Tag Archives: Tech Designs

LG’s New Display Concept Blurs the Lines Between Reel and Real Even More for Gen – Z

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In the ever-evolving landscape of technological innovation, one cannot underestimate the power of collaboration between academia and industry. A prime example of this synergy is the groundbreaking concept design project “Forme,” born from a collaboration between Korea Design Membership and LG Electronics in 2022. This visionary project aims to capture the essence of Gen Z’s content consumption habits while redefining the relationship between users and their displays.

Designer: KOREA DESIGN MEMBERSHIP PLUS (Jinwoo Jang, Jae In Lee, Jiung Yun and Jeonghyeon Lee)

People like us, Generation Z, often referred to as digital natives, are reshaping the way people interact with technology. For us, devices are not just tools; they are companions, woven intricately into our daily lives. It’s mostly because we have been born into the age of playing on iPads. (Well, I am a little older than that, so I relate to both sides on a decent level.) “Forme” recognizes this symbiotic relationship and envisions a display that becomes a true ‘Best Friend’ to the Gen Z clan.

From waking up to winding down, Forme seamlessly integrates into the user’s daily routine. This concept acknowledges the strong connection Gen Z has with their devices – sleeping and waking up together, mirroring life patterns, and acting as a canvas for personal expression.

Gen Z yearns for a display that resonates with their emotions, habits, and aspirations. The Forme Display steps into this role as a true confidante – a ‘Best Friend’ who is there through thick and thin. This friendship is underscored by the display’s unique ability to sleep and wake with its user, mirroring the shared moments of rest and rejuvenation. In a society where the boundaries between technology and life are increasingly blurred, this concept breathes life into the display, making it an extension of the self.

The Forme Display ingeniously incorporates an age-old element – window blinds. By drawing inspiration from the familiarity of blinds, the design encapsulates the essence of privacy, control, and versatility. The display itself is reminiscent of a protective roof, a shelter under which Gen Z can express themselves freely. This intuitive design metaphor allows users to easily lift the display, revealing a canvas that showcases not only digital content but also personal mementos, smartphones, and everyday essentials.

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The rise of vertical content, synonymous with the snack culture of Gen Z owing to platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, is seamlessly accommodated by Forme Display’s innovative structure. Breaking away from the constraints of traditional horizontal displays, this concept embraces the future by harmoniously integrating both formats. The layered structure not only caters to this duality but also provides a visual representation of the blinds’ intricate mechanism.

The Forme Display embodies a delicate balance between aesthetics and functionality. The carefully chosen ‘Rare Low’ material wraps around the body, imparting a sense of intimacy and warmth. This ‘roof’ serves a dual purpose – not only is it visually striking, but it also offers a practical grip to easily lift the display. Meanwhile, the bottom speaker not only enhances audio quality but also contributes to the product’s overall stability. This amalgamation of elements transforms the Forme Display into a piece of art that seamlessly fits into the user’s environment.

In an era characterized by multifunctionality, “Forme” rises to the challenge. It includes provisions to accommodate a smartphone or essential office supplies, showcasing its adaptability to a variety of tasks. Innovation often hinges on achieving balance, and “Forme” achieves this equilibrium in terms of weight and portability. The design takes into consideration the modern Gen Z lifestyle, where mobility is paramount. By incorporating the concept of a ‘roof’ as the main structure, the product maintains a lightweight yet robust disposition, making it an ideal companion for the on-the-go generation.

The Forme Display Concept stands as a beacon of innovation, a harmonious marriage of tradition and cutting-edge technology. It is not merely a display; it is a friend, a confidante, a custodian of memories, and a canvas for expression. As Gen Z navigates the ever-evolving landscape of digital interactions, the Forme Display serves as a constant companion, adapting, evolving, and encapsulating the spirit of a generation. In this era of rapid change, the Forme Display Concept invites us to embrace the future while cherishing the elements that make us who we are.

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A smart helmet with SOS alerts + more product designs that emerged as the tech trends of May!

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The month of May brought with it an influx of innovative and mindblowing tech designs! At Yanko Design, it was surely an exciting month for us, as we came across an array of intriguing designs that left a lasting impression on our minds. Each design broke through some barrier or convention in the tech world, bringing to us unique solutions, improved functionality, and immense value. From the downpour of tech designs that May introduced to us, we’ve curated some of the very best. Not only do these designs address tangible problems, but they also make our lives better, easier, and efficient in their own way. We hope you love these tech trends as much as we did!

In a world where over 40,000 bicyclists die globally each year, the LIVALL EVO21 Smart Bike Helmet is aiming at impacting change by making bicycling smarter and safer. Apart from serving as protection for your head, the LIVALL EVO21 helps other motorists and pedestrians be aware of your presence and helps avoid a collision in the first place. The helmet’s aerodynamic outer shell comes with a built-in wide beam angle front light as well as a super bright 270° rear light and two turn indicators. Controlled by a tiny remote that straps to your handlebar, the lights offer 360° visibility to people around you, allowing them to be aware of your presence as well as of your intentions as you ride. The wide beam-angle headlight offers great visibility by shining a beam of light that’s wide horizontally as well as vertically, allowing oncoming traffic to spot you even if you’re cycling with your head down for better aero dynamism.

No matter how you cut it, the iPhone 13 looks unique – from the front, the back, and even the sides. The bump serves a practical purpose too. For once, the modern iPhone doesn’t have a notch. The iPhone 13 comes with a complete screen, as all the cameras and sensors that enable FaceID to sit on top, within that tiny 3-4 millimeter bump. Looking beyond it, however, the phone comes with speakers on the top as well as the bottom. The camera bump shifts slightly upward too, ensuring it’s perfectly aligned with the raised edge, thanks to the bump. Lastly, the conceptual phone flexes its muscles with its greatest feature yet, the Apple-made M1 chip.

Designed to be extremely portable (they’re just about the size of your thumb) and equipped with unsettlingly fast read and write speeds, portable SSDs like the Rapid SSD are slowly killing cloud subscriptions because they’re A. always accessible anywhere, B. can’t be hacked because they aren’t on the cloud, and C. cheaper than cloud drives, because an SSD is just a one-time purchase, not a monthly subscription. Quite like the SSDs we’ve spoken about here before, the Rapid SSD puts up to 2 terabytes worth of storage right in your pocket. It’s about the size and shape of a pack of chewing gum but takes care of virtually all your storage needs. It also has 3 different ports that let you connect to virtually every device you own, from your smartphone to laptop, and from your tablet to your DSLR… and even your gaming console!

Inspired by living life on the edge and documenting travels along the way, the iCam Pro was conceptualized using top-grade technology fit for the adventure seeker who isn’t about to be held back by limiting camera setbacks. Equipped with Apple’s A12Z Bionic Chip, the concept of iCam Pro boasts lightning-fast feedback and the same power efficiency we’ve all come to expect from Apple. In addition to its ultra-fast microchip, the iCam Pro comes outfitted with LiDAR sensors, an advancement in camera technology that fills out Apple’s camera to take videography to another level. LiDAR sensors essentially use remote sensing to examine the Earth’s surface, and all of its nooks and crannies to deliver photos that are as close to the real thing as you can get from phone cameras.

LetsGoDigital uncovered Xiaomi’s patent for a modular smartphone on the 26th of April and partnered with Jermaine Smit (aka Concept Creator) to bring the patent drawings to life. The phone’s components attach to one another using sliding dovetail joinery, with contact points that allow for communication between modules. Finally, a primary screen snaps on the front, hiding the crease lines and providing a large, bezel-less display. The three modules play a rather interesting role when combined. The upper module houses the camera but also contains the phone’s motherboard. The central module houses the battery, while the third includes the speaker along with the phone’s charging port. Conceptually, the modules would be interchangeable, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you had to switch the phone off prior to swapping parts.

Bose just announced their latest product, the SoundControl™ Hearing Aids – the first FDA-cleared, direct-to-consumer hearing aid developed for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. They’ll be sold by Bose (as opposed to being available at medical stores) and can be directly purchased, worn, and controlled by the wearer without needing to visit a doctor for a prescription or even an audiologist for a hearing test and professional fitting. The SoundControl hearing aids partner up with the Bose Hear app that gives wearers complete control over their wearables through their smartphone. Using its revolutionary CustomTune technology, the app lets you personalize your hearing experience in under 30 minutes, which Bose says is “a seismic shift from the process required for conventional hearing aids”.

The rumor-mill of a new Apple Watch started back in 2020 when prominent Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo hinted that a new design was in the works and could drop as soon as 2021. Now that we’re well into the year 2021, Prosser’s collaborated with Ian Zelbo to bring rumors and leaks to life in the form of pretty life-like renders. The renders are based on real images and CAD file screenshots supplied to Prosser by his network of sources. In order to protect the sources yet still share the designs with everyone, Prosser and Ian created these renders to show us exactly what they saw, and it seems like Apple is really beginning to streamline their design language. The ‘magical slab of glass’ analogy seemed to work really well for the iPad and its flat-edge design language finally carried onto the iPhone 12 last year and the iMac this year. According to the renders, the Apple Watch is getting a similar design upgrade with flat sides as opposed to the rounded ones, giving its screen a larger-than-life presence with minimal bezel interference.

The Zen Garden speaker captures the minimalistic element of a Japanese garden by mimicking the repetitive patterns you find in the sand there. As a bonus, the rock on the top of the speaker doubles as a volume control know. The speaker boasts of a diffused white light that shines underneath the speaker and under the pebble/volume knob, amplifying the overall tranquility of the design. Music is known for its ability to help us transport ourselves to another space. We don’t need visuals, but we always need music to work on our mood. The Zen Garden speaker brings the visuals to help you meditate, or even take you through the streets of Kyoto, wandering as we feel that balance of tradition and modernity in one tiny little package guaranteed to look great even when not in use.

The Z Fold Tab concept takes on the avatar of a folding device with an outward screen. Although, unlike the Huawei Mate X or any of Royole’s Flexpai devices, the Z Fold Tab comes with two hinges on its massive screen, creating a novel folding format that has a rather interesting set of pros as well as cons. In its closed mode, the Z Fold Tab can obviously be used as a regular smartphone (albeit being slightly thicker) with a waterfall display on both left and right edges thanks to the folding screens (this obscures the volume and power buttons, but those could easily be translated to the screen via force-touch like in the Vivo Apex 2019). However, unfold the screens on either side and you have yourself a larger tablet.

The Snapods by Scendo are a pair of TWS Earbuds that come with a flat case that snaps right to the back of your phone. Building wonderfully on the capabilities of the MagSafe feature introduced in the latest iPhones, the Snapods make carrying earphones convenient. Just snap them to the back of your phone and you’ve got yourself a pair of earphones that are easy to store, quick to access, and hard to lose. The case’s design is inspired directly by where it’s located. Made to sit against the back of your phone, the Snapods case comes with a flat, wedge-shaped profile, making it easy to slip your phone into your pocket. The slim case doesn’t just dock the earphones, it charges them too, giving you an impressive 45 hours of playtime.

Innovative smartphone accessories that add on to and upgrade your productivity game!

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Okay, I know we can all agree that the one personal gadget we absolutely cannot live without is our smartphone! As sad as it sounds, we are pretty addicted to our phones and need them to carry out a whole lot of tasks. Our daily lives would probably come to a standstill if someone confiscated all our phones. As handy, critical, and functional as phones are to us, we can always amp them up further with some useful accessories. There is a wide range of phone accessories that add to and upgrade your personal device, catering to your techy needs and requirements even more. From a pair of earbuds and its accompanying case that simply snaps onto your phone to an add-on modular camera system, we’ve curated a whole bunch of innovative and trendy designs that serve as the perfect sidekick to your precious phone!

The Snapods by Scendo are a pair of TWS Earbuds that come with a flat case that snaps right to the back of your phone. Building wonderfully on the capabilities of the MagSafe feature introduced in the latest iPhones, the Snapods make carrying earphones convenient. Just snap them to the back of your phone and you’ve got yourself a pair of earphones that are easy to store, quick to access, and hard to lose. The case’s design is inspired directly by where it’s located. Made to sit against the back of your phone, the Snapods case comes with a flat, wedge-shaped profile, making it easy to slip your phone into your pocket. The slim case doesn’t just dock the earphones, it charges them too, giving you an impressive 45 hours of playtime. The earphones match (and sometimes outperform) the AirPods in almost every category. Pop them out of the case and they instantly power on and connect to your phone using Bluetooth 5.2 technology.

The +Lens modular system by Shawn Wang relies on empowering the primary camera with add-on lenses – much like the way you snap lenses onto your DSLR. Unlike most smartphone camera-lenses, Wang’s +Lens system is both exhaustive and powerful. The system consists of four add-on lenses that come in a nice, AirPods-case-shaped box along with a holder that lets them snap right onto your iPhone 12. These lenses, apart from augmenting your iPhone’s photographic abilities, come with their own focus rings, giving you precise control over how you capture the world around you.

The PhoneSoap, as its name rightfully suggests, was designed for this exact purpose. Rather than using cleaning solvents, PhoneSoap uses UV rays to kill 99.9% of the bacteria and viruses on your phone in merely 10 minutes. PhoneSoap 3 is the smallest and most powerful product in the PhoneSoap family. Designed to be like a tanning-bed for your smartphone, the PhoneSoap 3 uses high-wavelength UV-C rays on both sides to sterilize your smartphone. Its large chamber fits phones of all sizes and even allows you to charge your phone using its internal 6500mAh battery pack! Just lock your phone and pop it into the chamber and PhoneSoap 3 runs a 10-minute cycle to deep-clean your device, entering even the tough-to-reach spots like the speaker-grilles. An LED indicator on the top tells you when the cycle is over, so you can take your phone out knowing that it’s completely clean after hours of touching hands, faces, and resting on unknown surfaces.

The CLIP is a wireless power bank designed to snap onto the back of your phone either using MagSafe (for newer iPhone models) or using an adhesive clip (for older iPhones and Android devices). In doing so, the device aligns with the smartphone’s wireless charging coil, allowing it to charge the phone’s battery on the fly, without any cables. However, the CLIP doesn’t just add an extra external battery to the back of your phone, it also adds a kickstand that can be used in both landscape and portable formats. A metal component (shaped sort of like a carabiner clip) wraps around the power-bank and can be opened out to let you prop your phone vertically or horizontally while it’s charging. Now that’s a mighty clever use of the MagSafe feature if you ask me. In fact, if you could extend the size of the power-bank and add slots to dock/charge your AirPods, this would be absolutely perfect.

Combining two of Monica Geller’s favorite things, cooking + cleaning, this neat toaster actually is a smart appliance that disinfects your phone. This conceptual toaster was designed to make disinfecting your phones a little easier and, honestly, more fun! Instead of the usual wipe down, this turns the task into a small interaction with the product that leaves you with a nice feeling instead of “I have to wipe my phone 25 times a day because there is a pandemic”. It aims to make the interaction between products and people more playful. The toaster also charges your phone while disinfecting it which is a nice way to reduce your screen time, I mean your phone is being “toasted” so you can’t take it out till it’s done! While the concept is still being developed, I assume it uses UV light to disinfect and sanitize the phone while wirelessly charging it.

The Waving Multifunctional Speaker is a perfect example of how form and function can help redefine a product’s design. The speaker isn’t just designed to act as an audio-playing device. It’s mindful of the objects and spaces associated with it. Given that wireless speakers are almost always used with smartphones, the Waving Multifunctional Speaker even doubles as a dock/stand for your mobile, allowing you to watch videos on it while the three mid-range audio drivers on the front pump sound out. The Waving Multifunctional Speaker even comes with a distinct wave-texture on its top which serves as a nifty area to rest stationery. Aware of the fact that most speakers find themselves placed on work desks, the Waving Multifunctional Speaker integrates a clever and convenient solution, allowing you to rest your pens and pencils on it while you work.

The TalkSocket looks exactly like a regular PopSocket-style phone-holder. It’s about the same size and shape, and it attaches to the back of your phone, allowing you to grip it better. However, it’s more than that… With a microphone on the inside and a nifty Echo-inspired LED ring on the outside, the TalkSocket is actually a miniature smart-speaker that allows Alexa and Google Assistant (which for the most part exist within homes) to actually be with you in your pocket wherever you go. The socket connects to and communicates directly with the Alexa or Google app on your phone. Talk to it as you would talk to a smart speaker and it instantly responds, without needing you to tap buttons or even unlock your phone. More importantly, though, it lets you override your phone’s existing voice AI for something you use every day, so if you’re more used to talking to Alexa at home (and you have all the Alexa-enabled smart-home devices configured already), you can just override the iPhone’s Siri and communicate with your favorite voice AI instead, telling it to order toilet paper for you, or shut the garage door as you leave the house.

Forget about individual speakers, you can now turn your smartphone into one, using this ceramic acoustic amplifier. Designed by Miguel Mojica, Wave Live is an acoustic amplifier that promises to pump up all your parties! At first glance, it looks like a simple decorative bowl, something you might place on your nightstand. However, once you place your smartphone in it, it translates and amplifies waves of music to create some powerful and resounding output. Featuring a surreal marble base, available in white and black, as well as in an intriguing striped pattern, the ceramic bowl showcases soft and minimal aesthetics. In fact, the amplifier even comes with a 30-day warranty! So, if you’re dissatisfied with the product, you can send it back, as long as it’s not chipped nor damaged!

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In comes the NILS, a small USB-based charging cable that was designed to be more than utilitarian. Sitting around your wrist, the NILS looks like a stylish bracelet, with its braided-leather design, but it conceals within it, a Kevlar-based charging cable. Made to be a fashion accessory with a strong functional purpose, the NILS is a bracelet when you want, and a charging cable when you need it. The USB and charger jacks dock into one another, forming a metal pendant of sorts at one end of the bracelet. Pull them apart, and the bracelet turns into a cable that you can use to either transfer data, or to juice your smartphone. Available in a variety of colors, the NILS uses vegan leather around its exterior, giving it waterproof/water resistant properties (so you could step out in the rain with your NILS bracelet and that wouldn’t be a problem). The USB buckle uses a magnetic closure to hold it in place, while the cable itself comes with a Kevlar weave, making it practically indestructible.

iQiki is a notification indicator that does exactly what it sounds like it does! It utilizes LED-based lighting to notify you of any calls, messages, emails, updates, or any other notifications that you may be receiving. You can easily place it in your pocket, clip it onto your jacket or shirt sleeve, place it on your work desk, and the 12-led based lights will notify you when you’ve received a notification! It allows you to focus on whatever you’re doing without having to consistently check your phone screen for any important updates.