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I’m really liking the dual-music player’s design – but thats a tight list overall.

Great post, thanks SM.

We live in amazing times don’t we. :)

Where’s my hover-car damnit!!

;)

Looking at these amazing instruments gives me the greatest ideas for a couple of my clients websites… THANKYOU

I love the idea of OLED keyboards. AppleInsider reported only 4 days ago that Apple has filed a patent on a new OLED-based keyboard themselves. Considering the sheer number that Apple would produce, as well as the reduced cost of no longer supporting multiple keyboards for each localization, I’d imagine we would see the price of that item far below the $460 quoted for Optimus’ aftermarket keyboard. Whether Apple’s OLED-based keyboard would be standard or a premium add-on is conjecturable, but it seems we’re getting closer to Star Wars: TNG’s LCARS displays every year.

At first I asked myself WHY you would need a toaster that burnt the message on it. Afte I got over that I figured it was actaully pretty awesome idea haha. I liked the iRing and the wallet sized photo frame is sweet!

An important thing to note about the Optimus Maximus – the 460$ version has one active key. The one with 113 active keys is $1564.37.

This is absolutely the most exciting post I have ever read on SM. Excellent job!!!

Check out this guy’s Digital Rubik’s cube – got to be hot for Christmas 2008 and it does so much more…

Digital game cube

@chris

I too particularly like how the diving car appears to be a convertible. I also like how it’s not mentioned that the iRing is an obviously fake product (heck, the ‘design’ looks like Sony, not Apple).

Some of the other products that seem like they have a chance of production are tight, though (read: Optimus Maximus).

As usual great stuff ! “sQuba” Diving Car is pretty old stuff seen it in jamesbond movies :-)

WOW, I realy like the laser projection keyboard. But the whole post is realy great..

Good to see a list like this with reasonably practical contents!

Sony’s remote is particularly amusing – managing to ape Apple and the Wiimote in the same product. Given how abysmal the interface on my Sony TV is (never again), it’ll never happen of course.

The Optimus keyboards have never really appealed to me. The flat one has no tactile feedback (a problem also exhibited by the laser keyboards, of which I have one – but at least they’re portable), and aren’t really distinguished from electing to leave your fingerprints over any other touch screen. I always thought the OLED key-cap one was an overkill solution as well – a flat panel under a fully transparent keyboard with lenses in the key caps ought to be far simpler to produce and program (especially in a touch screen – see the Sony-Ericsson P800’s keypad solution, which just poked the touch-screen below it when in place).

The dual music player concept I’ve seen before, too. I’ve not seen how you stop the slot filling with fluff, keep the CD stable, or stop it sawing holes in things/slicing off fingers – but as a concept it’s clever. Life was easier when making a tape player smaller than an audio tape was the only aim.

Not so convinced by the Nonobject dual-camera thing. Most video phones have two cameras, but you don’t usually want to bother recording with both (admittedly, *usually*). It’s a change from using Nikon’s multi-thousand-dollar 6mm fish-eye or waving shiny spheres around, though. I’m not so sure about the use of the toast, either. If people want to innovate with toasters, how about adding an LDR to turn them off properly when the toast is the right colour? (I believe industrial toasters do this, but it’s certainly not common in residential toasters.)

I like the plug-together phones, although I’ve always been dubious about tiling displays (I’ve never seen a seamless one without some optics involved). I suspect micro projection is the way forward for big screens in mobiles (or HUDs). I’m sure some of the wearable computing stuff could use the plug-and-combine concept, if it’s not already doing so.

Speaking of wearables, I like the iRing. I’d been pondering putting processing power in a ring for years, but I’ve got no time for tinkering – I’ve still got ARM processors waiting to be turned into a Linux watch when I eventually get around to it. Putting a kinetic power source in
the ring would be cool – and it would get plenty of movement even from those of us who spend all our time typing without moving about.

The Pock-It is genius; who hasn’t glued something to a surface with bits of post-it note? Plus the name is gagging to be done. A similar idea I’ve seen is a post-it-gummed bag with a hole in the middle: if you want to drill a hole in a wall, place this around the hole and it catches (most of) the dust. This is the kind of thing which makes the world a better place, not the kind of invention competition which gives out prizes for a radio with a holographic display of the singer (the “inventor” was nine, it obviously only existed in “wouldn’t it be cool if…” form, and 3DTV is neither new nor practical; the runner-up “inventor” actually had a novel and practical idea). If the world knew that the big inventions are the little ideas, humanity might make use of more than a tiny fraction of its collective brain-power.

Wow…! SM rocks..!

the vaio lp is so cooool, but i don’t think it would be comfortable for use

Going Gizmo….
Most of them are still remaining in the Computers of Designers and Manufactures… they are Conceptual..
I like all its Designs the glossy touch ans smoothe finish..

Now Smashing Magazine has unified the article about most of such Concept Gadgets that where alredy on Gadget Blogs.. :)

Thanks !

Love the apple remote control (the green apple ones, though the ‘Apple’ controller is cute (but boring)).
Also the Duofone is a great one and so is the Dual Music Player.

The author needs to go and read up on what the word ‘holographic’ actually means. :)

great products.. the future is interesting…it’s time to shift

Awesome post….. really great

I love the Toast Messenger, Optimus Tactus and Vaio Zoom notebook. Looks as if from a sci-fi movie, not real world… Unbelievable what human being have achieved!..

Ahhh…..boring…somebody wake me in 2023….

i read the bit on the toaster and instantly thought WHY? hahaha. but see now im wondering when and where i will be able to get one, purely to draw something silly on it for the missus heh. Love this article, gives you hope for future techs out there that our kids will be using!

Optimus Maximus has to be my fav.

My Vaio notebook seems to be already obsolete! :-/

Will be wanting that CD/Flash mp3 player. real nice design and easily braggable :))

That CD player/flash memory device is really useless. CDs stop playing as soon as they’re touched. I’m sure it has no built in skip protection because you’d be crazy to carry it, which means breathing on it will screw up playback. The only way I can see a minimal design like that being cool is if it instead ripped the CD to its memory. If it did that, I would seriously consider one, as it would make ripping my CD collection a thousand times easier. Assuming it used LAME and customizable settings of course :)

Optimus Maximus has to be my fav.

Some amazing concepts there :drool:

This might be my favourite Monday Inspiration thusfar.

WoW, men this is absolutely amazing stuff

All great designs! :)

promosyon forma imalat

totally cool stuff

awesome list. very inspiring.

I have seen the Laser keyboard but I love the idea of an iRing that would be so cool if it worked like the remote function on an iPhone or iPod touch.

better…

gr8 and kicking. would have to wait till my grandsons come into this world. my country still running into NOKIA’s 8870, 6670, and what not. still a dream for me and perhaps my sons(2). gift either of them to me and i am on the toppa world.

die Bilder scheinen tot zu sein
(auch im anderen browser wird nix angezeigt)

very interesting idea Toast Messenger :P

I wish those apples were edible, coz an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

The virtual keyboard is fan dangle fabulous! All these inventions thrill me to eeny weeny pieces. Like, I’m just, crazy about these wonderfully wild objects, where do I pay?

Wow!
I love them all…
Great Innovative Thinking and Designs…