It’s not that tablets or similar devices with a back-side touch interface are a new idea. Samsung and Apple, for example, are apparently working on ideas in this area. But as far as I am aware, there aren’t too many videos around that show devices with a working rear-touch interface. At CEATEC 2010, Japan’s No. 2 mobile carrier KDDI has been showing a prototype. → Read More
This is an old chestnut of a post but it’s nice to look back and see just what kind of crazy garbage Apple tried to foist on the unsuspecting public way back when. Take this odd GPS unit, for example. It looks like a Newton had sex with an N-Gage and then the resulting child was strapped to a bike. Then there’s the old Pippin, the most famous Apple-made gaming console ever. → Read More
EurekaFest is a yearly event held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that showcases the prototype inventions of high school students from around the country. The inventions consist of various gadgets and devices aimed at helping solve real-world problems. → Read More
Yes, yes, yes. Check out this prototype from VIA. It’s a hybrid tablet PC netbook. The screen pops out of the main body and functions as an Android tablet and when docked back into the body — in this case, an HP Mini 1000-series netbook — it runs XP. → Read More
Designer Sang-hoon Lee has designed these odd little headphones in the shape of everyone’s favorite green monster. These are obviously not ever going to be made, but it’s a clever little prototype. → Read More
Do you wish the iPhone had a keyboard? Some would say yes, some would say no, and some would make Photoshop prototypes. But nobody seems to take into account how much thicker a tactile keyboard would make the device — and so we dance. → Read More
Oh my. It’s this kind of stuff that makes it all worthwhile. I present to you an idea for a toaster that hooks up to your computer and can burn just about anything you throw at it onto the bread you drop into the slots – weather, news, photos – your call. The Scan Toaster is the brainchild of designer Sung Bae Chang and is currently a finalist in the 2008 Electrolux Design Lab competition. I… → Read More
Hey everyone, Doug Aamoth here in Tokyo checking in on Panasonic’s “Eco Ideas” initiative. Here’s a video tour of a prototype house containing various environmentally-friendly and technologically advanced features that Panasonic is aiming to make into reality by 2010. Throughout the week, I’ll also be checking out some cool plasma TVs, fuel-cell batteries, smart appliances, and more. → Read More
It’s like something out of a James Bond movie, if Bond were more of a hippie, but it’s cool. It’s a solar-powered speedboat, completely covered in solar panels to provide power. Using just the sun, the boat can reach speeds of 30knots (35mph), a decent clip for a luxury speedboat. It’s just a prototype right now, but as oil gets more and more expensive you can bet that… → Read More
OLED screens are nice but small. Perfect for a notebook but impractical for, say, a television. This prototype of a laptop by Samsung has a keyboard that’s made me agitated just by looking at it, but features a 12.1-inch 1280×768 active matrix OLED screen, which I bet is gorgeous. Now we just need the price of these screens to come way, way down and before you know it, laptops with… → Read More
http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&file=http%3A//blip.tv/rss/flash/817262&feedurl=http%3A//crunchgear.blip.tv/rss/&autostart=false&brandname=CrunchGear&brandlink=http%3A//crunchgear.blip.tv/ This is a prototype of a wheel/track component that can change from wheel to track when the situation demands. The tracks have hooked treads that can pull the… → Read More
Did a little fondling of a prototype device from Qualcomm that’ll be hitting the market soon at under $300. It’s basically a super beefed-up Windows Mobile machine similar in size to the Nokia N810 (and with a QWERTY keyboard to match). The big feature is the 1GHz processor that it’ll have and its ability to play HD movies. Devices like this will be here the second half of this… → Read More
As Vince pointed out, the Xbox 360 is nearly two years old. That does not, however, negate my interest in looking at unreleased, official prototypes designed by the same team that designed the system proper. Like the GameCube before it, this rejected prototype has a snazzy handle, which would have made transporting to and fro’ all the more easy. (Did people actually lug their GameCube… → Read More
I live in what could be classified as “a big city,” and every day my journey to work is different. Sometimes I’m early and I get off the El early and walk casually down Michigan Ave. Sometimes, I’m extremely late so I have to walk briskly (because running is so lame) to make it on time. However I get to work, I’ve got my MP3 player firmly planted in my ears. This can… → Read More
Business Week ran an article today showcasing several handset prototypes. Few of them look particularly practicle, but I guess originality and sensibility aren’t always mutual. The phone shown is called the Oynx from Pilotfish and Synaptics. It has no buttons and is controlled entirely by signs and gestures. The idea is cool in theory, but I can imagine many circumstances in which it’d… → Read More
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