How the Nexus One Was Created [Nexus One]

Google has launched a series of videos on its official Nexus One YouTube channel, documenting various details on how one of the world’s best Android phones was created.
The videos are being gradually rolled out; two are already live, and the other three will appear in the next three days. Other than soothing music, cool animations and 3D models, they do contain some interesting information. For example, the folks at Engadget and Android Central noticed there’s a car dock there, and another dock with an integrated spare battery charger, which aren’t yet available in stores. Check out the first video in the series below.


[Mashable]

Is This How the Google Tablet Will Look in Action? [Google]

Looks like we're getting a first look at what Google's Chrome OS based tablet may look like. Apparently Glen Murphy, Google Chrome's designer, posted a UI demo concept video along with some images on Google's official Chromium site.


[Gizmodo via Chrome Source via TechCrunch]

Nokia Files Patent For a Bendy Phone With Many Functions [Patents]

Images of the Nokia Morph, a flexible concept phone with a transparent screen, cropped up nearly two years ago. The company's recently-filed patent for a device with a bendy screen suggests that the Gumbyphone may still have legs.

Nokia recently filed a patent for a device with a flexible screen that takes on different applications when the hardware is bent into different shapes.


While that diagram might make it seem like Nokia is trading in camping gear, the patent illuminates some of the phone's possible uses:

In one embodiment the pre-specified shape is also associated with a movement. As a pre-specified shape is detected and followed by the detection of a pre-specified movement an associated function is executed.'
'FIG. 10a shows a device having been bent to resemble a can, possibly used to hold beer or soda. A search will thus be performed for a bar or a pub either a specific franchise or any bar or pub in the neighborhood.
FIG. 10b shows a device having been bent to resemble a bowl. A search will thus be performed for a restaurant either a specific franchise or any restaurant in the neighborhood.
FIG. 10c shows a device having been bent to resemble a roof or a tent. A search will thus be performed for a hotel, motel or guest house either a specific franchise or any hotel, motel or guesthouse in the neighborhood.

There's no telling if this patent will amount to anything, but for now just be happy that Nokia's bendy phone may eventually see the light of day.
[Gizmodo via Go Rumors via Slash Gear]

The Invisible OLED Laptop to End All Laptops [Laptops]

It's only a proof of concept, but this is laptop with a clear OLED screen—but a stone's throw from those floating 3D displays of Avatar. Practical? Not necessarily. The future? OBVIOUSLY.
The resolution, I don't know. It's pixely, but let's not quibble.
You see right through the thing, then something appears on the screen (like a white background), and you can't see through it anymore.
Are you processing this? No, you can't be. It's only 2010. Man wasn't prepared for this kind of technology yet. The brain hasn't evolved enough. We're primates. Squirrels. Slugs.
Maybe in 100 or 200 years, the great artists of the world will reflect on what's happened today and make some sort of sense of it all. Until then, we'll just keep on breathing, in, out. Until then, we'll weep.
[Gizmodo]

Transparent Truck System Could Actually Save Lives [Concept]

Art Lebedev calls this simple invention—a camera that takes images from the front of a truck to show it on screens in the back—Transparentius. I call it geeneeuzz.

I don't know why this drawing shows a tank at the front of the truck, but I guess that in Russia people drive T-90s like in the US people drive Fords. I wish the technology was so cheap that this could be implemented for real, because I'm sure it would save a lot of lives on the road.
[Gizmodo via Engadget]

Mag+ Concept From Popular Science Publishers Shows Thinking Outside The (Tablet) Box [Tablets]

The digital magazine battle royale has gone up a notch today, with the publishers of Popular Science magazine creating this beautifully graceful concept. Game on, Wired and Sports Illustrated, game on.
Publisher Bonnier has worked with design agency BERG to come up with the Mag+ tablet, which has the magazine pages run vertically, rather than on the next screen like we've always seen so far. It actually replicates the experience of reading a magazine really well, as pages can be flipped like you would with a normal magazine, and when you encounter an article you'd like to read, you scroll down to view it.
If this is the future for the magazine industry, suddenly I feel a lot more hopeful.
Take a gander at the video of BERG talking through the concept here:


Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.
And video footage of the prototype here:

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.
Mag+ (video prototype footage only) from Bonnier on Vimeo.
[Gizmodo via BERG via SlashGear]

This Car Will Run at 1,000mph [Cars]

Bloodhound is a car being designed to run at a swooshing one thousand miles-per-hour. That's 1,609 km/h, which is way faster than the speed of sound. As the video shows, it'll have more thrust than the Eurofighter combat jet:
Of course, the car has yet to be built, let alone break that record. But the effort is quite serious, these people are not amateur, and they have serious sponsors. It will use one EJ200 jet like the one used by the Eurofighter—hopefully a real one, unlike the one I got into at Dubai two years ago—alonside a one 18" hybrid rocket, and a V12 piston engines. The 6500-kilogram Bloodhound—which is being built in Bristol—will have a 47,000lbs trust, with a top speed of 1050mph.

The driver will be former RAF Wing Comander Andy Green, who broke the landspeed record in 1997.
[Gizmodo via Bloodhound via Techradar]

Excellent idea: flat outlet pulls out to allow extra plug

One must be careful when re-inventing industrial design that has been around for a long, long time. Chances are, it was like that for a reason. The Node Outlet, for instance, looks cool at first, but upon reflection has some serious and dangerous problems. I don’t see any similarly obvious issues with this pull-out plug, but hello, I’m a blogger. What the hell do I know?

I suppose the major challenge with something like this is making sure there’s no current interference. Or… resistance… polarization. Never mind, I give up. Can you guys think of any reasons why this shouldn’t work?
More info and pictures at Art Lebedev’s site.
[CrunchGear]

8-bit CPU with 4KB of RAM apes iPhone interface

Watching this video, it doesn’t seem very much more than a demo for a rather anonymous-looking little touchscreen device, a PMP prototype maybe. Then you find out that the whole thing is running an 8-bit processor with 4KB of RAM. Touchscreen tricks like scrolling momentum are implemented perfectly well, and there appears to be little or no lag. Pac-Man runs at 60fps, which is more than I can say for the version on my G1.
The touchscreen is salvaged from an off-brand PMP, and the CPU is a 12Mhz Atmega644 — not something I’m familiar with, but I trust the author when he says it’s about 3% of the speed of an iPhone. And it’ll render a polyhedron (though I doubt it can texture it).
The question this brings up for me is why aren’t all interfaces so snappy at this point? I understand there’s more going on under the hood in a smartphone than in a demo application like this thing, but seriously, I’m going to have lag when I hit the home button on a CPU faster than the one I had in my PC a few years ago? Make it better.
[CrunchGear via MAKE]

Sony Ericsson Rachael UI Looks Anything But Android…

…And that’s a good thing. Check out the two minute video below which shows what the Sony Ericsson Rachael UI looks like when doing some of the increasingly more common phone tasks. We’re no longer just making and receiving calls - We want to play videos, look at pictures, and listen to music. If the user interface ends up looking like the concept video, consider us officially “in love”.

There’s nary a drop of stock Android to be phone in the design and that’s probably what the SE folks had in mind. It’s elegant, functional, and certainly unique. May we also add that it is astonishing? As in “The Astonishing Tribe“. TAT is one of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance and has done work with Sony Ericsson so it would not be a surprise to us at all if they were behind this design. Swing by their showroom and take a look at some of their other work!
[AndroidGuys]

Yamaha unveils EC-f electric scooter concept

The annual Tokyo Motor Show in Japan is once again playing host to a number of cool concept vehicles, one of the most interesting being the new EC-f scooter from Yamaha. The electric-powered vehicle is designed to serve as a commuter bike for city dwellers hoping to make their drive to work a bit greener (ecologically and literally).

Constructed using lightweight aluminum, the scooter runs on a lithium-ion battery and can easily be plugged into a normal electrical socket for recharging. No word on a release date for this concept, but the design alone is enough to generate excitement for its upcoming release.

[DVICE via Telegraph UK]

10/GUI: Fascinating Multitouch User Interface Design [User Interface]

User interface designer R. Clayton Miller thinks the mouse and the windows-based desktop metaphor should die. It's just too confusing. However, he also argues that multitouch displays are not the answer. Looking at his solution, he may be right.

This video examines the benefits and limitations inherent in current mouse-based and window-oriented interfaces, the problems facing other potential solutions, and visualizes my proposal for a completely new way of interacting with desktop computers.

I recommend you watch the whole thing, because he makes some very good usability points—discussing the pros and cons of different UI approaches—before getting into his proposal—which looks beautiful and, more importantly, useful.
I like a lot of the things I see here. I like the way the applications are organized and accessed, combined a modal approach with a stream. I love how he solved the general menu vs application menu dilemma. What I don't like is the idea of having a control surface below the keyboard. I guess we are all used to it, through laptops and trackpads. And he is right that it may be a great way to transition to touch-interfaces for most users—because of that familiarity. However, I would like to see this implemented in a different form factor Both on the go—in the tablet—and in the desktop—in whatever new format the hardware manufacturers can come up with.
[Gizmodo via 10/GUI via Unplggd]

The Coolest Car Cockpit I Have Ever Seen Will Make You Go All Pew-Pew [Design]

If Nissan has its way, your next car's cockpit will look like an star fighter, straight out of a Macross remake.
This is the Nissan Land Glider, an electric car with two seats. it has a narrow body, which Nissan says will help reduce traffic congestion by allowing more cars in the same city space, as well as making parking easier. It has a balancing system to make it stable as it takes curves, compensating for inertia with the car's body movement.

The winner, however, is that stunning cockpit equipped with flat color screens and joysticks with touch surfaces. I really hope it has lasers and anti-matter cannons built-in too.
Head to Pink Tentacle to see the rest of the prototypes at the Tokyo Motor Show.
[Gizmodo via Pink Tentacle]

Unfurl The Rolltop (The Flexible OLED Display Laptop)! [Concept]

Holy crap, one day I could roll my laptop up just like my yoga mat?! I don't care if this is just a concept for now, Orkin Design's Rolltop is freaking awesome.
The video shows it all but the 'laptop' has a flexible OLED display that is also capable of multitouch. When rolled out it becomes a 17-inch flat screen but can also be folded into a 13-inch tablet of sorts. I'd like to think that by the time we see something like the Rolltop we will have wireless power, but the detachable stand stores the tablet's stylus, power adapter and USB ports. I will never look at my yoga mat the same way.

[Gizmodo via Orkin Design]

alessi laser shot watch projects time on your wrist, won’t burn holes in your skin

This offbeat watch design is merely a concept at this point, but I actually kind of like the idea. The Alessi Laser Shot watch is supposed to project the current time on your wrist using (frickin’) laser beams.

Designer Andy Kurovets envisioned this über-modern watch concept that uses a modulated laser scanner to projects the time onto the surface of your wrist. And he promises it won’t give you skin cancer. At least that’s what I heard – somewhere.

The design features a unique broken “o”-ring band that is slightly elevated from your wrist in order to provide sufficient projection throw distance.

Cool, no? Unfortunately, the design is only conceptual at this point, so if Alessi happens to be reading this blog – make these. People will buy them… so long as the laser doesn’t set your skin on fire.

[Gizmodo via Yanko Design via Ubergizmo]

Future 2010 Cars

Intel's "Tangent Bay" Laptop Concept Has 3 OLED Multi-Touch Screens Above the Keyboard [Intel]

That's four screens in total. Crazy, right? The prototype's three mini-screens let you organize and play files without taking up room on the main display. You can also use multi-touch gestures, and drag files between screens. Watch it in action:

This week's Intel Developer's Forum has a history of weird and wonderful prototypes. As it has with MIDs and UMPCs, the company uses concepts to as reference platforms in the hopes that manufacturers will take interest and use its chips. No word if anyone has signed up on this one, but it's a nice juicy insight of what type of products might be around the corner. [Crave Asia]

Matthiew Tarrit's Polar Vehicle Is Like a Giant Laboratory In a Train Rolling On Skis [Concept]

It's only a concept at the moment, but designer Matthiew Tarrit claims that his Polar Vehicle arctic base was created in cooperation with polar scientists.
If it ever does come to fruition, scientists working in some of the most inhospitable areas of the planet will certainly be living in style. [Coroflot via Core77]

TAT's Beautiful 3D Interface Makes Your Smartphone Look Primitive [Concepts]

An interface concept doesn't have to be practical to be interesting, or to make current software seem dated and flat. Exhibit A: Swedish designinstitut* The Astonishing Tribe's newest cellphone interface, which is rendered in glorious 3D, and might be brilliant.
The trick, it seems, is that TAT have employed some aspects of 2D UI design in what is a decidedly 3D concept. Moves aren't arbitrary, and input isn't wasted—as far as the user is concerned, this behaves a lot like a "flat" interface might, just with screen transitions replaced by movements in a 3D space.
As you've probably guessed from the reference hardware and limited demo, this thing isn't quite ready for primetime, nor is it tied to a specific product. That said, it's not totally pie-in-the-sky. TAT's Paul Blomdahl told me:

It's not a fully functional UI (or usable for that matter) but we're trying to hint a little of what future phones we're working on will be capable of.

Future phones you're working on? You tease! [TAT]
*Fake Swedish

Renault unveils space buggy-style Twizy Z.E. concept vehicle

Renault rocked the auto world today by showing off the new Twizy Z.E. concept vehicle. The car's futuristic design brings to mind visions of a space exploration surface buggy, sporting hexagonal wheel coverings and headlights as well as neon yellow trimmings.
The company's CEO, Carlos Ghosn, said, '[Twizy's] distinctive layout combines advantages of both two- and four-wheel vehicles, offering maximum agility with stability.' Renault won't commit to releasing this exact vehicle design to the public, but hopes to use the 15kW (20hp) electric motor that powers the Twizy in vehicles scheduled to hit the market in 2011.
Via Renault