Yanko Design - Latest Posts |  |
| Hush-a-by-baby, Sleep Well Tonight Posted: 20 Jan 2009 07:18 AM PST Baby sleeping peacefully at night equals a happy, rested parent. This formula is quite a tricky, elusive one that most parents try to achieve. Nappy changes in the dead of the night is a given, but it's the lulling them back to sleep that requires the patience. White Noise is a baby-soothing device that plays calming music while emitting a reassuring glow that will help in comforting your baby. This baby-soother features a projector that can display delightful images atop of the device. A simple, pure concept that looks easygoing to the eye. Designer: Niels Caris        |
| Now More iPhone Friendly, ZAGG Z.Buds Review Posted: 20 Jan 2009 05:47 AM PST Back in October 2008, ZAGG sent us a prototype of their iPhone Z.Buds earbuds promising the best buds for your money. A lot of companies make the same promise but this is one product I think is worth a look if you’re willing to buy outside Apple’s utopian product design and brand control. Hit the jump for my full review. Earbuds are a love ‘em - hate ‘em thing for me. I love the portability but usually at the detriment of sound quality unless I throw down hundreds for premium brands. The Z.Buds fit right in the middle between budget conscious consumers and audiophiles. The first thing I noticed was the incredibly long cord, 54 inches! It’s funny because the Apple branded earbuds are notoriously short and these are a bit too long. Fortunately tangled messes are kept at bay with sliding ball clasps that keep the cords neatly bundled. The cord itself is covered in woven nylon which is a huge improvement over the rubber/plastic ones found on most earbuds. It gives it a bit more style and also helps to prevent those magical tangles. Since we received a prototype it didn’t come with any various sized silicon caps but the retail version does have them. Therefor I can’t comment too much on fit but even the stock medium sized ones held snug in my ear especially if you wear it reverse-back like the photograph at the bottom. The buds are metal but super lightweight, I’m talking featherweight here. The silicon ear caps are very soft so prolonged use shouldn’t irritate. The Z.Buds also double as a handsfree set for calls. A little toggle on the cord lets your seamlessly switch from music to phone calls. Call quality came in loud and clear with no crackling or static hissing. Further down the cord is a jog wheel for volume control tho I wonder why ZAGG just didn’t integrate it into the toggle switch itself. Most people will probably use it for music and I was pleasantly surprised. Treble sounded crisp, bass very responsive at both the low and high ends. At the lower end bass was slightly muffled but you can control that directly on the iPhone’s iPod UI. ZAGG claims the Z.Buds have noise canceling technology but I couldn’t tell especially compared directly to ones from Shure. They cost a very reasonable $80 and sound quality is superior to the Apple branded ones. There’s no wonder why they are a 2009 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Showcase Honoree so if you were going to upgrade to the $80 Apple earbuds, take a look at these first. They’re not as sexy as the earbuds from V-Moda but they sound just as good. What we liked:
What could be improved:
Company: ZAGG [ Buy It Here ]     |
| Harvey ‘Two-Face’ Dent Would Approve Posted: 20 Jan 2009 04:43 AM PST Indecisive? How about a GPS coin called the Inbi-Out to make all your decisions. File this under “not gonna happen anytime soon,” but it’s nice to fantasize. The Inbi-Out coin tosses a 50/50 chance of where you should eat, drink, hang out, etc.., and displays the final decision on a tiny embedded screen complete with GPS coordinates and directions. It’ll also record every destination you go to into some magical databank for future reference (or dystopian spying). Too soon? Designer: Ju-Wei Chen     |
| Posted: 20 Jan 2009 04:27 AM PST I don’t know about where you live but here in Los Angeles the air is so incredibly dry, the office becomes stuffy by mid-morning. The simple solution would be to invest in a humidifier but a good one powerful enough to affect a large open office would be huge and expensive. The Pudding Cup is a personal humidifier small enough to lug around, yet powerful enough to moisturize the surrounding air. It’s designed to look like a pudding dish/cup. It stores away neatly but when those high and dry times come, simply invert and dunk it into a water filled mug. Within minutes fresh water vapor will begin to condense and shoot out. The entire thing is rechargeable via USB. I’ve seen several USB powered humidifiers but none as charming as this. Designers: Dai-Ho Hyun & Hwa-Yeon Kim     |
| Iconic 70’s Desk Makes a Comeback Posted: 20 Jan 2009 03:00 AM PST In 1970 Ernest Igl designed a desk that became a cult object for accomplished collectors at international auctions. This groundbreaking and legendary desk is now being reproduced again in a limited run. In the early 70’s the igl jet was a kind of revolution regarding shape and manufacturing. By using new materials and its unique design this desk became an icon in modern furnishings. 1,970 units of the igl jet are being fabricated with modern technology for the highest quality. It’s made of a special high-class polyurethan mix (that is 100% recyclable) with soft matte or high gloss finish, available in pearl-white, deep black, aluminium-metallic or orange-metallic and comes with three steel and soft-stop drawers on each side. Anyone going to get one? Just assume it’s going to cost a whole money bin. Designer: Ernest Igl     |
| Posted: 20 Jan 2009 02:44 AM PST A bulb that somehow manages to include a speaker as well, does this sound farfetched to you? Does to me, but considering the possibilities available to us in the future, maybe we will have something like this in our living rooms and pubs. Wireless speakers are there as are light bulbs, so you basically put them together in a rather sophisticated way, citing technological advances as your friend. It will be amusing to see homes screwing on the SoundBulb. Wireless speakers streaming music all over the place with the shimmy of disco lights; sounds eccentric! Apparently the parts of the SoundBulb are replaceable and can be upgraded from time to time. My only concern with this design is the heat factor, after all bulbs do produce a lot of heat and could be damaging to the speakers. Designers: Hoang M Nguyen, Poom Puttorngul & Anh Nguyen     |
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