Really what would we do without music? I’m listening to it everyday. It provides the exact kind of ambient inspiration I need when working. Of course that means having something small yet powerful enough to really make all the money I’ve spent on digital music worth it. Enter the JBL On Stage 400P speaker.
Designer: JBL [ Buy it here ]
Audiophiles are a picky bunch. They know what they like and if a sound system isn’t up to snuff - they pass on it without any chance for reprieve. We’ve only reviewed one other $600+ stereo and that was the B&W Zeppelin. There’s a new challenger, one with more awards and accolades than I can count. The GenevaSound Medium is an audio feast for anyone who wants to hear music the way it was meant to be heard. The design is ultra modern in an approachable sense. Hit the jump for my review.
Designer: Genevalab [ Buy it here ]
Growing up in a typical Indian household meant imbibing certain rituals, like learning a musical instrument. Girls were encouraged to learn the Harmonium or the Sitar and the boys took up Tabla. Un/fortunately I wasn’t traditional and learnt the flute, bugle and trumpet instead. My brothers took up the saxophone and the drums; we used to often joke that we could start a home band! If you’ve not tried playing a musical instrument, then I feel you’ve missed something in life. Come, let me charm you with 10 ideas that will encourage you to hit a note!
A huge learning curve inspired designer Carlos R. Mendez to create the Squidolin - an electric violin that looks straight out of some cyber futurist era. It sounds nice, so long as you know how to play it. Connect the Squidolin to a TV and it’ll tutor you through a series of lessons. Feasible? Certainly but is there a market? Hey, I could see myself buying one. I’ve alway wanted to play fiddle.
Designer: Carlos R.Mendez
So you’re sitting there in a restaurant. You’re sitting there, eating sandwiches with some other people. And you’ve got ah… one of those crappy headsets on. It looks like a spaceship. But then you realize your madness. You realize you look like… a douche. So you seek out help. And you find it. You find the solution. It’s basically a beautiful earring. “Ripple Headset” designed by Ilya Fridman. Ill. Totally ill.
Designer: Ilya Fridman
Hear the words of Yi-Luen Tan, this guitar’s “an evolution of man’s quest to create a figure and form that resonates sonically, visually, and philosophically of the times in which he resides.” Whoa doggy. The balance is different - less weight in the neck. But the ability to tune from the body, is it worth it? How well will you strum? At what cost a new ax?
Designer: Yi-Luen Tan
Designer Eugene Cheong brings you “Maestro,” laser and mp3 guitar learning aid. You put mp3s into the device via SD card, the songs are converted into guitar tablature, and the tablature is projected, with laser lights, onto the guitar fretboard as you play. No longer will there be a barrier between you and the great and powerful rock and roll god!
It is a rock and roll (laser show) fantasy!
Designer: Eugene Cheong
What have we got here? We’ve got one of the creators of the ever-so-popular inflatable bookmark, designer Rhea Jeong! What Jeong has for us today is the “Colorsonic”: an MP3 player that displays its playlist with color. Each color represents a music genre. When you want to play some songs n stuff, choose 1 (or more) color(s) from your wheel, and a list will be automatically picked for you made of songs from the genre colors you chose.
Designer: Rhea Jeong
Without getting into an audiophiles debate over music formats, it’s fair to say that for many of us, our music collection still exists in a physical form. Most of these collections I would guess do more dust gathering than anything else. Designer Li Jianye is attempting to breathe new life into such collections with his predictably titled “iShelf”. The iShelf brings Apple’s coverflow to your physical collection, displaying your choice albums in the now universally recognized format.
Designer: Li Jianye
Sonoro Audio Cubo Elements clock radio won a Red Dot award for best product design so we just had to review one to see what all the accolades were about. Right off the bat, this is no typical clock radio. In fact, my regular radio tucked its tail in and hid behind the lamp as soon as the Cubo Elements came prancing out of its packaging. Hit the jump for my review.
Designer: Sonoro Audio GmbH & Co.
The Dark Fire is Gibson’s second robot guitar in so many years. This one is a beast. Three state-of-the-art pickups, robot-accurate frets and neck, “revolutionary rotary potentiometer.” Wonder what that is? The Dark Fire guitar “can play every single guitar tone ever.” Seem like a stretch? Come with me, and we shall spell out the doom that is the Dark Fire… !
Designer: Gibson USA
What started as a concept earlier this year is actually coming to fruition as a real retail product this December. The Cowon S9 will retain all the proposed specs; sleek body, curved back, 3.3″ AMOLED touchscreen display with 16 million colors, 500Mhz DUAL CORE CPU (hello!), T-DMB, bluetooth, FM radio, voice recorder, dictionary, USB 2.0, T.V. out, and tilt sensors. Hardware wise - it’s a win. Now lets see the interface. If it passes that, the only thing holding it back is price but knowing Cowon, it’ll be surprisingly affordable.
Designer: Cowon
Explore the best of YD. Our Archives are full of wonderful concepts from all over the world. Go ahead, don't be shy!
What I love is wireless ghetto blasters. What I love is when they look really weird and awesome. And when they are waterproof, have rechargable batteries, and possibly even make use of solar power, wind power, of hydroelectricity; that is the most excellent. Oh also: iPod iPod iPod.
Designer: Victor Vetterlein
or maybe I would…"
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