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I suppose it's time to start thinking about Christmas again. Every year I get further and further from the magic of youth, I'm able to more clearly assess the meaning of the season, which, for me, sort of just means getting in touch with my pagan roots. I think I'd feel slightly more attached with these camo Christmas ornaments, designed by Alexander Malinovsky for Art Lebedev. I would have enjoyed seeing a desert print, which would get far less lost in your tree, but I like to think the designer enjoyed the ironic gesture.

Het voortborduren op verkeerde elementen van oudere producten gebeurt in mijn ogen ook te vaak.  Waarom is Touchscreen ooit bedacht? Touchscreen is een technologie die de slechte eigenschappen van een muis en toetsenbord moet wegnemen en de goede moet combineren, toch? Een volgende stap richting intuïtieve navigatie, die een ondoorbroken ervaring (immersive) genereert tussen een virtuele wereld met minder natuurkundige beperkingen en wetmatigheden en de fysieke realiteit.  Wat is volgens Steve Jobs de overweging om touchscreen te gebruiken en geen conventioneel toetsenbord te integreren? Zijn het dezelfde krachten die FM boven AM of QWERTY boven AZERTY hebben doen kiezen? Is het groepsdynamiek? Volgens Jobs (Iphone keynote) ligt de oplossing simpeler. De toetsen nemen te veel ruimte in beslag. Deze ruimte kan beter worden gegeven aan de interface. Een virtueel toetsenbord biedt, volgens Jobs een uitkomst, omdat deze alleen verschijnt als het nodig is.    

Ik vind dat Jobs zich hier focust op de haai om in Abrams’ retoriek te spreken. Het gebruik van Touchscreen of multitouch werkt niet intuïtief, omdat de gebruiker niet voldoende feedback krijgt van het apparaat. Gehard plastic geeft immers niet mee… Een virtueel toetsenbord kan het conventionele toetsenbord dus nog niet vervangen. De focus ligt op het maximaliseren van het schermoppervlak. Een interface is zo goed als haar bediening. Wat is een interface waard als het onvoldoende kan worden geraadpleegd? Samsung probeert dit probleem te omzeilen door ‘tactile feedback’ aan de ervaring toe te voegen. Een virtuele knop die prikkels genereert om op een knop te lijken. Dit is de wereld op zijn kop. Waarom hebben de ontwikkelaars bij Apple en Samsung oogkleppen op? Gebruik de conventionele knop en laat je bijvoorbeeld inspireren door ontwerpbureau Art Lebedev. Knoppen die samensmelten met de interface. Dan hebben we de beste eigenschappen van een knop (bediening en feedback) en kan het worden geïntegreerd met het schermoppervlak.     

În acest scop a apelat la firma de design Art Lebedev cunoscută ca fiind autoarea tehnologiei OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) folosită la realizarea afişajelor color flexibile, pentru dispozitive mobile.

Noul telefon este în faza de design şi conform machetei 3D a proiectului, display-ul va avea o rezoluţie de 850x480 pixeli şi va fi de tip touchscreen. Smartphone-ul va mai dispune de un joystick cu cinci poziţii, butoane pentru controlul apelurilor, în lateral butoane de volum şi Mute, mufa audio, portul miniUSB şi sloturile pentru cartelă şi card microSD. De asemenea mai este prezentă şi o mufă jack pentru ieşire audio/video.

Să sperăm că va fi mult mai ieftin decât iPhone-ul şi va veni şi la noi în ţară, dar la cum sunt ruşii astăzi, nu prea cred.

Personally, I find the design of the HTC G1 a bit unappealing. That's why I found this design tantalizing. It's a concept phone named the Blackbook M designed by Emre Durmus, a freelance photographer and designer.

My latest from Unplggd...

With all the hoopla around the HTC G1 and the Android OS, it's not surprising that Art Lebedev, the company behind the Optimus Keyboard, came out with a new concept cell phone. The design is more than a concept since the studio is teaming up with Russia's Scartel, a carrier which just launched a WiMax network in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

My latest from Unplggd...

Check it out here

Product Features

• Revolutionary Keyboard Features a tiny OLED screen on each key. 113 screens total.
• Each key can be individually programmed to perform a series of functions, open an application or run an Applescript (Mac only)
• Various System Monitor functions can dynamically display on a key including CPU usage, CPU temperature, Network Speed, and Memory Usage
• Play a GIF animation or Quicktime movie on a Key
• Paint images across all keys at once in your image editor of choice
• Key sets can be linked to an application, so whenever you open that app the appropriate keys come up
• Powerful layer function allows you to combine existing key sets in different ways
• Use any language with the appropriate key images including Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian, Arabic, Quenya, and Hiragana.
• Display notes, numerals, special symbols, HTML codes, math functions or any other special symbol.
• Any key (or to be exact, a unit consisting of a cap, a microchip and a display) can be easily removed by hands to be cleaned or replaced
• Built in USB hub
• SD Card Slot for Storing keyboard Settings

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/9836/

The Folderix USB flash drive is made by Art Lebedev, the team behind the ultimate keyboard, the Optimus Maximus. The drive is designed to look like a folder icon.

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Η τεχνολογία του βασίζεται στο Optimus Maximus και όχι στην φθηνότερη τεχνολογία που χρησιμοποιείται στο Popularis και έτσι διαθέτει 15 ξεχωριστά και προγραμματιζόμενα πλήκτρα-οθόνες τεχνολογίας OLED.

Το κόστος του αγγίζει τα $1900 και θα κυκλοφορήσει προς το τέλος της χρονιάς ή στις αρχές του 2009.

Gracias a esto, aseguran desde Art Lebedev, el teclado Optimus Popularis tendrá un precio final sensiblemente inferior a los más de 1.000 euros que cuesta actualmente el Optimus Maximus. Sus dimensiones, parece, también serán bastante reducidas.

Por ahora, eso es todo. En Art Lebedev saben como generar ruido y, por el momento, les seguiremos el juego. Solamente les pedimos que, por favor, no tarden varios años en tener lista la versión definitiva del Optimus Popularis.

Fuente: Gizmos.es.

(θα κοστίζει κάτω από $1000 :-).

Το keyboard θα είναι μικρότερο σε μέγεθος ενώ δεν θα διαθέτει πλήκτρα με OLED οθόνες αλλά θα βασίζεται σε μια νέα φιλοσοφία.

Δείτε στο mock-up πρωτότυπο για παράδειγμα την επιπλέον σειρά πλήκτρων πάνω από τα "F-keys".

Θα είναι μικρές OLED οθόνες άραγε;

Στην εικόνα παρακάτω είναι το Optimus Maximus, το keyboard των €1186,20!

The word clock concept is nothing new, one of the first and most notable examples being Art Lebedev's Verbarius time-telling clock. Simon Heys' Word Clock screensaver interpretation will run you $185 less than Lebedev's offering and allows full user-customization. It's Mac OS X only.

SimonHeys.com>

På et gadget nyhedssite faldt jeg over nyheden om, at man snart kan købe et tastatur til den nette sum af små 10.000 kroner! Og efter som man kan erhverve et udmærket tastatur for få hundrede kroner, må der selvsagt være noget meget specielt ved det meget dyre tastatur. Det er der også så snart man kigger nærmere på tastaturet, der er produceret af russiske Art Lebedev: Tastaturet er nemlig ikke er fortrykt med normale bogstaver og symboler, men er derimod udstyret med 113 små farveskærme, der så kan vise bogstaver, symboler og ikoner.

Idéen er, at funktionen og det visuelle udseende af den enkelte tast ændres i takt med at man trykker på eksempelvis SHIFT-, CTRL- eller ALT-tasten. Det bliver blandt andet nemmere at finde specielle tegn og symboler (klik her for at se en demonstration af tastaturet). Samtidigt vil funktionstasterne kunne tilpasses med specielle genveje i forhold til de programmer som man bruger ofte.

Der er ingen tvivl om Art Lebedev tastaturet en rigtig fed og tjekket gadget, men med et prismærke på næsten 10.000 kroner, er det alt for dyrt til det kan blive en kommerciel succes (man kan købe et par notebooks eller en meget heftig stationær pc for de samme penge). Så prisen skal være markant lavere, hvis dette tastatur skal kunne sælges i større antal. Jeg vil mene, at denne gadget maksimalt må koste omkring et par tusinde kroner i så fald.

PS: Jeg stiller mig selvfølgelig til rådighed, hvis Art Lebedev ønsker at få testet tastaturet her på danske marked. I så fald skal han bare droppe mig en mail, så finder vi snildt ud af det :o)

The Teleport 2.0 is a device designed for storing phone call records on computer and registering incoming and outgoing calls. It is compatible with any telephone set and can operate via Paliha-Teleport computer program (for Windows).

The Teleport 2.0 costs around $72

The key features include :

• call record system (incoming and outgoing calls)
• storage of dialed and incoming calls numbers
• outgoing calls registration in tone dialing and pulse modes
• caller ID in Russian and American standards
• call signal computer backup
• displaying caller image and name - setting a tune as call signal
• expanded phone book
• dialing numbers stored in archive or phone book with automatic redialing
• contact number interchange with office application
• sending a list of calls to office application
• information backup storage 

Source : NewLaunches

Rispetto alla precedente, la nuova tastiera by Art Lebedev, non ha tasti ma un' unica superficie Touch Screen, sulla quale compaiono i tasti e non solo. Infatti è possibile visualizzare anche un video. I tasti scopaiono lasciando posto a un piccolo schermo.

Quando uscirà, ovviamente, saranno disponibili ulteriori funzioni; il prezzo, per ora, non è ancora noto.

The Art Lebedev Studio's latest creation, Pultius, may look as if it's come from some other world far across the galaxy, but it's much more simple than that... as most of their work, it's simple and complex. At half a meter long (almost twenty inches), it's the longest television remote control I've ever seen. The studio's task was to "Design a remote control with as many buttons as there are channels on TV." With just over 100 channel buttons it does just that with an interface as simple and minimalistic as possible.

There's no release information from the studio so this could just remain a concept device. Although, as the Optimus Maximus keyboard has shown us, to Art Lebedev no product could be too far-reaching for production.

399 channels, almost 20 inches long. Meow.