Switched On Set

Mulberry for Apple bag range

2009-11-06T22:22:58+00:00

Looking for something fashionable and high-end for carrying around your gadgets? You'll want the Mulberry for Apple bag range.

Mulberry has teamed up with Apple for bags modified for Apple's best selling kit, which means everything from MacBook and MacBook Pro computers through to mini messengers for iPhone.

Check out the full range at Mulberry, which includes the classic Brynmore bag, now with 'special features' for a MacBoo, including a special laptop section, but still good to go as an everyday bag. This oak natural leather bag doesn't come cheap though - £550.

Mulberry for Apple

Lulu Guinness limited edition toaster at Comet

2009-11-06T13:54:43+00:00

Fancy adding a touch of fashion and glamour to your kitchen? You can do it from today if you pick up the Lulu Guinness limited edition toaster, which is available exclusively at Comet.

Yes, complete with signature Lulu Guinness lip designs in red and white on a black background, it's still a very functional addition to your home - after all, who doesn't love a piece of toast (or two) now and again? But when you don't fancy a nibble, you can just use it to impress the neighbours and visitors.

It's also a very affordable bit of design. Available online from today and instore (well, selected stores anyway) from 13th November 2009, you can pick one up for £34.99. As long as you're quick - once they're gone, they're gone.

Lulu Guinness at Comet toaster

Slice Chest of Drawer Range by Wales & Wales at Heals

2009-11-06T09:31:31+00:00

Classic design with a modern twist, that's the Slice Chest of Drawer Range by Wales & Wales at Heals.

Inspired by Christopher Heal's multi functional designs, Wales & Wales has designed the Slice, storage units, which are made of American black walnut, with stretcher rails and burnt orange lacquer accents. It's midcentury furniture, but produced with an eye on the modern-day buyer.

Take your pick from four designs, all of which have been produced as part of the Heal's Rediscovers bicentenary range, selling from £495.

Heals website

Print your own Twitter beard

2009-11-06T09:11:15+00:00

Yes, that's right, you can download and print out your very own Twitter beard.

But why would you want to? Well, it might break the ice at a party, relieve boredom on a Friday afternoon or make you, once an for all, the offical office comedian. Either way, there's no denying it's an eye-catching design, complete with trademark Twitter birdie.

The work of Von R. Glitschka, who produced the original as part of a Digital Illustration course he was teaching, it's certainly a good way of bagging some serious facial hair without the itching - and of course, to show your love of everyone's favourite social network. So what are you waiting for? Download yours via the Art Backwash website, it's absolutely free.

Twitter beard at the Art backwash website

Fontana Arte Avion Table Lamp by Marco Acerbis

2009-11-06T08:53:51+00:00

A very modern piece of lighting but with something of a retro look - the Fontana Arte Avion Table Lamp.

Designed by Marco Acerbis, it has the look of something out of the art deco era, despite bewing a 2009 design. Not that it looks like a relic of the past when you turn it on - powered by three fluorescent bulbs, it produces a soothing glow for whatever part of the room you position it in.

On terms of construction, the Avion has upport and shade in polished white painted nylon, manufactured through a rotational moulding process, along with an upper disc diffuser in opal white glass and a base in die cast aluminium. It's available now, priced at £970.

Panik Design website

LG Pop - slim touchscreen phone for under £100

2009-11-06T08:44:03+00:00

If the thought of spending over £40 monthly to feed a mobile phone leaves you green, you might be interested in a stylish mobile phone for under £100 - the LG Pop.

Officially called the GD510 Pop, it's a pay-as-you-go phone with all the looks of its higher-priced cousins. Most of the features too. That includes a 3-inch touchscreen that uses an interface usually seen on contract phones - so you can customise with widgets for quick access to your favourites - Twitter, Facebook etc.

Aside from that, there's a 3-megapixel camera, the option of up to 8GB of storage via microSD card and if you go for an add-on, the ability to charge via solar power.It's available now from The Carphone Warehouse for £99.95.

Carphone Warehouse website

Dell launches the world's thinnest laptop - the Adamo XPS

2009-11-05T19:51:13+00:00

Dell is chasing the fashion market with a laptop that looks every bit as stylish as anything Apple currently offers- the Dell Adamo XPS.

It's being described as the world's thinnest laptop, averaging around 9.9mm thick and with an innovative hinge design that means the keyboard fits into the screen area to save space.

In terms of specification, you get a 13.4-inch HD WLED screen, an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.4GHz processor, 4GB memory, 128GB SSD storage, wireless n and Bluetooth connectivity plus plenty of slots for your add-ons. No disc drive obviously - not when something is this thin. No price either for the UK, although in the US, it's on sale for $1,799, which is around £1,085.

Dell website

Sofabed by Harri Koskinen

2009-11-05T12:56:40+00:00

A 2000 design that's been updated for 2009 - the Sofabed by Harri Koskinen.

It's style, simple and just slightly retro, with the three-seater sofa upholstered throughout and supported by a plywood frame and midcentury-style oak legs for a 50s twist. But when you want a sleep, the Sofabed can easily be opened out into a double bed by folding the back over the seat. Alternatively, the back can also be lifted off completely and opened up as a mattress on the floor to provide bedding for four.

Choose from three fabric finishes, with prices around the 4,900 Euro mark - around £4,388.

Finnish Design Shop website

Olympus E-P2 Micro Four Thirds camera launches

2009-11-05T12:16:55+00:00

We got pretty excited over the arrival of the Olympus E-P1 - that mix of retro-styled looks and modern-day Micro Four Thirds being a heady mix for the semi-pro photographer. But just months after the original launched, there's an update - the Olympus E-P2 camera.

It irons out a few niggles with the first model and adds a few new bits and pieces. Still a Micro Four Thirds (all the functionality of a digital SLR, but none of the bulk), the new model adds a port for an electronic viewfinder or (should you need one) external microphones, a couple of art filters, an i-Enhance function to improve your finished snaps and the ability to record 7 minutes of AVI format movies in 30fps at HD (1280x720p) resolution.

Other than that, there's a 12.3-megapixel Live MOS sensor with dust reduction and image stabilisation, up to ISO 6400 ffor detailed images in low light, a 3-inch HyperCrystal LCD, 20 shooting modes, face detection and the option to store images on SD or SDHC memory cards.

Black only for your colour option (which is a shame, we loved that old school brown), the Olympus E-P2 should be here for January 2010 at a price of £850 - those enhancements costing another £100 on the original.

Olympus website

Via Retro To Go

Heavy Lights by Benjamin Hubert

2009-11-05T10:09:44+00:00

Not just a name, the Heavy Lights by Benjamin Hubert are fairly hefty by nature too.

Yes, we're talking concete - White, light grey or dark grey hand-cast concrete shade and base with red cabling, steel fittings and a wood or oak arm for something that looks slightly retro and very distinctive, but is also built to last.

If it's right for your home, the Heavy Light is yours for £425.

TwentyTwentyOne website