Tag Archives: IFA 2024

JMGO’s N1S Ultimate Could Make Your TV Obsolete: The Future of Home Projection at IFA 2024

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At IFA 2024, it became clearer than ever: traditional TVs might be yesterday’s news. As home theaters evolve, the focus is shifting from bulky flat screens to sleek, powerful projectors that deliver a true cinematic experience right in your living room. The days of settling for a fixed screen size, limited by where you can hang a TV, are being replaced by projectors that offer flexibility, portability, and, thanks to innovations like 4K laser technology, image quality that rivals—and in some cases surpasses—what any high-end TV can deliver.

Projectors have come a long way from the dim, pixelated displays many still associate with them. Today’s models, especially those from companies like JMGO, are becoming the go-to choice for those looking to upgrade their home entertainment setups. Whether you’re a movie buff, gamer, or just someone who wants a more immersive experience, projectors have quickly gained ground. They offer more screen for your buck, and when it comes to high-definition, they’re not cutting any corners.

That was the vibe at IFA 2024 when JMGO introduced the N1S Ultimate 4K and N1S Pro 4K projectors—both packed with features designed to take advantage of this projector renaissance. Powered by their patented MALC™ 2.0 Triple Laser Optics technology, these devices prove that projectors aren’t just an alternative to TVs anymore—they might just be the future of home entertainment.

Designer: JMGO

A Deep Dive into MALC™ 2.0 Technology

One of the key highlights of the N1S Ultimate is JMGO’s proprietary MALC™ (Multi-Layer Adaptive Laser Control) 2.0 Triple Laser Optics. According to JMGO, the typical trade-off in laser projection—where increasing brightness tends to compromise color accuracy and contrast—has been successfully tackled through MALC 2.0. This system delivers exceptional brightness without sacrificing visual quality, offering users a seamless experience.

The N1S Ultimate 4K projector is capable of producing a whopping 3500 ANSI lumens, which ensures vivid picture quality even in environments with high ambient light. Coupled with a 1600:1 contrast ratio and 110% BT.2020 color coverage, the N1S Ultimate is designed to deliver stunning visuals that don’t lose their luster in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. With an ∆E (Delta E) of less than 1, the color accuracy is spot-on, ensuring faithful reproduction of even the most subtle shades. This combination of brightness, contrast, and color precision makes the N1S Ultimate ideal for both daytime viewing and cinematic experiences.

The JMGO N1S Pro (left) versus JMGO N1S Ultimate (right)

N1S Ultimate vs. N1S Pro: What Sets Them Apart?

While both the N1S Ultimate and N1S Pro share JMGO’s MALC™ 2.0 technology, there are notable differences between the two models that will help users decide which one fits their needs better. The N1S Pro, positioned as a more budget-friendly option, offers 2400 ANSI lumens, compared to the 3500 lumens of the Ultimate. This difference in brightness may be a key factor for users who need a projector for bright rooms or daytime use.

However, both projectors maintain the same level of contrast (1600:1) and color performance, which speaks volumes about JMGO’s commitment to delivering a high-quality experience across their product range. Whether you choose the Pro or the Ultimate, you’ll get stunning visuals with a ∆E of less than 1 and 110% BT.2020 color accuracy, which ensures rich, lifelike images.

Versatility in Every Direction: The Iconic Gimbal

One feature that sets the JMGO N1S series apart is its integrated gimbal design, first introduced in 2022. This allows the projectors to pan 360 degrees and tilt 135 degrees, making it incredibly easy to adjust the projection angle. Whether you want to project on the ceiling for a laid-back movie night or angle it toward a wall to create an impromptu gaming setup, the gimbal provides exceptional flexibility.

This design also adds a futuristic touch to the device, setting it apart from conventional projectors that require cumbersome setups or fixed installations. JMGO’s emphasis on creating a portable and versatile entertainment device shines through in the N1S Ultimate, positioning it as an ideal choice for users who value both style and functionality.

A New Kind of Home Entertainment Ecosystem

Beyond the hardware, JMGO has integrated Google TV into both models, providing access to a wide range of streaming services, including certified options like Netflix. This makes the N1S projectors a true all-in-one entertainment solution—no external streaming devices are needed. Whether you’re watching a movie, streaming a TV series, or projecting a home video, everything is seamlessly managed from the projector itself.

Pricing and Availability

Both the N1S Ultimate and N1S Pro are now available on Amazon in the U.S. and across Europe, including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The N1S Ultimate 4K is priced at $2,799 in the U.S. and €2,999 in Europe, while the N1S Pro 4K comes in at $1,999 or €2,299, offering a more affordable option for those who don’t require the full brightness of the Ultimate.

The post JMGO’s N1S Ultimate Could Make Your TV Obsolete: The Future of Home Projection at IFA 2024 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Anker MagGo 3-in-1 Foldable Wireless Charging Station is a pocketable accessory for juicing-up Apple devices

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Anker has brought its new line of chargers to IFA 2024 that enhance your wireless charging experience and hone portability. The one making headlines is the MagSafe-compatible 3-in-1 travel charger that folds like a puck, something similar to the Twelve South Butterfly.

The fold-out charger does draw inspiration from the Butterfly but improves on the design and functionality with an added third charging pad. The trifecta charging pads should be more than enough for travelers who love to carry their share of Apple gadgets!

Designer: Anker

The Qi2-certified 15W MagGo Wireless Charging Station folds into an easily carriable form which lends it ultra-portable aesthetics. The three equidistant charging ports include a Qi2-certified 15W charger, a 5W Apple-certified Apple Watch charger, and a 5W Qi puck in the middle. The latter houses the USB-C power input port to charge up the battery. Targeted for the Apple ecosystem of devices it can simultaneously charge your Apple iPhone 15, Apple Watch, and Airpods Pro while traveling.

The pocket-friendly accessory comes with Apple’s Magnetic Power Profile technology for stable and efficient charging on the go. It has a dedicated StandBy and landscape mode for optimal viewing while binge-watching on the iPhone. There’s a quick snap mode that turns this usable accessory into a puck-sized dimensions of 2.36 x 2.36 x 1.4 inches that can be put inside a pocket – it’s that compact. Anker specifically mentions the charger can also charge Apple Watches with undetachable metal straps which is a bonus.

Anker’s 3-in-1 MagGo Wireless Charging Station comes with a 40W adapter and a 5-foot USB-C to USB-C cable for quick charging of the 3-in-1 pad. It is currently up for grabs on Anker’s website and Amazon for $90. You can choose the accessory from a cool selection of color options including black, white, pink and green. The colorful variants (pink and green) are slated to arrive later this year.

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TCL’s latest phone has a 1-Week Battery Life, and a VERY interesting new Display: Hands-On at IFA 2024

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Nobody ever bought a smartphone because of its screen. I’m not talking about foldables, but rather about the regular ‘candybar’ smartphone. The reason you choose a smartphone is for its camera system, its battery life, its processor, its charging speed, its AI features, or its OS. The screen is just one of those aspects that you take for granted… but what if I told you I saw a phone at TCL with a screen so good it’s the highlight of the entire phone? The phone in question is the TCL 50 Nxtpaper 5G phone, and what really sets this phone apart from others is how spectacular its screen is. At first glance, the screen looks like a rather simple matte display, but flip a button on the side, and it magically goes from color to monochrome, transforming into a bonafide electronic ink display that is highly responsive, but has immaculate contrast, and a battery life nearly 7x more than your regular phone. The display is really this phone’s highlight, and shows how TCL’s figured out a compromise between phones and e-ink tablets. The TCL 50 Nxtpaper is a phone when you need it, but hit that switch and you go into easy-reading tablet mode, with a nearly 7-day battery life thanks to the monochrome nature of the display.

The Nxtpaper Display: A Phone Screen That Feels Like Paper

For anyone tired of glossy screens, blinding brightness, and eye strain, TCL’s Nxtpaper technology is a welcome change. The 6.8-inch screen has a matte, anti-glare surface designed to reduce blue light and deliver a paper-like experience, ideal for reading and prolonged use without causing eye strain. Whether you’re reading e-books, scanning through long documents, or even just scrolling social media, the Nxtpaper display reduces the strain that typical LCD and OLED screens can cause.

Unlike traditional smartphone displays, Nxtpaper uses a layered design that reduces blue light by up to 61%, helping prevent eye fatigue. This isn’t just a standard “night mode” either — the display is engineered from the ground up to deliver a paper-like viewing experience that’s easy on the eyes at any time of day. The anti-glare surface also means no more squinting at your phone on a sunny day or awkwardly tilting it to avoid reflections. Text and icons are visible with immense clarity, echoing the feeling of an e-ink screen like the one you’d see on a Kindle.

Despite its paper-like qualities, the Nxtpaper display doesn’t sacrifice color or usability. It’s still a full-color display, and it handles everything from photos to videos smoothly. TCL seems to have struck a balance here, making it a perfect option for people who need their phone for more than just reading but still want that e-paper feel.

Max Paper Mode: Battery Life Like You’ve Never Seen

The Max Paper mode is where the TCL Nxtpaper 50 Pro is an energy-savings-beast. When you first hit the switch on the side, you’re offered an option between color mode, ink-paper mode (which offers a responsive e-paper experience), and Max Paper mode. In the latter mode, the phone dials back performance, display refresh rates, and power-hungry features to turn it into a near e-reader. TCL promises up to one week of battery life when this mode is activated — a remarkable feat for any smartphone.

Max Paper mode works by toning down the display and restricting background processes, essentially transforming the phone into a low-power reader. It’s the perfect solution for those times when you just want to get through a book, read articles, or browse documents without worrying about battery drain. Imagine going on a week-long trip without needing to pack your charger — Max Paper mode could make that a reality. In Ink Paper and Max Paper mode, the phone’s home screen even tells you exactly how many hours worth of battery you’ve got, and it’s honestly stunning to see a day-long smartphone suddenly transition into a device that can last over a hundred hours.

Of course, when you want to switch back to full power for gaming, videos, or multitasking, the phone is more than capable. But for users who want to extend their battery life and spend time in a more relaxed reading environment, this feature is a game-changer.

A Practical Smartphone for Everyday Use

The 50 Nxtpaper phone isn’t just about battery life and an eye-friendly screen. It’s a full-featured Android phone that covers all the basics. Powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 processor, it comes with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage, which can be expanded with a microSD card. It runs Android 14 and is promised to get at least two major OS updates, so it’s future-proof for the next few years.

On the camera front, the 108MP main sensor is versatile, delivering high-quality shots with ease. It’s backed by an 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro lens, which offer flexibility for various shooting scenarios, whether you’re capturing landscapes or detailed close-ups. On the front, a 32MP selfie camera ensures crisp photos and video calls.

Other features round out this package nicely, including dual stereo speakers with DTS 3D Boom Sound for immersive audio, 33W fast charging to get you back up and running quickly, and NFC support for contactless payments. Security-wise, the phone includes both a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock for fast, secure access.

Final Thoughts: A Niche, But Useful Phone

The TCL Nxtpaper 50 Pro might not be the device that makes waves for its performance or gaming chops, but it’s not trying to be. Instead, it’s aiming at a niche audience: people who care about eye health and battery life more than shiny OLED displays and top-tier processors. The Max Paper mode could be a revelation for those who find themselves drained — both figuratively and literally — by their current smartphones. Having received a bunch of awards for just how spectacular the screen is, I sincerely hope TCL manages to make this click. I honestly would love to see smartphones trying new innovations like this rather than bending and folding thrice over like that tri-fold phone that TCL’s rumored to also be working on.

The post TCL’s latest phone has a 1-Week Battery Life, and a VERY interesting new Display: Hands-On at IFA 2024 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Barbie x Kodak collab gives instant photo printing a splash of pink

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Although it was never really gone, the Barbie franchise recently got a resurgence of popularity thanks to a fun yet odd live-action film. The toy has changed dramatically over the decades, but what has always stayed the same is its spirit of fun, whimsy, and connecting with loved ones. Oh, and the overabundance of the hot pink color. Just in time for the Barbielicious renaissance, Kodak and Mattel have joined hands to create a special limited edition instant camera and photo printer that embody those qualities, encouraging people of all ages and genders to shoot and share those special moments with big smiles and very pink accessories.

Designers: Kodak x Mattel

Instant cameras in the vein of the iconic Polaroid have very limited uses and printouts, but it’s that scarcity and rarity that have actually endeared these products to people, including the younger generation who may be hearing about the idea for the first time. There’s just something exciting about the thought of pressing a shutter button and instantly printing out a photo that you can share or treasure, knowing that that exact moment and that exact photo will never happen again. There’s a huge market for this retro camera design, and what can be more retro and more fun at the same time than Barbie?

The KODAK Printomatic Barbie Edition pours a splash of pink on the instant camera and scribbles the iconic toy line’s name all over the surface. The instant camera uses ZINK technology to print out those lively colors without the dangers of spilling ink in your bag or even your pocket. The 5MP sensor, while sounding like a bummer, lets you also have a retro-quality photo that you can save on a microSD card for future viewing or, better yet, reprinting.

Yes, it might feel like a bit of a cop-out, but you don’t have to sacrifice versatility just to get that nostalgic photography experience, at least not if you also grab the Barbie-themed KODAK STEP Slim Instant Photo Printer. Connected to a smartphone, you can easily print images on that same 2×3 inch instant photo paper format, from the photos you took using your smartphone, to photos you save from the Kodak Printomatic Barbie Edition camera as well. It’s the best of all worlds, allowing you to experience the instant joy of printing photos while still leaving the option to share that over and over again.

The Kodak x Mattel collab is a fun nod to the iconic Barbie brand and could give fans and collectors alike something to vie for when the products do launch. Unfortunately, availability details have yet to be disclosed, but the windows of opportunity to launch Barbie-themed products, like the HMD Barbie phone, are getting smaller.

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SwitchBot Air Purifier Table includes a wireless charger for health and convenience

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Air quality at home has become a key concern among homeowners in the past few years, finally raising awareness that the air we breathe indoors might be just as bad as the pollution-filed air outdoors. Pet owners have it especially bad, with fur and pet hair adding to their list of worries. While air purifiers are becoming more popular because of that situation, very few of them can be considered to have the same aesthetic maturity as more common appliances that have been around for decades. Many are not only uninspiring but also take up space that could have been otherwise given to more functional and appealing furniture. Venturing into the home appliances market, SwitchBot is launching an air purifier that looks a tad more interesting and definitely more useful thanks to its multi-functional design, doubling as a table you can also use as a phone charger.

Designer: SwitchBot

Many air purifier take on a cylindrical shape that maximizes air intake and output, but that means putting their less than attractive bodies in the middle of spaces where they stick out like a sore thumb. The new SwitchBot Air Purifier Table admittedly does have that cannister design, but it takes steps to set itself apart from the crowd and elevate your living space as well.

In addition to its minimalist style, this air purifier puts a flat oval on top that can be used as a table to hold your things while you sit back and relax for a bit. The wood-like finish gives it a bit of visual flair and helps make it match the other furniture in your living area or bedroom. It also encourages you to put the air purifier in places that get a lot of human presence, usually beside couches or beds or maybe even in the middle of the room, allowing it to have a better impact on the quality of the air people breathe.

Its “extra” functionality doesn’t stop there, however. That tabletop is also a wireless charger, supporting 15W charging for Android devices and 7.5W for iPhones. Simply place your phone there and let it charge while you read, watch, or just chill with friends. The Air Purifier Table has configurable lighting between the air purifier itself and the tabletop, allowing you to set the mood you want or be informed when the air quality in its immediate vicinity worsens.

Of course, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is an air purifier, first and foremost, and it boasts plenty of street cred for that. It’s also pretty proud of its ability to remove pet hair and prevent it from contaminating the air that humans breathe, all without stressing out the pet in the process. The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table, available now for pre-order, will set you back $269.99, but there’s also a simpler $219.99 version that trades the wireless charging table top for a smaller bowl-like structure that cats might love to sit on.

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Narwal Freo Z Ultra Review: AI for Clean and Stress-free Homes

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PROS:


  • Sleek and minimalist design that blends seamlessly into any home environment

  • Powerful features for thorough and hygienic cleaning

  • Privacy-respecting AI that knows what to clean and how to clean it well

CONS:


  • Auto Water Exchange System is a separate purchase

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra makes AI relatable and useful, keeping your home clean and hygienic while also adding a touch of elegance to any space with its stylish design.

AI, machine learning, neural networks, and large language models are buzzwords not just in the tech industry but in mainstream media as well. Almost anything that has a tiny computer inside or connects to the Internet boasts of some AI feature, but most of them just talk about how powerful their product is for being able to do AI. Like any other technology, AI is supposed to help make our lives easier, not burden our brains with a litany of features to remember. At IFA 2924, Narwal unveiled the Freo Z Ultra robot cleaner to show how to do AI right, and we were able to get a first-hand preview of how it utilizes this powerful technology to keep our homes clean, our families healthy, and even our pets happy.

Designer: Narwal

Aesthetics

Robot vacuum cleaners are nothing new; they are one of the first robots and automation to enter our homes. Over the years, the basic form of these circular machines has changed little, which means they have kept close to their utilitarian aesthetic which stands out too much in most homes today. Even the base stations, which are evolving in complexity, often look like oversized and uninspiring trash bins. Fortunately, Narwal applied not only artificial intelligence but also human intelligence to give the Freo Z Ultra a more human appeal.

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is designed to blend seamlessly into your home, a part of it that doesn’t get in your way, both literally and figuratively. It doesn’t call attention in the way that something unappealing would, like a tool out of place, but only by its sleek and elegant appearance that makes you appreciate its presence in a positive way. The smooth curves, minimalist style, and premium-looking materials make the robot vacuum cleaner and its base station look like functional design objects instead of just appliances.

Admittedly, the robot cleaner itself doesn’t deviate too much from the standard formula. It is a circular machine with very few standout details, and that’s a good thing. It allows the robot to move around without being distracting, showing only the bare minimum that informs people of its functions or state. And thanks to its intelligent navigation system, you don’t even have to worry about bumping into it or getting in its way, as it will be the one to move out of your way as it should be.

All in all, the Freo Z Ultra combines simplicity and style in a single package, adding to a home’s aesthetic instead of distracting from it. It makes the AI-powered robot cleaning system look and feel more like a part of your home, rather than something tacked on and out of place. It might even become part of the family, in its own helpful and cute way.

Ergonomics

Unlike devices that you operate by hand, you don’t really handle the Freo Z Ultra robot cleaner, which is definitely for the best. The reason you’d delegate this chore to a robot would be to avoid dealing with dirt and germs, so the less that you have to manually interact with the cleaning robot, the better. Fortunately, Narwal made sure to minimize those moments as much as possible, leading not only to a convenient mode of operation but to a hygienic one as well.

You don’t have to manually empty the robot’s dust bin. You don’t even have to wash the dirty mop. The only time you have to do some work is to empty the dust bag and replace the dirty water with a clean one, and even then you are guaranteed a sanitized environment thanks to the Freo Z Ultra’s smart features that we’ll get to later. Using these functions is definitely a walk in the park, as Narwal has made the design intuitive and easy to use.

Controlling the robot is a matter of setting it up in the mobile app and just letting it do its thing on its own. You don’t even have to lift a finger, literally, thanks to integration with smart home systems and assistants, which means voice control and automated scenarios. Yes, it sounds lazy, but the convenience means you get more time for yourself and your loved ones.

Performance

Smart robot cleaners are becoming the norm these days, but the Narwal Freo Z Ultra definitely pushes the envelope of what you can do with all that intelligence. Most implementations focus on AI-assisted navigation and obstacle avoidance, and of course, we see that here as well. More importantly, however, Narwal’s AI not only identifies what lies before the robot but also what to do about it, even if it means going back to it again and again.

This is the case with the Freo Z Ultra’s Next-gen Proactive AI DirtSense, which means it knows that the thing in front of it is some kind of dirt and can actually identify what kind of dirt it is. If it’s dry dirt, it sucks it up, but if it’s a wet spill or stain, it mops it up. It also detects how much more mopping is needed and returns to the spot after the mop has been cleaned at the base station. It intelligently understands in real-time if a certain section of the floor requires more thorough cleaning than other spots instead of just applying the same amount of vacuuming or mopping, which tends to spread the dirt around instead. In that sense, it’s almost human in the way it thinks and behaves, closely mimicking how we would approach such a problem as well.

Just as with dirt, The Freo Z Ultra is able to correctly identify the type of floor and carpet so that it can automatically adjust its settings without you having to tell it. For carpets, it can lift the mop to a height of 12mm to avoid staining the material, and it also maximizes the suction power up to 12,000 Pa for more thorough cleaning. For wooden floors, it applies only 7N of mopping pressure to protect the sensitive material, but ceramic tiles get 12N of pressure to better clean off dirt and stains.

And yes, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra has some pretty impressive obstacle avoidance skills, thanks to dual RGB cameras that let it see better, as well as not one but two processors, one dedicated solely to AI. This TwinAI Dodge Obstacle Avoidance system can recognize over 120 objects in the house and see the world like we humans do, in three dimensions. This helps the robot not only navigate spaces and avoid objects but even understand what it needs to actually do in order to clean that space.

This feature is especially important to households with pets, where the presence of a robot cleaner could wake up a sleeping pet or cause unnecessary stress. The Freo Z Ultra knows when it approaches a pet and avoids the area, but it also knows that it needs to return to the area again and again until our furry friend is awake and away. It then uses that same intelligence to determine how much it needs to clean your pet’s favorite spot to make sure it’s spotless and hygienic for your smaller family members.

The Freo Z Ultra’s intelligence extends to the way it cleans up after it cleans your floors. The base station doesn’t just empty the dust bin and wash the mops but makes sure both are clean and hygienic as well. It washes the mop at a warm 45°C for normal dust-based or powdery stains but ramps up the temp to 60°C for oil-based dirt like grease and sauce. It then heats things up even further at 75°C to really kill the bacteria, after which it dries the mop at only 40°C to make sure it won’t get damaged. It also applies hot air dust drying at 45°C to kill the bacteria inside the bin.

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is overflowing with smart features on top of standard ones like an anti-tangling brush and Reuleaux triangular scrubbing mops that really get to those edges and corners. The best part about the smart robot cleaner is that you don’t actually have to mind any of these, as it’s smart enough to do the right thing at the right time, freeing you from worry and stress and giving even your pet some peace of mind.

Sustainability

Even though robot vacuum cleaners have been around for decades, some things haven’t changed that much, like the heavy use of plastics and non-sustainable materials. There might come a day when giants in this industry like Narwal start using more eco-friendly materials, but for now, it is tackling the problem from a different angle. In a way, the Freo Z Ultra uses its AI-powered features not only to preserve the longevity of the product but to also be more energy efficient in the long run.

Knowing when to clean is only one part of conserving energy and saving on your electricity bill. Knowing how to properly clean an area and itself can also contribute to this energy-saving strategy. Rather than applying the same pressure or suction power or heat uniformly across all instances, adjusting the settings lower or higher as needed is ultimately smarter and more efficient. The way it also takes care of itself ensures that the Freo Z Ultra will be your cleaning companion for a very long time, saving you money and reducing unnecessary e-waste over time.

Value

There’s no doubt that the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is one of if not the smartest robot cleaners to date. That makes it an amazing piece of technology, but does it really add value to your life? With the many things that burden our minds and take up our time, the last thing we often want to do is deal with chores like cleaning the floor. And while there are definitely lessons to be learned in such labor, there are also better uses of our limited time as well.

In the end, that’s what this smart AI-powered cleaning robot delivers, not just clean floors but also peace of mind and freedom from stress and worry. We don’t have to fuss over whether the little robot does its job well because we know it does. It’s not yet perfect but learns and improves along the way, much like us. The Freo Z Ultra offers a clean, safe, and hygienic environment while also freeing us to spend more time with the more important things in life. You can’t get any better value than that!

Verdict

There are many robot vacuums that boast AI-powered smarts, but most of them simply means they know their way around your home. The Narwal Freo Z Ultra puts all that computing power to work in teaching the robot how it needs to clean as well. From identifying the kind of dirt and applying the right way to clean it, to waiting for your pet to get up and then clean its spot thoroughly, the Freo Z Ultra frees you from having to worry about such minute details and focus instead on more enjoyable activities. Best of all, it looks stylish and elegant in your home as well, almost like having a designer object doing your chores for you.

The post Narwal Freo Z Ultra Review: AI for Clean and Stress-free Homes first appeared on Yanko Design.

Best of IFA 2024: Designs that Deliver Innovation For All

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Every year, we behold innovative designs and technologies blow our minds. But once the novelty and awe have worn off, we’re left asking whether these made any meaningful impact in human lives. For 100 years now, the annual IFA show has been putting such products and inventions that promise groundbreaking improvements to the way we cook, the way we clean, the way we have fun, and the way we live. This year, the organization isn’t just reframing its brand but also putting a spotlight on the role these designs play in upgrading everyone’s lives. Among these, there are definitely a notable few that stand above the rest in how they make innovation available for all. Without further ado, here are Yanko Design’s top picks for IFA 2024.

Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Cleaner

So many products these days boast about their AI capabilities, but few actually answer the most important question: what can it do to improve people’s quality of life? The Narwal Freo Z Ultra gives a clear answer and delivers it in a design that seamlessly blends into your home instead of standing out like a sore thumb. It respects your space, adding aesthetic value you might not have come to expect from such an advanced showcase of AI technology.

Designer: Narwal

This sleek robot cleaner doesn’t just navigate your home, it also understands it. It can identify the kind of dirt it faces and apply the necessary cleaning strategy to get the job done. It sees your sleeping pet and respects its space, coming back later to check if it has moved away before starting to clean its area. And it does all these without you having to lift a finger. At the same time, you still have total control, from the privacy of your data to the automation made possible with its integration with smart home platforms and smart assistants.

It’s also smart about keeping you safe when it does come time for you to manually interact with it. It sanitizes not just the mop and water but also the dust bin, ensuring a hygienic environment at every turn. More than just the convenience of having clean floors all the time, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra offers homeowners stress-free living and more time to spend on the more important things in life.

Hisense CanvasTV

The Hisense CanvasTV 4K QLED brings art and entertainment together, transforming your living space into a captivating gallery. Its sleek, minimalist design, paired with the UltraSlim Wall Mount, allows it to hang flush against the wall, seamlessly blending with your decor. When not in use as a TV, it becomes a stunning display for artwork or personal photos through Art Mode, with a low-reflection Hi-Matte Display that ensures your visuals remain crisp and glare-free, regardless of lighting conditions.

Designer: Hisense

The vibrant 4K QLED display sets a new standard for visual quality, offering an expansive color range through Quantum Dot technology that produces over a billion shades. Every image, from digital art to your favorite shows, bursts with vivid detail and realism. The built-in RGB light sensor adapts the screen’s brightness and color temperature in real time, ensuring a seamless and natural viewing experience that adjusts to your environment, whether day or night.

For those seeking more than a TV, the CanvasTV enriches your experience with multi-channel surround sound, enveloping you in movies, music, or games. Gamers will appreciate the 144Hz Game Mode PRO, which delivers smooth, lag-free performance through features like AMD FreeSync Premium and Auto Low Latency Mode, ensuring responsive and immersive gameplay.

To add an extra layer of interaction, Hisense’s Motion Detector powers the screen only when you’re nearby, bringing art to life while conserving energy. This thoughtful design makes the CanvasTV not only a centerpiece for your home but also an eco-friendly, functional solution that enhances any living space.

ESR 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger with Qi2 and CryoBoost

With batteries remaining the bottleneck in smartphone innovation, it’s up to manufacturers of charging accessories to push the envelope and deliver a better user experience. Wireless charging technologies like Apple MagSafe and the new Qi2 offer freedom from tangling cables, but they also bring their own set of problems, particularly when it comes to heat. The hotter the charger and the phone get, the slower and longer the charging takes.

Designer: ESR

ESR fixes that problem with its CryoBoost™ technology, using a patented duct design and a specialized fan to keep the back of your phone cool and keep the charging speed stable and fast. Unlike other wireless chargers with fans that simply lower the charger’s temperature and rely on natural heat dissipation to keep the phone cool, the ESR 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger with Qi2 and CryBoost directs airflow directly to the back of the phone, preventing condensation that could damage the phone in the process.

The result isn’t just a literally cool charger and phone but a faster wireless charging experience as well. An iPhone 15 Pro Max can charge to full in just 2 hours, 30 minutes faster than other Qi2 chargers. Even the Apple-certified 5W fast-charging for the Apple Watch charger juices up an Apple Watch Ultra four times faster than typical 2.5W chargers, getting it to 100% in just 1 hour and 40 minutes. With the ESR 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger with Qi2 and CryoBoost™, you can enjoy the flexibility of wireless charging at full speed, without having to worry about the safety and health of your phone.

Govee Star Light Projector Aurora

Smart lighting doesn’t always have to be flashy, blinding, or fast. Sometimes, you just want to have a more calming atmosphere in your home, and what better inspiration can there be than the enchanting Aurora that flows across night skies? Capturing this magical imagery, Govee utilized its LED expertise to create the Star Light Projector (Aurora) and bring the magic of the night sky to your room.

Designer: Govee

A unique dual lamp bead technology allows the projector to display a stunning and expansive 650-square-foot projection with a wide variety of colors and intricate patterns. These patterns include calming waves mimicking the play of light reflected off an ocean surface, twinkling lights that inspire awe, and even vibrant squiggly strips of color to kick off a party. With 16 million colors and over 50 preset scenes, as well as a built-in speaker with 16 preset white noises, this discreet projector can cover a wide range of occasions and moods, from relaxing night lights for dreamy slumber to dazzling kaleidoscopic displays for a jovial get-together.

Despite its more focused function, the Govee Star Light Projector (Aurora) has all the smarts that other Govee products offer, including Matter smart home compatibility and voice control through Google Home and Amazon Alexa. It also has a Smart Sleep Mode so that it will gradually dim its lights and play soothing sounds to lull you to sleep. It’s a great smart lighting companion, whether you’re aiming to paint the night sky in your kid’s room or create a different mesmerizing light show on your wall each night.

Beatbot iSkim Ultra Robot Pool Cleaner

The Beatbot iSkim Ultra has been named by Yanko Design as the best robotic pool skimmer at IFA 2024, praised for its forward-thinking approach to pool maintenance. Its solar-powered design combines sleek aesthetics with practical, energy-efficient operation. Weighing just 16.98 lbs, it adapts to a variety of pool shapes and sizes, offering a hassle-free solution for pool owners who want to keep their water surface clear without the constant need for charging or manual effort.

Designer: Beatbot

The iSkim Ultra’s advanced seven-motor system, featuring dual-side brushes, a large front roller brush, and a peristaltic pump motor, delivers precise skimming performance. Equipped with Beatbot’s AI-driven path optimization and 20 integrated sensors, including tri-ultrasonic technology, it efficiently handles surface debris, providing a thorough cleaning experience with minimal oversight.

With its ClearWater Clarification System, the iSkim Ultra reduces the need for chemical treatments. Using natural clarifiers made from recycled materials, it helps maintain crystal-clear water while promoting a healthier swimming environment. This design offers pool owners a more eco-friendly approach to pool care, requiring less time and fewer chemicals to manage.

In addition, features like the one-touch debris release and the 9L filter basket make maintenance easy. Built with durable, waterproof materials, the iSkim Ultra is designed for long-term reliability, making it a smart choice for pool owners seeking a sustainable, user-friendly solution for pool skimming.

EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 Solar Home Battery System

As AI becomes a bigger part of everyday life, so do our use and reliance on electronic devices and appliances at home. In addition to power consumption and the costs that come with it, this also means we become more beholden to sources of electricity, like power grids that are groaning under the weight of heavier consumption every year. Fortunately, there are also technologies that try to keep us from becoming paralyzed when the power goes out or when there isn’t one available in the first place, like the new EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 system that promises stable and green power you can rely on anytime, anywhere.

Designer: EcoFlow

Rather than limiting itself for the sake of being small and portable, the Delta Pro 3 embraces flexibility and power to deliver the power you need in the manner that best suits your situation. You can hook it up to solar panels to have 24/7 green energy enough to meet the needs of modern households. You can use it on its own in your outdoor adventures, powering your RV for a comfy outdoor life. And if you’re still living on the grid, it offers emergency backup power that kicks in just after 10ms. It’s an all-around power source that you can expand, whether you need 4kW, 8kW, or a whopping 12kW when used with other units.

Even with all that power, EcoFlow hasn’t forgotten the human factor in its design. Taking inspiration from high-performance sports cars, the Delta Pro 3 adopts a sleek and streamlined style with a Galactic Silver motif that adds visual sophistication to the power station. The EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 also puts safety and comfort in mind, with industry-leading battery management, advanced safety systems, and a quiet operation of less than 30dB that won’t keep you up at night.

Laifen Wave Titanium Toothbrush

The Laifen Wave Electric Toothbrush is designed for users who demand precision and performance in their oral care with up to 66,000 sonic vibrations per minute and a 60-degree oscillation range, adhering to the dentist-recommended Modified Bass brushing technique. Central to its effectiveness is the Proprietary Servo System, a feature that sets it apart from typical electric toothbrushes. This advanced system continuously monitors brushing resistance and adjusts motor performance in real-time, ensuring consistent cleaning power regardless of pressure.

Designer: Laifen

The toothbrush is available in four premium materials — Stainless Steel, Aluminum Alloy, ABS, and Titanium, making it the world’s first titanium electric toothbrush. Known for its strength and corrosion resistance, titanium ensures that the toothbrush is durable and long-lasting, making it a premium option for users looking for a product that will stand the test of time. The Stainless Steel and Aluminum Alloy options provide sleek, modern designs that balance weight and durability, while the ABS option offers a more lightweight alternative without sacrificing performance.

The Laifen Wave has three brush heads: Gum Care, Super-Clean, and Ultra-Whitening. Each head is specifically designed for different cleaning needs. Gum Care is gentler and designed to protect sensitive gums, while Super-Clean delivers intense cleaning for everyday plaque removal. The Ultra-Whitening head is designed for those looking to maintain a brighter smile. When paired with the Laifen Wave’s high-frequency vibrations and wide oscillation range, these brush heads deliver superior results tailored to individual needs.

Customization is another key feature of the Laifen Wave. The toothbrush comes with three preset brushing modes—gentle, regular, and intense—allowing users to adjust the brushing experience to their preferences. For even greater control, the Laifen app offers ten adjustable intensity levels, enabling users to fine-tune the vibration strength and oscillation range to suit their unique brushing style. Whether someone needs a gentler clean or prefers a more vigorous brushing experience, the app allows easy adjustments.

Eureka E20 Plus Robot Vacuum

There’s no shortage of robot vacuum cleaners boasting powerful suction capabilities, but that also means they’ll suck up anything and everything in their path, including things that can damage the robot as well. The Eureka E20 Plus makes short work of animal fur and human hair that can tangle and clog up vacuum brushes with its Newly Designed Anti Hair-Tangling Roller Design, achieving an anti-wrap effectiveness of 94%! Paired with its super-strong 8000 Pa suction, no dirt or hair is safe from this rolling machine.

Designer: Eureka

And it looks great to boot, offering burden-free operation that can save you up to $70 a year (estimated based on changing a $6 robot vacuum dust bag once per month). The transparent bag-free base station lets you see exactly what’s going on inside and offers stress-free emptying of that dust tank. Simply dump the contents directly into the garbage bin without having to worry about bursting or overflowing bags or having to replace those bags regularly. The clear view of the base station’s internals also gives it a sophisticated and futuristic look that perfectly fits the homes of tomorrow.

The Eureka E20 Plus Robot Vacuum is the perfect solution for pet owners as well as households where hair often ends up on the floor. Of course, it can also do what other flagship robot vacs can, including automatic Multi-Cyclonic Dust Collection, 10mm Mop Lifting, and DuoDetect AI™ 3D Obstacle Avoidance. With strong suction power, anti-tangling capabilities, a bag-free base station, and a stylish transparent design, the Eureka E20 Plus offers a stress-free and burden-free cleaning experience for all.

Govee COB Strip Light Pro

Smart lighting is one of the easiest ways to get started in upgrading your living space, and there is a wide variety of designs that go beyond a simple bulb. Govee, an industry leader in both indoor and outdoor smart lighting, offers plenty of interesting and useful options to not only brighten up your space but also create the mood that you want. One of its newest designs is also its first, a COB strip light that provides both illumination and ambiance with the ease of use and customizability that the brand is known for.

Designer: Govee

Utilizing “chip-on-board” or COB technology, the new Govee COB Strip Light Pro packs no less than 1,260 LED beads per meter, creating a continuous line of light without any visible gaps. It’s a beautiful display that can be used to light up a room as a secondary light source with pure white, as well as get a party going with dynamically changing hues. And thanks to its silicone sleeve, you don’t have to worry about installing it out in the open since it will look discreet and blend with the rest of its surroundings.

In addition to the bright and colorful illumination provided by Govee’s RGBIC+W technology, you have a handful of options available to control the dance of these LEDs, whether manually or through automation through smart assistants. Every meter has 12 segments you can customize, and every 8cm of the strip has a clearly labeled segment you can cut, allowing the user to truly create the lighting environment they want rather than bending over backward to conform to the limitations of the light strip. With the Govee COB Strip Light Pro, any kitchen island, furniture, or space becomes an opportunity to enhance the living experience.

DJI Neo FPV Drone

Weighing just under 5 ounces, the DJI Neo sets a new standard for everyday content creation with its ultra-compact, pocket-friendly design. As DJI’s lightest and most portable drone yet, it eliminates the need for a traditional remote control, offering one-button takeoff, landing, and shooting. It can still pair with traditional RC controllers, DJI Goggles, or the Fly app for more advanced control, offering flexibility to suit different user preferences, while voice commands enhance its ease of use, allowing for a hands-free experience.

Designer: DJI

With an 18-minute flight time and the ability to capture 12MP photos and 4K stabilized video, Neo brings professional-grade filming to anyone’s fingertips. Neo can record up to 40 minutes of 4K video or 55 minutes at 1080p/60fps that it then stores on its 22GB internal storage. The DJI Neo’s AI-powered subject tracking ensures users stay perfectly framed during cycling, hiking, or skateboarding activities. Its six QuickShots modes—such as “Dronie” and “Boomerang”—enable dynamic, cinematic angles with minimal effort.

Safety is paramount with Neo’s fully wrapped propellers, which protect the drone and its users. Neo’s single-axis mechanical gimbal and DJI’s RockSteady and HorizonBalancing stabilization technology ensure smooth, shake-free footage even in windy conditions. The drone’s infrared and monocular vision positioning systems maintain steady hovering, while the automatic Return to Home (RTH) feature adds peace of mind.

CANVAS HiFi TV Sound System

There is a lot of attention being given to the image quality produced by TVs, but what we see, while important, isn’t all that makes up a cinematic home theater experience. That said, the majority of home HiFi sound systems and even sound bars focus too much on technical qualities, forgetting the part that these audio systems have to sit inside the home. The result is a juxtaposition of a beautiful and stylish screen standing beside functional speakers that clash with the rest of your living space. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a beautiful HiFi sound system that perfectly matches your beautiful TV? Fortunately, CANVAS agrees.

Designer: CANVAS HiFi

Going against the flow of typical speaker designs, the CANVAS HiFi TV Sound System embraces design as an important and co-equal priority to a quality home product. It integrates with your TV mechanically and visually, making the two seem like a whole rather than two separate parts. With premium materials like Milled-Ochre textile from Kvadrat or Mahogany from Danish designer Susanne Helberg, CANVAS creates an almost literal art canvas that adds beauty to any space it’s in.

Of course, it doesn’t hold back on delivering high-quality audio as well, introducing technologies that solve the biggest problems of wall-mounted speakers. Room correction turns bass gains into a big advantage even when placed so close to a wall, while BACCH 3D removes the need to place left and right speakers so far apart by preventing cross-talk and delivering real stereo imaging. The result is a stunning HiFi sound system that puts audio in its proper place, standing proudly with your equally striking TV.

TECNO MEGA MINI Gaming G1 Water-Cooled Mini PC

Even with handheld gaming PCs becoming trendy and gaming laptops becoming slimmer and sleeker, nothing still beats a desktop computer when it comes to sheer performance, configurability, and cooling. Nothing beats them in eating up desk or floor space either, which is why some gamers are willing to compromise power for the sake of size. TECNO, however, says it doesn’t have to be an either-or situation, and its mind-blowing MEGA MINI G1 mini PC proves you can have the best of both worlds.

Designer: TECNO

Significantly smaller than a standard desktop tower, this mini PC still packs quite a punch, including an Intel Core i9-13900H and, more importantly, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060. Gamers will be instantly familiar with such specs on a gaming-worthy computer, now crammed in a compact and cute box with transparent front and side panels. There’s plenty of RGB lighting that gamers crave, as well as a small built-in display at the top for CPU and GPU metrics at a glance without having to open up any app or overlay.

What really sets this mini PC apart, however, is its water-cooling system that you’d only see on larger desktops. A whisper-quiet pump moves the coolant through glowing tubes, offering the distraction-free performance that gives gamers the edge they need for an epic win. Whether it’s exploring the latest AAA title or even rendering graphics, the TECNO MEGA MINI Gaming G1 mini PC has plenty of muscle to show for such a small package.

DJI Avinox E-Bike Drive System

The DJI Avinox Drive System is designed to bring high performance and advanced technology to electric mountain bikes (eMTBs). Weighing only 2.52 kg, the drive system is compact but powerful, delivering an impressive 105 N·m of torque. This level of power allows riders to conquer steep climbs and navigate challenging terrain with ease, all while keeping the bike’s overall weight low.

At the core of the Avinox system is DJI’s Smart-Assist Algorithm, which automatically adjusts power output based on real-time riding conditions, adjusting assistance to match the rider’s needs without requiring constant manual input, whether the rider is tackling flat trails, climbing steep hills, or navigating rough terrain, the drive system . In addition to the automatic mode, riders can choose from three other assist modes—Eco, Trail, and Turbo—tailored to different riding scenarios. For particularly challenging climbs or rough sections, Boost mode delivers short bursts of extra torque, up to 120 N·m, giving riders the power to handle steep inclines or rugged terrain with ease.

Designer: DJI

Connectivity and control are central to the Avinox Drive System, which includes a 2-inch OLED touchscreen display integrated directly into the bike’s frame. This full-color display provides real-time information such as speed, range, and power output, allowing riders to monitor their performance at a glance. Additionally, the Avinox app offers advanced features like ride data tracking, anti-theft mode with password protection, the ability to customize riding parameters, and even remote bike location tracking, adding a layer of security for riders.

The first bike to integrate the Avinox Drive System is the Amflow PL, an electric mountain bike designed to fully take advantage of DJI’s advanced e-bike technology. Weighing only 19.2 kg, the Amflow PL packs serious power into a lightweight, ultra-responsive frame. The bike’s carbon fiber frame weighs just 2.27 kg, keeping the total weight low while offering strength and durability. The bike’s design incorporates cutting-edge geometry, giving it a balanced performance that handles rugged, technical trails with agility and stability. At the same time, it delivers 850W of peak power with the Avinox system, far surpassing the typical output of full-power eMTBs while maintaining the sleek, lightweight build of more traditional bikes.

The combination of DJI’s Avinox Drive System and the Amflow PL bike offers a remarkable blend of lightweight design, high power output, intelligent technology, and robust performance, making it an ideal choice for serious eMTB riders looking for a bike that handles the toughest trails with ease.

XGIMI Elfin Flip Portable Projector

Who says portable entertainment devices like speakers and projectors have to come in cylindrical shapes? They’re definitely handy and compact, but not always the most visually pleasing, especially when it comes time to use them at home. Embracing both home use and portability, the XGIMI Elfin Flip comes in a form that almost makes it look like a designer object, functioning as a decorative piece when it’s not in use.

Designer: XGIMI

The projector’s triangular form is already eye-catching, but the fact that you can swivel the main section down to reveal the projector will probably amaze your friends and family. Its flat, compact design also makes it easy to put inside a bag, ready to travel with you and set up an entertainment hub or meeting space anywhere.

And it’s not all just good looks either, with 400 ISO lumens brightness and two 3W speakers for a complete audio-visual treat. It also has a bundle of XGIMI’s intelligent features, from automatic keystone correction to screen alignment. Powered by WebOS, you have access to Netflix and a variety of apps, ensuring you have no shortage of sources to keep you and your friends entertained.

Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC Proof of Concept

AI is promised to deliver customized and personalized experiences, but that has mostly been true only for software and services so far. Hardware, particularly computer hardware, is still a matter of manual operations and control, but Lenovo envisions a future when that will no longer be the case. Its latest concept design leverages AI to change the laptop’s mode of operation, particularly its configuration and position, so that it can switch between laptop, tablet, or tent modes depending on what you’re doing. It can even close the lid when you leave the laptop unattended after a period of time.

Designer: Lenovo

Convertible laptops like the Lenovo Yoga offer flexibility in their different modes, but you have to manually fold or turn the screen to actually take advantage of those modes. That presents an opportunity to make computers more efficient mostly by automatically changing their form without having to touch the laptop itself. The Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC Proof of Concept can do exactly that thanks to a motorized hinge and, of course, some AI. The screen, for example, can turn on its own to make sure you’re always at the center, or you can give it explicit commands to flip the screen around and transform itself into a tablet. It’s a simple change but one that could offer significant quality-of-life improvements if it ever becomes a stable and staple part of future Lenovo laptops.

SHARGE Forged Carbon Fiber Power Banks

Power banks are a fact of modern mobile life, and while they come in all shapes, sizes, and designs, they follow a common rule: the larger the capacity, the larger and heavier the power bank is. You can’t escape the laws of physics, but you can use materials that can be thin and light while still remaining durable. That miracle material is forged carbon fiber, and it is at the heart of SHARGE’s new handsome power banks.

Designer: SHARGE

The SHARGE Forged Carbon Fiber Power Bank series offers high-capacity portable batteries that weigh less than their regular counterparts while actually delivering better ruggedness and survivability. Plus they look quite eye-catching with their camo-like designs, thanks to the natural aesthetic produced by using carbon fiber chips. Available in a regular 10,000mAh CarbonBlade design and two Qi2 and MagSafe-compatible packs, SHARGE’s Forged Carbon Fiber power banks push the envelope of how these portable batteries should be designed.

ASUS ZenBook S 14 Laptop with Ceraluminum Cover

Laptops have long outgrown their image of simply being machines that you carry around to get work done. They have now become more suave and stylish, with some even becoming lifestyle choices. Despite all that, much of the materials used for these sleek machines gravitate toward metal or plastic, either for their durability or their cost-effectiveness. With its Zenbooks S 14 and the new Ceraluminum material, ASUS is pushing the envelope of laptop design to offer an elegant and luxurious aesthetic without compromise.

Designer: ASUS

Combining the best of ceramic and aluminum without their restrictions, Ceraluminum offers durable protection that looks and feels premium. Add this to the Zenbook S 14’s slim profile and lightweight body and you have a formula for a portable computer that you’ll want to show off at every opportunity. It doesn’t skimp on the all-important specs either, combining Intel’s latest AI-powered silicon with top-of-the-line hardware to deliver power and pizzazz in a single stylish package.

Morphy Richards Ductless Portable Air Conditioner

Like it or not, our planet is getting hotter, and conventional cooling solutions can no longer keep up with this worsening situation and our changing lifestyles. Not everyone can afford to install a traditional air conditioning unit at home, and A/C’s that advertise mobility have long large hoses snaking from their bodies. Morphy Richards is presenting a revolutionary product that truly makes air conditioning mobile, introducing the industry’s first ductless portable aircon for homes, offices, and other small spaces.

Designer: Morphy Richards

This seemingly magical feat is made possible with water-cooling technology that keeps the emitted hot air actually closer to room temperature, so you don’t need to direct it away using a cumbersome hose. With a 50-degree angle going in each direction, this ductless portable air conditioner can actually cover a wider range than what its small body would suggest. Plus, it actually looks quite appealing, almost like a futuristic robot with its sleek, shiny silver finish and black coating. Delivering cooling, dehumidifying, and fanning functions, this Morphy Richards Ductless Portable Air Conditioner promises comfort, convenience, and even cost savings for the modern household.

Acer Project DualPlay Gaming Laptop Concept

With PC gaming experiencing a sort of renaissance, it’s not surprising to see new designs rising to meet the changing needs and tastes of gamers. From slimmer laptops to handheld PCs, gaming has taken on new trends and behaviors that require PCs to change with them. Acer is taking up the challenge with a new concept gaming laptop that manages to honor tradition and explore new horizons at the same time, thanks to some innovative designs.

Designer: Acer

The laptop’s extra-large touchpad pops out and becomes a wireless controller, allowing gamers to quickly switch between keyboard and controller without missing a beat and without having to worry about forgetting to bring the controller or having no space for it in the bag. That detachable controller can actually be separated into two joysticks, not unlike the concept of the Nintendo Switch Joy-con, allowing two people to compete or cooperate in the same game without having to fight over the controls. Plus, two high-fidelity 5W speakers slide out from the side, delivering not only unhindered sound but a futuristic and hi-tech vibe as well.

Satechi Vegan-Leather Passport Cover with Find My

For all the hi-tech gadgets we have at our disposal, we humans still lose important things quite often, from bags to keys to critical documents. That experience can be especially terrifying when it involves misplacing your passport in a foreign country. Fortunately, we do now have technology that will help us locate lost items, like Satechi’s elegant passport cover which integrates with Apple’s worldwide Find My network. You can ping the passport and get an audible response if it’s nearby, or even get an immediate warning if you’ve accidentally left it behind. With a five-month battery life, you rarely need to charge it, and when you do, you can simply put it down on any wireless charger.

Designer: Satechi

Best of all, the passport cover is made from premium materials that don’t make it look like you’re carrying a piece of tech. Using scratch-resistant vegan leather, the Satechi Vegan Leather Passport Cover with Find My offers not only a stylish and aesthetic design but also a more sustainable material that will last a very long time. Most importantly, it offers peace of mind that your passport and important cards are always with you or are at least easy to locate if you do lose them.

The post Best of IFA 2024: Designs that Deliver Innovation For All first appeared on Yanko Design.

Honor’s MagicPad 2 has an AI-Powered Display that can ‘Reverse Myopia’: Understanding ‘Defocus Displays’

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If you’re a millennial, you probably, at one point in time, had a parent who said staring at a screen for too long would ruin your eyesight. I dismissed this as an urban myth, but let’s just look at the facts – more than 75% of the world’s adults wear glasses (either for near or far-sightedness). Call it a coincidence or not, our eyesight is getting worse as a species, and it turns out screens do play a role. Myopia, or nearsightedness, has skyrocketed, with experts predicting that half of the world’s population could be affected by 2050. Staring at screens for prolonged periods forces our eyes to focus at a fixed distance, leading to eye strain, discomfort, and the gradual deterioration of vision. With more time spent on screens during work, study, or entertainment, the strain on our eyes is becoming a major health issue.

Honor’s solution comes at an ideal time. The company claims its AI-powered Defocus Display in the MagicPad 2 (and other devices like the Magic V3) is designed to reduce eye strain and potentially even reverse the effects of myopia.

What Is A ‘Defocus Display’?

The Defocus Display is Honor’s secret sauce to eye care, driven by AI algorithms and vision science. The idea is simple but sophisticated: mimic the natural defocusing process that happens when our eyes look at objects at varying distances in the real world. In traditional screens, pixels stay static and crisp regardless of how close or far the viewer’s eyes are from the display, causing the eye’s ciliary muscles to strain from constant focus at one distance.

Honor’s Defocus Display, however, dynamically adjusts the sharpness of certain parts of the screen, similar to how a camera lens focuses on objects at different distances. This creates a more natural viewing experience that forces the eyes to subtly change focus as they would in real-world environments, reducing eye strain and helping the eyes relax.

The company suggests that this natural fluctuation can even slow the progression of myopia, though this part is still being explored by medical professionals. The technology, combined with Honor’s software smarts, adjusts the visual experience based on the user’s needs and viewing patterns, aiming to keep prolonged screen use from becoming a burden on your eyes.

AI at the Helm: How It All Works

At the core of the Defocus Display technology is AI, a buzzword that’s practically mandatory in modern tech. But here, it’s not just hype. Honor’s display system uses real-time data from your viewing habits, ambient light, and the angle at which you hold the tablet to fine-tune its visual output.

If you’re using the MagicPad 2 to read an article or watch a movie, the AI analyzes how you’re interacting with the screen. It automatically adjusts the level of defocus so your eyes aren’t locked into a single focal plane for hours. In essence, it’s taking the concept of “digital wellness” and giving it a mechanical solution, directly at the hardware level.

This feature also integrates with the device’s overall eye-care modes, like automatic blue light reduction and brightness adaptation, to further safeguard your peepers from screen-induced fatigue, as well as ensure your Circadian rhythm doesn’t go haywire.

Does It Really Reverse Myopia?

The claim that the Defocus Display can “reverse” myopia is where things get both exciting and a bit murky. Honor’s technology seems to be based on the idea that by reducing eye strain and encouraging natural focal adjustments, the onset of myopia might slow down. It’s worth noting that while there is research supporting the concept of using visual defocus for myopia management, it’s still early days in terms of solid, widespread proof.

What’s clear is that Defocus Display aims to help maintain long-term eye health. While it may not be a magic cure for everyone, its potential benefits for reducing eye strain could be a game-changer for those glued to screens for hours on end.

Is This the Future of Screens?

Honor’s foray into AI-powered display tech is undeniably innovative, and the Defocus Display might be the first of many steps toward making our screen time healthier. Beyond just Honor, other manufacturers are likely to explore similar technology in the near future, especially as consumers become more health-conscious about their digital habits.

For now, the Honor MagicPad 2 and Magic V3 are leading the charge, offering a glimpse of what’s possible when AI and vision science meet. It’s not often that a tablet or phone tries to actively reduce the harm it could do, and in a market crowded with tech specs like battery life, screen resolution, and processing power, it’s refreshing to see a feature that focuses on something so vital yet so often overlooked: our eyes.

The post Honor’s MagicPad 2 has an AI-Powered Display that can ‘Reverse Myopia’: Understanding ‘Defocus Displays’ first appeared on Yanko Design.

Nanoleaf Blocks ditch hexagons for squares and a more flexible modular lighting system

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Smart lighting is one of the easiest ways to get into the smart home scene because a lot of them don’t require rewiring your house or drilling holes into walls. There’s also plenty of flexibility possible that goes beyond color-changing bulbs or light strips. For years, Nanoleaf has been offering smart lighting panels that can liven up your wall with colorful, dynamic lighting that can be controlled manually or synced with other systems. Nanoleaf’s hexagon-shaped lighting tiles have become iconic and offer visually interesting compositions, but it’s not something that suits everyone’s tastes nor is it the most flexible shape for arranging tiles. At IFA 2024, Nanoleaf introduced a new Blocks set whose basic square shape belied the greater freedom it offers.

Designer: Nanoleaf

Hexagons are definitely more interesting than four-sided polygons like squares and they can connect to six other flat-sided shapes, too. At the same time, however, it also made designing straight and regular forms next to impossible, which ironically limited the way you could decorate your walls. That’s the kind of flexibility that a square shape actually offers, which is the building block for the new Nanoleaf Blocks tiles, pun totally intended.

Nanoleaf Blocks offers the same controllable customizations as any Nanoleaf smart lighting but offers some new options that wouldn’t have been possible in the hexagon iteration of the design. For one, there is a new Pegboard style that lets you insert hooks to hang headphones and other items. There’s also a Shelf style that takes advantage of the wider bottom edge of a square to set up a ledge that you can stand things on.

And because of the more regular square shape of the tiles, you have more freedom in how to arrange and combine them, forming edge-to-edge compositions that turn your wall into an art canvas. At least if you were trying to make gigantic pixel art. There’s also a textured tile that adds a bit of visual variety to the mix, as well as options between regular and smaller squares to fit together as you wish.

And as with any Nanoleaf design, you can control almost every aspect of Blocks lighting, from color to intensity to animation. You can treat them as a set to have a symphony of colors of your choosing, or have them sync with whatever music, video, or game that’s playing on your connected devices. And, of course, you can also use the tiles for additional storage to keep your desk tidier. The Nanoleaf Blocks come in various bundles, starting at $199.99, and will launch in October with pre-orders available now.

The post Nanoleaf Blocks ditch hexagons for squares and a more flexible modular lighting system first appeared on Yanko Design.

Easy-to-use Toybox 3D printer lets kids learn, design, and print their own toys

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If you’re an aspiring engineer or simply a hobbyist, you can find a 3D printer for your needs. But there aren’t many options for kids. What if there was a toy (3D printer) that could allow children, and concerned parents, to print their own toys, like they want, and as instantly as possible? Seems like a dream? Not anymore!

On showcase at the ongoing IFA Berlin, the Toybox 3D printer is a one-touch operable 3D printer for kids to design and print their toys. If you have been wanting to get your engineering-minded child a perfect birthday present that could align with his aspirations, the Toybox is definitely what you want. The easy-to-use 3D printer is developed for entertainment purposes, but it does the job of teaching and introducing kids to the idea of printing.

Designer: Toybox

A toy that makes toys; the Toybox is a fun toy for kids that even the adults wouldn’t mind using. The simple design of the printer comes with an onboard on/off button, a print bed, and a feeding slot wherein goes one end of PLA -non-toxic and corn-based plastic – roll, which is the printer’s food and the material it uses to print various outputs. PLA comes in a range of colors, so no matter the toy you are printing, you can do it with matching colors.

Children can print intuitive toys from a rich selection of options and content on the Toybox app. A child simply browses through an ever-increasing catalog of toys, find what they want to print, and hit print. To create their own toys on the fly, kids can connect the printer to their smartphone or tablet and build one object after the other.

The fun with Toybox is not limited to its library of content. Users have the option to import toy or object models from other platforms along with 1.75mm PLA filament of their liking if the sustainable, kid-friendly ones from Toybox are not interesting enough. Content from other platforms can be imported to the Toybox in STL, OBJ, and gCode formats. Then, with thousands of amazing toys available for print on Toybox and many more you can add from other places, this 3D printer will never give your kids the chance to get bored.

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