It's hard to justify wasting an inch of deskspace on a clock when your watch, your phone, your computer, even the coffeemaker can tell you what time it is. But then you lay your eyes upon the O'Clock from Okum Made and realize there's still a place for traditional time tellers. At least ones that look this good.
Made from a solid block of walnut, maple, douglas fir, or cork, the O'Clock ranges in price from $85 to $98 depending on the type of wood that suits your fancy. The half donut-shaped recess that represents the clock's face is carved using a bowl-nosed drill bit, while a set of simple wooden hands complements the aesthetic.
They're not cheap, that's for sure. But if you find working dragging on every day, at least you'll have a lovely place to point your vacant stare. More here.
This working Lego microscope was built by Carl Merriman, a Lego artist who's been building for over 27 years. It's sleek, functional and even though you couldn't use it to study Ebola or the T-Virus, it's still a pretty sweet piece of kit.
The build was inspired by Lego X-Pod sets (now discontinued):
While trying to find a use for the pod itself, I realized that it was very close to a deep petri dish. I used a planetary gear system to allow both coarse and fine adjustment of the objective “lens”. A little more tinkering and I connected the focus to a magnifying glass and fiber optic light in the eyepiece, so adjusting the focus knobs would actually bring the writing on a LEGO stud in and out of focus.
Clean lines, simple construction and wonderful little details. I could totally see this becoming a CUUSOO set. More here.
Apple's had a turbulent time with Samsung, both in the courtroom and the marketplace—which in part helped inspire Cook and co's recent move away from Sammy as a chip supplier. But according to a new report, Apple is hopping back into the silicon bed with South Korea's finest.
The Korea Economic Daily reports that Apple has signed a deal with Samsung which will see them work together on future A-series chips for Apple's iOS devices. Specifically, the agreement appears to be for the production of A9 chips (the iPhone 5 currently uses the A6), which will be based on a new 14-nanometer manufacturing process, and begin production sometime in 2015.
The announcement comes on the back of Apple shunning Samsung in favor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), who it chose to manufacture the forthcoming A8 chips from 2014. The Korea Economic Daily explains:
Samsung Electronics had supplied the AP [application processor] to Apple since 2007 but lost the contract to supply 20 nano AP A8 chips to Apple to Taiwan's TSMC last year when it was engaged in patent disputes with Apple. Samsung Electronics developed state-of-the-art 14 nano models ahead of its rival TSMC, regaining the order from Apple.
Some reports have suggested that TSMC had also secured the contract for the A9 chips, though—so it's unclear if Apple will be sourcing silicon from one or both of the chip manufacturers comes 2015. More here.
While me and you and everyone we know weren't paying attention, BlackBerry invented a nice big shiny new phone, the A10. It's definitely different! And at this point, that might be just what BlackBerry needs.There aren't many details available from the video other than that the A10 is a decidedly bigger phone than the Z10; for specs, we have to look to a previous report that indicated a 5-inch, 720p display.
That's not great for a flagship these days, but if BlackBerry can make the A10 affordable and powerful under the hood, it's still at least got a shot to get some notice. At least, one hopes so. The company may only have so many rounds of ammo left. More here.
A 41-year-old man flying a Gaui X7 model helicopter in Lucerne, Switzerland suffered head and arm injuries and died after he was presumably struck by the helicopter. The model weighs 5 pounds, is about 4 feet 5 inches long, and has a rotor diameter of about 5 feet 4 inches.
Though incidents are rare, remote control helicopters have caused other deaths. A remote control aircraft instructor was struck and killed in Texas in 2003 and other fatal accidents have occurred in Korea and Brazil. The rotor blades on model helicopters can spin at speedsof 257 miles per hour. Gaui helicopters can cost more than $1,000 and various X7 models are currently selling for around $900, so there probably aren't tons of these just lying around people's houses, but even expensive toys require real safety measures. More here.
If you're attempting to outfit a kitchen with a limited budget and even less space, Joseph Joseph has put together this lovely nine-piece Nest kit that stacks like a matryoshka doll for easy storage. The $150 set includes two stainless steel mixing bowls with non-slip bottoms, a fine mesh sieve, a large colander, and five plastic measuring spoons ranging from a teaspoon to a full cup.
The Nest's unique stacking design also makes it easy to spot when a particular item has gone missing. And even more importantly, after an evening of baking they'll all take up minimal space when left in the sink for a couple of weeks. More here.
How often do you really use that dining table in your apartment? Most meals are probably consumed in front of the TV, or at a restaurant. And sure, it's handy for the occasional dinner party or tax audit, but the rest of the time it's just wasting space. So reclaim a good 40 square of your pad with this incredibly thin folding table by Lodovico Bernardi that practically disappears when you turn it sideways.
Seriously, if the prototype ever goes into production, you'll definitely want to be careful carrying this table off of an elevator. More here.
On August 4, a resupply mission is scheduled to take off for the International Space Station carrying a satellite for hire with it. It's actually a nanosatellite, since it's only 10 centimeters wide, and it's yours to use if you've got the cash.
Dubbed "ArduSat," the soon-to-be-launched satellite will connect with the servers at NanoSatisfi, the Kickstarter-funded company that's operating it, and provide students and space geeks alike the chance to do whatever they want up in space. ArduSat is outfitted with cameras, an ambient light sensor, a magnetometer and a Geiger counter, so the sky's the limit (heh) when it comes to the sorts of experiments you can run from the ground. NanoSatisfi also sets customers up with a control panel on the ground, so that they can change the mission as you go. The best part is that it will only cost about $250 a week to rent time with the ArduSat.
But what can one do with a flying satellite, you ask? Well, uses for the cameras are pretty obvious. Beyond that, the makers of ArduStat drew up a list of possibilities that's divided into three categories: science, engineering and entertainments. Some highlights include tracking meteorites by tuning into the radio stations reflected by the meteors' tails, writing algorithms to make the camera take different kinds of photos based on factors like gamma radiation and exposure to the sun, and even mapping Earth's magnetic field. All this fun for less than half of what a monthly Manhattan studio rental costs.
The existence of a satellite for hire is more meaningful than running a bunch of experiments in space. It reflects the imminent future of space exploration—even if it's only exploring a few miles above Earth's surface. As more and more affordable options for going to space show up on the market, the possibility exists for more people to get involved in space research, even elementary school students. While conventional satellites cost between $500 million and $2 billion, NanoSatisfi plans on spending much less than $1 million on purchasing and launching ArduSat into orbit, and over the course of its two year lifespan, the company expects to serve over 4,000 customers. More here.
Twitter's been doing it for ages and Vine's been in since day one, but now Instagram is coming to the embeddable party. You can now embed your Instagrams—image or video—all across the web with handy-dandy embed code. More here.
In the world's oceans, human divers are as mobile as a fish out of water. So, what, you think you're going to fend off an inquisitive shark or lascivious dolphin while holding a GoPro? Not likely, but that's where the Octomask comes in. Now anybody can be a modern Jacques Cousteau and keep their hands free for defending themselves under the sea.
The Octomask is exactly what it looks like—a snorkeling mask with a GoPro mount situated mid-forehead. The genius of this head-mounted device, as opposed to hand-held underwater housings, is that it records whatever you're looking at automatically. Plus the GoPro mount is integrated into the mask itself rather than being adhesively affixed as the stock dive mountis. On the other hand, the Octomask is twice the price and won't work with an existing mask but the ability to grapple against the deadly, deadly Jaguar shark make it well worth the cost. More here.
Key-shaped USB flash drives have guaranteed we never forget to bring our important files ever again. And taking the same approach, Bluelounge's Kii guarantees you always have an emergency iPhone or iPad charger on hand—as long as you remembered to lock your home and bring your keys.
A 30-pin dock connector version of the Kii, available in black only, is the cheaper of the two at just $20. But if you've got the latest generation iPhone or iPad, you'll need to cough up twice that amount—$40—for the black or white Lightning version here.
This stylish chair may look super-classy—but don't be fooled: it's actually made from humble plywood.
It comes flat-pack style, its panels made from CNC-cut birch plywood all held together by hex screws. Named Jari—which literally means a place for a person or a thing—the design is apparently inspired by the growing number of single dwellings in South Korea.
Shown off at the Design & Art Fair 2013 in Seoul, there's currently no word on how much it will cost exactly—but expect it to be affordable. More here.
Nokia phones are pretty sturdy. Sturdier than most, actually. And while all phones go through similar stress tests, we've got a look into Nokia's specifically. It's petty impressive!
Tumbling in boxes of dust, dropped on steel floors hundreds of times, splashed with rain and baked in tropical conditions. And the phones mostly come out just fine.
If you're a college student or a young professional in your first apartment, you're probably well versed in assembling Ikea furniture. But soon after, those vital hex wrenches always seem to go missing, and when it's time to move your bedroom set, it's off to the hardware store to try and find a replacement. So thank goodness the folks at Nendo came up with a better solution: furniture that assembles using nothing more than the loose change in your pocket.
Developed for Kokuyo, a Japanese office furniture maker, the modular Ofon line is comprised of a series of boxes and panels that can be mix and matched to create shelving, filing cabinets, desks, and even dividers. And the various pieces all connect via a clever mechanism that can be locked and unlocked using a quarter, or similar sized currency. More here.
If you love the look of plants on your desk, but have a nasty habit of killing them through neglect, consider this faux greenery as an alternative. What look like tall blades of grass are actually unfortunately-named Pooleaf pens with long wisps of silicone coming off the end.
They're just $5 each, which isn't too shabby, until you realize you'll actually have to spend well over $100 to fill a pot to recreate the beautiful lawn effect. On the plus side, it will be incredibly obvious if someone steals one of your pens. More here.
While there will be plenty of fireworks later today, it's nice to know that our very own solar system will be joining in the fun, too—with comet ISON hurting toward the sun at a staggering 48,000 mph.
Unlike the fireworks you'll launch, this comet isn't burning—in fact it's pretty cold. As the comet moves closer to the sun it'll warm up, its rate of sublimation will increase, and it will appear brighter and its tail longer—and by November you'll be able to see it with your naked eye. More here.
It's certainly not the first time we've seen hummingbirds in slow motion, but the engineer's perspective adds a new facet to our fascination with beasts that can fly. Thanks to hours of footage recorded in the lab, the researchers are making some progress identifying how the tiny moving parts of living aircraft work together. Take, for example, the shaking motion the researchers observed:
Students Andreas Peña Doll and Rivers Ingersoll filmed hummingbirds performing a never-before-seen "shaking" behavior: As the bird dived off a branch, it wiggled and twisted its body along its spine, the same way a wet dog would try to dry off. At 55 times per second, hummingbirds have the fastest body shake among vertebrates on the planet – almost twice as fast as a mouse.
So now we've seen it, which is just the beginning when it comes to engineering. Now someone has to figure out what purpose that shaking serves, and if it's useful, someone has to build a bot that can mimic nature. More here.
A modern assembly line can churn out a new vehicle every few minutes, but when carmakers want to build and test a prototype, it takes weeks to produce the dies and moulds needed to stamp out a custom one-off part. So Ford has developed a fantastic new prototyping machine that functions kind of like a 3D printer in that it can produce a custom part in mere hours. Except that instead of plastic, it works its magic on sheet metal.
Three-dimensional models from a designer's modelling software are sent to the machine, which uses a pair of robotic arms mounted above and below a flat piece of sheet metal. The robotic arms feature very precise points at their ends, which are used to warp, bend, and shape the 2D sheet of metal into a 3D object. And depending on the complexity and size of the part being prototyped, it can do this in mere hours.
It allows designers and engineers to refine, produce, and test a new or custom part again and again in a manner of days, without having to solely rely on software simulations. And while in its infancy the machine isn't quite fast enough to join an assembly line, it's the perfect tool for crafting one-off concept vehicles, or parts for special edition vehicles that aren't intended for mass production.
