and snorts!

Want a Lubix bluetooth headset? Just leave us a Holiday haiku comment. 7 winners will receive a headset along with 2 skins thanks to our friends at Lubix. Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Ends Dec. 19th.

Sponsor: Lubix

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Computer Fits in My Palm, Pano Logic Review

Posted: 08 Dec 2008 12:56 AM PST

Desktop virtualization is a phrase you may be hearing more of sooner than later. The idea of computing in the cloud as opposed to today’s private desktop machines isn’t new but there haven’t been many products to put idea into practice. The Pano Logic designed by Whipsaw Inc. is the first of which I’ve seen blends the beauty of minimalist design with a seamless computing experience made near identical to the computer I’m using now to type this.

They call it a thin client. There’s no hard drive, no processor, nothing but a graphics driver, basic I/O inputs for power, keyboard, mouse, and ethernet port. It boots up like a regular computer bringing you the Windows XP or Vista OS. The experience is almost identical to having a regular computer. Lag is dependent on broadband speed but everything is done via virtualization and computed thru a centralized cloud. Even files are stored this way. Once the hardware becomes obsolete, you simply upgrade but never have to deal with transferring or moving files. You never have to deal with virus protection, firewalls, software installation or even OS upgrades because all that is stored and happens in the cloud.

What you actually pay for is the Pano Logic unit itself and $20/month to run the virtualization service - a small free considering you never have to deal with software.

The design is incredibly minimal and blingy at the same time thanks to its smooth cubic shell and mirror finish. The entire surface is a finger print magnet but thankfully the only part you ever have to touch is the glowing corner power button. The device is quite heavy for something only 9 cubic inches.

Pano Logic is currently targeted for business applications with very narrow needs in terms of software management and virtualization. It’s not quite ready for primetime consumer use but it’s a wonderful exercise in practice for a technology we may see more of in the future.

What we liked:

Beautiful design
Unit costs are based on need but monthly service is quite affordable
Simple to operate, offers near identical experience to regular computing
No need to ever deal with software or OS management

What could be improved:

Wish it came with matching keyboard and mouse
Video output max’d at 1600×1200, needs a bump to HD resolutions
Needs wireless option

Designer: Whipsaw Inc. [ Pano Logic ]

pano, whipsaw

Umbrella Lights The Way

Posted: 08 Dec 2008 12:15 AM PST

LightDrops looks like an ordinary umbrella but don’t let that fool ya. There’s more than meets the eye here. As water pours over the surface, potential energy from raindrops slamming onto the conductive membrane called PDVF transforms into electrical energy powering embedded LEDs sending your umbrella ablaze with light. The heavier the rain, the brighter the light to help you see your way.

Designer: Sang-Kyun Park

Sang Kyun Park

Now That’s a Grassy Phone

Posted: 08 Dec 2008 12:03 AM PST

In today’s rapid consumerist society, consumption comes into question. How durable do we want our devices to be when they become near obsolete in 5 years? The source materials that make up their build often take hundreds of years to break down. An alternative ideology are disposable products made from natural sources. The Natural Year Phone is made of hay, sans screen and soft keys. The hard components get recycled while the hay is um. . . well I wouldn’t smoke it.

Designer: Je-Hyun Kim

Je Hyun Kim

More Impossibles from Mac: “Tired of Numbers”

Posted: 08 Dec 2008 12:02 AM PST

Mac Funamizu names his newest project a little too well, calling the desktop hygrometer and thermometer “Tired of Numbers.” Yanko Design is, incase you were unaware, primarily a blog about design concepts. Project after project, time after time, Mac Funamizu defines the Yanko motto: “Form Beyond Function.” And I mean that in as positive a manner as possible!

These objects are pretty self-explainitory, with the exception of a detail from Mac: “Red circles become blue when the temperature becomes negative.” Wild ideas! I wouldn’t mind the temp one for my desk. These were probably thought of about 15 years too late. They’d have been right at home amongst the rest of the colored-water objects sold at the fun-science stores in the Mall of America all that time ago.

For more extreme Mac action, click his name below.

Designer: Mac Funamizu

Mac Funamizu

Gibson’s World Takeover Scheme with Dark Fire Robot Guitars

Posted: 08 Dec 2008 12:01 AM PST

The Dark Fire is Gibson’s second robot guitar in so many years. This one is a beast. Three state-of-the-art pickups, robot-accurate frets and neck, “revolutionary rotary potentiometer.” Wonder what that is? The Dark Fire guitar “can play every single guitar tone ever.” Seem like a stretch? Come with me, and we shall spell out the doom that is the Dark Fire… !

Spelled out below are the important pieces of the new robot guitar from Gibson- read them out of order if you like, or read the parts you are interested in. If you’d like to discuss any part of the guitar, make sure to speak in layman’s terms for us laymen and women who don’t know what it really means to play 25 minute solos and shoot rockets out of the neck of the ax.

We begin with the pickups:

P-90H Pickup (neck) Takes the 50-years-and-running Gibson P-90 single-coil pickup and advances it further. The P-90E has “none of the 60-cycle hum that usually plagues traditional singlecoil pickups.” No hum on a single coil! Defying science!

Burstbucker 3 Pickup (bridge) Is the latest attempt at perfecting the humbucker. A Humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup patented by Seth Lover of Gibson Guitars. A Humbucker pickup is two coils facing opposed, creating common-mode rejection to keep guitar feedback and hum in check while allowing the electric guitar to make noise. The Burstbucker 3 corrects the original imprecise construction and “provides historically accurate PAF tone with two slightly overwound coils.”

Piezo Pickup (bridge) This piezo bridge pickup consists of six individual piezo pickups (protip: look up Piezoelectricity.) Six piezo pickups for six strings, all going through a “studio-quality” active amplifier.

Pickup Combo: Two electromagnetic pickups and the piezo bridge pickup. This setup is “wired in such a way to allow each individual coil to be used in a switching matrix, giving you over 20 separate combinations of tone and an incredible array of tonal possibilities.”

Next with the other main components:

Accoustic Capability using a “revolutionary rotary potentiometer.” A potentiometer is a knob, usually used for volume, etc.; in this case, a rotary potentiometer works in a more physical manner, (like a rotary phone works, in a way,) turning the switch clockwise or counterclockwise to move between 0% and 100% acoustic sound.

Powerhead Tuners: Automatic or by-hand, the tuners can be adjusted to any preset tuning in less than a second. That means some crazy crap could go on in live performances with this thang. Radically different sound, strum to strum.

Battery Box: The battery on the Dark Fire is such that it can sustain 500 tunings. And, like all good things chargeable, the Dark Fire can be played while it charges.

RIP: The Robot Interface Pack of the Dark Fire allows you to easily work live or in-studio with outputs galore, working soundly with Mac and Windows and etc. Programs Ableton Live 7 Gibson Studio Edition and Native Instruments' Guitar Rig 3 come with the Dark Fire. With Guitar Rig 3, download tone presents of famous artists like Ace Frehley and play like you’re completely awesome (like Ace Frehley.)

Super-features:

Perfection Achieved: The Dark Fire is cut as close to perfect as we’ve yet achieved on the planet earth. The technology that brings this about is the PerfectSetup™ by Deutsch company PLEK. The PerfectSetup™ ensures that every string sits on every fret in as perfect a way possible for the player of the guitar.

Upgrade Robot: This ain’t no Apple product. You don’t have to buy all-new, you can upgrade the robot guitar you bought last year easily, morphing it into the Dark Fire. (It’s like praying to the great Rock Demon for a more deadly sound.)

And extras:

Also… Locking tuners, Teflon-based frictionless nut, stud-locking bridge, and “a chambering system that gives each one near-perfect tone, balance and weight.” All these features creating “one of the best-sustaining Les Pauls ever produced.”

Did I skip anything? Yes, I did. That’s how much stuff is going on with this guitar.

Designer: Gibson USA