Show Peter

Inside a Google data center

2010-07-28T21:31:00.003+02:00

A train that lays it's own tracks

2010-07-27T10:44:00.003+02:00

Kin: the new social mobile phone from Microsoft

2010-05-13T15:20:00.002+02:00

Holy crap, I think Msoft just hit a homerun. Damn if they haven't made a phone that makes my iPhone look quaint. Seriously well done folks!!

Crappy product design if you ask me, but man o man did they nail the UI. I think this will really resonate with their intended users, i.e. younger people who rely on social media like the rest of us rely on oxygen.
Even the name has me jacked. Kin, like in family or even extended family in a sort of non-touchy-feely way. Connecting people... that's so 20th century. Kin, that not only sounds more social it feels more social.

Now if they just had made a little effort with the product design. The Kin One looks like that creepy Sony thing that nobody bought and the Kin Two looks like your middle of the road HTC offering from 5 years ago.

Sure hope they drop the slider keyboards or at least reinvent them. It kinda ruins the whole experience for me.

The new services on the other hand look awesome. I want to be 20 again!! They make up for the ugly packaging and as such raise the product experience into a 5 star thumbs up!! Can't wait to get my hands on one.

Now as a postscript we will have to wait and see if Microsoft has actually changed it's ways and are really going to go head to head with Apple. Can they launch a global product experience? When will one of these little critters, ahem, Kin be available in Denmark?

Litl: a webbook for everyone

2010-01-21T15:29:00.005+01:00

Not just a new netbook with Linux or Windows installed, but a complete overhaul of the product category. Built from the bottom up, complete with their own web based operating system this little gem is a game changer.

This is the computer that's not trying to be a computer. Designed with the non-business user in mind. They looked at what people were using their computers for and came up with litl.

Check out the litl review at Fast Company.

Ceramic Speakers designed by Joey Roth

2009-10-15T09:43:00.002+02:00

These speakers are so cool. I love the thought that has gone into them. Put a couple of Lowther PM6s in these ceramic cabinets and you have some serious speakers. Maybe there’s a larger model in the works?

Have a look at the bread-toaster-like-amplifier. The slider in the front is the volume control. Nice detailing.

Seen more at JoeyRoth.com

open source make it yourself gadget

2008-05-22T10:49:00.005+02:00

They have the hardware, the crowd supplies the application software. Snap-on modularity meets plug-in functionality.

Buglabs's new build-your-own-gadget device has seen the light of day. By snapping on modules you can add functionality to your own gadget. You can download open source software applications or make your own to get your gadget to do whatever you want. Kind of like a mash-up for hardware.

At the moment they are sell the following modules: camera, motion detector, LCD screen, and GPS. In Q2 these will be followed up by: touch-sensitive color LCD, mini-QWERTY keyboard, barcode scanner, audio speaker with in/our mini jacks and last but not least a teleporter! All in all 20 modules will be added to the mix with 80 more in the pipeline.

and I thought my Xbox 360 controller was complicated!

2008-05-21T22:38:00.003+02:00

Check out this article which compares 16 F1 racing wheels. No these aren't the cheezy plastic ones sold by Logitec and Creative, these are the real deal.

My favorite is the 2007 McLaren Mercedes wheel with a little arrow showing the famous button that Hamilton pushed by mistake. It should be labeled "2nd place" on it. I suppose that might be hard to read pulling 5 g's at 300 kph, but hej, isn't that what they get paid for?

seen on oobject via Gizmodo

The device that put the pride back into selling shoes

2008-05-20T11:13:00.006+02:00

This everyday product changed the act of selling shoes into a science. The Brannock device, as it's called, is the sole invention of Charles F. Brannock back in 1926. Even though they last about 20 years, The Brannock Device Co., Inc. has sold over a million of them. They sell for 68$ a pop and they even have a pro model that sells on their website for 96$.

Hint: the pro model can measure sizes up to US size 25! I wear size 12 shoes and that converts to size 45 in the continental shoe size. Feet size 25, those aren't feet those are flippers! Shaquille O'Neal's feet are huge, but they only measure a measly size 22.

Seen on Boing Boing

ABB industrial robot: Its so fast it's scary.

2008-04-21T09:14:00.002+02:00

It's the world's fastest industrial robot, and is used to pick and sort items on a production line— innocent things like sausages and croissants. By fastest, it means 10g of acceleration: that's zero to 280mph in a single second.
seen at Gizmodo

Papercraft heads

2008-03-31T15:07:00.005+02:00

This is absolutely hysterical. I just love the idea. In the artist Bert Simons own words "These heads are made like the papercraft houses and animals".

He's so into it he even cloned himself in paper. It takes "about 6 hours to make" like a half of the face. Seriously, nobody over 25, apart from me, should have so much time on their hands. Wait there's more: download the pdf file and you can make your own Bert!

I want one of each member of my family. Totally creepy but cool non the less. Reminds me of the Max Headroom series on TV back in the 80's. Please make a template or something so I can make my own. PLEASE!!

A new take on the Notebook Hard Disk

2008-03-27T13:29:00.006+01:00

Not just any "notebook" either; no, an original Molskine!! This is the best notebook mod ever!

The ABC3D popup book

2008-03-27T11:10:00.002+01:00

Popup by Marion Bataille
by jacques_faciale

Wind powered outdoor lighting

2008-03-27T09:52:00.009+01:00

This is a wind light or rightly called "the Original Windlight". It gets lights when the wind blows. The more it blows the more it lights. The minimum wind speed is 3 mph.

The product, also known as the Firewinder, will go on sale this summer for a UK price of £99.95. This seems a bit steep for something that anyone could walk away with if they felt the urge. Since there are no electric cords attached to it there is no possibility of electrocuting a would be thief. A price of £19.99 for 3 would seem a little bit more appropriate, especially compared with solar lighting fixtures.

I found this on Springwise, a site that describes itself as "One of the leading sources of new business ideas, powered by a network of 8.000 spotters." This is a great site with lots of cool stuff. Recommended.

BMW (South Africa). Defining innovation.

2008-02-21T22:08:00.001+01:00

The line between art and engineering is only in our minds. WOOOAH!!

Aquatic Microbes Solve the Energy Crisis

2008-02-20T10:45:00.001+01:00

Two words could solve the energy crisis - \"aquatic microbes\". Watch this video showing how a company called Solazyme created the first ever algae-derived biodiesel fuel (with aquatic microbes inside) to help power a factory-standard automobile.

light grey and dark grey aren't the same, except when they are

2008-02-13T14:13:00.009+01:00

Have a look at this picture. If I told you the two grey areas marked A and B are the same shade of grey, would you say I'm blind?

Truth is they are. Check it out for yourself. Open the image up in PhotoShop and watch the info panel as you move the eyedropper from the one checker to the other. Quite unbelievable isn't it.

Now dear customers, you know why getting colors just right is so darn hard. Not convinced? Have a look at this article from boingboing.

The Future Of Apple Is In 1960s Braun

2008-01-28T13:33:00.006+01:00

"The year 2008 marks the 10th Anniversary of the iMac, the computer that changed everything at Apple, hailing a new design era spearheaded by design genius Jonathan Ive. What most people don't know is that there's another man whose products are at the heart of Ive's design philosophy, an influence that permeates every single product at Apple, from hardware to user-interface design.
That man is Dieter Rams, and his old designs for Braun during the '50s and '60s hold all the clues not only for past and present Apple products, but their future as well:

When you look at the Braun products by Dieter Rams—many of them at New York's MoMA—and compare them to Ive's work at Apple, you can clearly see the similarities in their philosophies way beyond the sparse use of color, the selection of materials and how the products are shaped around the function with no artificial design, keeping the design "honest."
This passion for "simplicity" and "honest design" that is always declared by Ive whenever he's interviewed or appears in a promo video, is at the core of Dieter Rams' 10 principles for good design:

Good design is innovative
Good design makes a product useful
Good design is aesthetic
Good design helps us to understand a product
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest
Good design is durable
Good design is consequent to the last detail
Good design is concerned with the environment
Good design is as little design as possible

Ive's inspiration on Rams' design principles goes beyond the philosophy and gets straight into a direct homage to real products created decades ago. Amazing pieces of industrial design that still today remain fresh, true classics that have survived the test of time."

The Future Of Apple Is In 1960s Braun: 1960s Braun Products Hold the Secrets to Apple's Future

It's easy to underestimate how difficult it is to become curious -Seth Godin

2008-01-28T09:33:00.000+01:00

Laser-cut steel "flat" shelving you bend to suit - Boing Boing

2008-01-15T14:48:00.000+01:00

"Bend you own": taking flat-pack to a new level

Bend your own shelves out of a flat piece of laser-cut steel. Amazing bit of design thinking. This is minimalism at its best. And no need for one of those little IKEA wrenchs to assemble it. You just use your fingers to bend everything into place.

TomTom and Google Maps

2007-12-07T16:19:00.001+01:00

Now you can find your destination on Google maps and send it to your Tom Tom GPS.
Have a look at this dorky video. How come Mr. Gadget Geek didn't pick his date up and drive to the restaraunt together?

1-800-GOOG-411: Google's 411 service

2007-12-03T14:35:00.001+01:00

Google just blows me away. This video really shows what the net is becoming: localization, on demand services, mobility and then some. This will work so well in your car. Trying to find stuff just got way easier.

Frankly Speaking: Blacksite Designer Blames Himself

2007-11-29T17:40:00.000+01:00

Tell your customers you suck: Honesty or stupidity?

Don't know if I should laugh or cry. Which reaction is correct when you read that a game designer says that "this project was so fucked up"?

Kudos for honesty but not to damn smart of you to launch the game anyways. That kinda puts your credibility account in debit if you ask me. Such a shame too, the teasers have had me grabbing for my credit card but these comments definitely put the brakes on that.

Hint: if you put the game on the market, no matter how bad it sucks, keep it to yourself!

A little nuclear reactor in your backyard

2007-11-29T12:11:00.000+01:00

An article from the Santa Fe Reporter describes a new mini energy plant under development by The Hyperion Power Generation Company.

"The portable nuclear reactor is the size of a hot tub. It’s shaped like a sake cup, filled with a uranium hydride core and surrounded by a hydrogen atmosphere. Encase it in concrete, truck it to a site, bury it underground, hook it up to a steam turbine and, voila, one would generate enough electricity to power a 25,000-home community for at least five years."

They plan on producing 4,000 of these small nuclear "drives" in late 2012.

Wii Light Sword brings out the Skywalker in you

2007-11-21T20:32:00.001+01:00

This has to be THE must buy attachment for your Wii remote.

In anticipation for the forthcoming Lucas Arts "Star Wars: The force Unleashed" in the spring of '08 Play.com is introducing the Wii Light Sword.

The Sword is on sale now.

Our resident Star Wars guru and Nintendo aficionado, Magnus is already lobbying for this as his must-have birthday present.

Nothing sweeter than a five year old with "have-fever".

Fine-Tuned Laser Destroys Blood-Borne Diseases

2007-11-10T12:09:00.000+01:00

Super interesting development using pulses from a high-tuned infrared laser can destroy unwanted microorganisms without harming human cells.

The laser pulses produce lethal vibrations which destroy the protein coat of microorganisms. The femtosecond laser pulses do their lethal work a whole lot faster than you can say Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering.