What if you’re a rather forgetful person? You should write everything down. But what happens if you’re the kind of person who forgets his notepad, too? Well, you’re completely hopeless, I have no advice for you. Perhaps anticipating my cynicism, the Sky, a wi-fi enabled smartpen from Livescribe, was designed, maybe not for the forgetful, but at least to help them out a little. Continue reading →

While there are a lot of smartphones that resemble tablets in size and function. And one is really a smaller or bigger version of the other. But still, people usually buy one of each. An iPhone and an iPad. A Google Nexus 4 and a Nexus 10. How would our tablet / smartphone experiences be different if we could just combine the two when we want to?

If we occasionally need a bigger screen, why buy a completely different product that does the same thing your smartphone does, just at many hundreds of dollars more? The PadFone from Asus is an attempt to merge this smartphone / tablet confusion for good, with everything you do coming from the little 4.3″ cellphone. Continue reading →

Tiny seems to be standard for design of digital gadgets these days. Even over-sized smartphones are occasionally described as just smaller tablets. MacBook Airs and Ultrabooks prioritize thinness. E-Readers with newer touchscreen technology trim a fifth of their form by removing the older keypads. Now, streaming media to your television is available with the palm-sized PLAiR. Continue reading →

Until someone designs a product that never needs to be charged, and therefore never needs a cable to connect it from device to outlet, the tools that organize our micro-USB and 30-pin charger messes are the difference between clutter and sanity. The other attribute we should think about is style. There are many cheap, plastic spring-loaded cable winders that I found are prone to winding into a ball that looks like a cat fiddled with it. On the other hand, there are products like the Roll Up Travel Charger from Restoration Hardware. Continue reading →

What on Earth is 4K? It seems like there is no end to screen resolutions, and they get sharper and sharper. I wouldn’t be surprised that at some point TV screen resolutions get so clear that something will happen to our physiology. Until that point, it’s exciting to see what technology companies engineer to improve visual clarity.

Leave it to television standard-bearers Sony to push this impressive 4K into popular electronics. The term refers to a screen resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels. Confusing? Put another way, 4K is four times our current high-definition screen resolution, 1080p. Continue reading →

Sitting down to read a book is a simple activity, a behavior like drinking a glass of water. Whether you’re patient enough to stay seated and finish a chapter is different. But reading a book is basically a two-step process: take book out of bookcase; open binding and read. The Kobo Mini, a compact version of the Kobo Inc.’s eReader, seems to emphasize this “it’s easy to read” principle, only in electronic form. Continue reading →

If most design trends didn’t already make it clear, our future is flat. Not boring, that is, but flush, full of industrially designed products admiring the sharp square and smoothness of the untouched surface of a lake.

The new DesignLine TV from Philips is a companion to this flatly designed future. Consisting of a single sheet of glass, when turned off, the DesignLine looks more like a spotless window than a television. Because of its sleek form, the DesignLine can be arranged just about anywhere in a room and look attractive. Continue reading →

A lot of modern life seems to have to do with controlling your environment. Either for your bedroom or your office, the options are all over for you to adjust temperature, humidity, noise levels, and especially lighting. The best of these options are the most beautifully designed.

The Hue Bulb series from appliance standard-bearers Philips paired with Apple to create a completely personalized lighting experience. Continue reading →

As our televisions seem to be turning into huge computers, or our computers are magnifying to become all-connected televisions, it’s difficult to find an affordable middle ground. It seems like that’s why the Roku box was designed, to give us an affordable, functional streaming media device. Continue reading →

Today, regular checkups don’t mean you need to see your doctor – all you need is your iPhone or iPad and a touch of your finger. Meet Tinke by Zensorium, a tiny monitoring device that will help you track your fitness and wellness anytime anywhere. Continue reading →