No buttons, no ports, the all-glass Vivo Apex 2019 is the purest smartphone ever built

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A triumph of minimalism, the Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone is, in many ways, what the iPhone should have become. Pure and pristine in every sense, and made completely from glass (something Apple even patented in 2014) with no trims or embellishments, barring the cameras, the Vivo Apex 2019 is quite literally flawless. It ditches the buttons and the ports (completely functional details, if you think about it) and puts aesthetics on a pedestal. Obviously, this raises a few questions… like how do you insert a sim-card, or bootload the phone without physical buttons, or even wire-charge the phone, but that’s not something Vivo is really concerning themselves with immediately, given that the Apex is just a proof-of-concept at the moment, intended at showcasing Vivo’s vision for the future of smartphone aesthetics. Oh yeah, the future has no notch too, so a big thumbs up there.

The front of the Apex 2019 is perhaps just as eye-catching as the back, with a full edge-to-edge screen and a minimal bezel. There’s no notch, but there’s a slight hint at the phone having a chin, which is where I surmise Vivo’s planning on putting their front-facing camera. The phone also comes with a full-screen fingerprint sensor, eliminating the need for an extra blemish/sensor on the phone’s otherwise-pristine body. Flip the phone on its back and it literally has two cameras, a flash, the branding, and a barely visible set of magnetic connector points that I suspect will be for modular attachments like a jack or physical buttons or perhaps a SIM to eSIM converting device. Who knows. Let’s just focus on basking in the beauty of this perfect, unblemished, piece of smartphone purity. Ahhh…

Designer: Vivo

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Sony’s Glass Sound Speaker Looks Like a Light-up Bong

Sony’s new Glass Sound Speaker is certainly unique in the world of Bluetooth speakers. Taking a design cue from stoners, the LSPX-S2 looks just like a bong. You have to wonder how many people will grab this by accident when they want a toke.

This is the second Sony Glass Sound Speaker, following up from the LSPX-S1 which was introduced a few years ago. This time, the speaker is a bit less bulky and has more curves, which is how you get that bong look. It also now has Hi-Res Audio support and Spotify Connect.

Obviously, Sony wants to blend the speaker into your home decor, which really works if you have bongs lying around and you want some romantic illumination with some good tunes. The speaker packs Sony’s Advanced Vertical Drive technology, which allows the speaker to reproduce 360-degree sound. In addition to its sound, it lights up with two Candlelight modes, and 32 steps of brightness.

It has a 35 mm mid-range driver, passive radiator, 11w peak output, built-in Wi-Fi, DLNA support, LDAC audio coding technology, pairing via Bluetooth or NFC One-Touch, Push & Play function (Spotify Connect), wireless multi-room support, and a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 8 hours per charge. I bet your bong can’t do all that.

[via Mike Shouts]

What if we grew our fruits to be shaped as containers?

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I remember one snarky image that made its rounds around the internet. It featured peeled oranges stored in plastic containers, with a caption that read “If only nature could find a way to cover these oranges so we didn’t need to waste so much plastic on them”. It seemed like a glorious act of stupidity, that someone at the supermarket would peel fruits, discarding their natural packaging, and then store them in man-made plastic boxes… so Brooklyn-based design studio Crème did the exact opposite.

Crème chose to reverse the process, forming fruits into containers, rather than the opposite (storing fruits in them). Using the easy-to-grow and tough-when-dry gourd, Crème created specialized 3D-printed molds that allowed the gourd to grow in certain shapes. Gourds are fast-growing plants that bear robust fruit each season. Once dried, the gourds’ strong outer skin and fibrous inner flesh becomes watertight, explaining why they’ve been used for centuries as water-storage and drinking vessels.

Crème has devised a method of mass-growing these gourds, forming them into glasses and carafes, using 3D printed molds that limit the growth of the gourd and give it shape (the Japanese do the same with watermelon, making them cubical and therefore easy to pack). Once the gourd dries out, the mold is opened, the fruit is cut, and its insides cleaned. You’re left with the HyO-Cup… a product that’s watertight, and formed with a surprising amount of accuracy. If the molds are designed well, you can achieve any shape, making stylized containers, or even more functional, stackable designs. Once done, instead of going into a landfill, the HyO-Cups go into a composting pit!

Designer: Crème

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Glasses made from recycled phone-screens: Yay or Nay?

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It’s a heart-sinking feeling when you pick your phone up from the floor to see a crack running right across the screen from one corner to another. You’re faced with two choices. Live with the cracked display, accepting its imperfections because nothing in life is truly perfect… or get the glass on top swapped for a brand new one. There isn’t much you can do with that broken piece of glass once it comes off your phone… that’s until now.

Pentatonic is converting disposed phone glasses (a large-scale yet less publicised waste problem) into literal glassware. Partnering with waste management firms that carefully sort through and separate the glass, Pentatonic melts them, and forms them into tumblers that are food-safe, dishwasher friendly, and let’s not forget, absolutely scratch resistant!

Kitchenware by GorillaGlass… has a nice ring to it.

Designer: Pentatonic

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These Handmade Flashlight Beam Lamps Look Like They’re Floating in Air

Looking for a truly unique accent light? I don’t think you can do much better than one of these sweet handmade lamps that’s designed to look like a flashlight floating in mid-air.

Beaverton, Oregon artist Bob Peterson of ThisCarUp has made a limited run of just 24 of these neat desk lamps, each of which features an actual vintage flashlight, set atop a handblown glass shade that forms its beam. Inside, there’s a modern cold cathode light source. The tapered, elliptical base is made from wood with a felt bottom to protect whatever surface it sits on.

Priced at $445(USD) each, they’re not exactly cheap, but when you consider that it’s really a limited-edition work of art, the cost really isn’t that bad. If you’d like one for your desk or table, head on over to ThisCarUp’s Etsy shop.