The Steam Deck came in early 2022, and the only update to the handheld gaming console came in the form of an OLED version last year. One thing common to all the previous models of the Deck handheld console has been their black color.
Valve has decided to break that tradition by releasing a Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White for a worldwide release to the amazement of fans who’ve witnessed the white color of the gaming device only in renders. This version is a break from the monotony of the dark hue, akin to the transparent shell limited-edition version in 1TB memory, released last year that we liked to the core.
The OLED version of the Steam Deck with HDR support looks bold compared to the LCD models, and wrapped in a white color will contrast the display colors even better. Valve is not playing down the possibility of even more bold color options coming in the future depending on the response for this current version. They categorically said that they will keep improving the Deck from a software and hardware perspective.
Just like the transparent shell one, this one will only be available in a 1TB model. The off-white shell of this limited edition has gray buttons and the power button in orange. This handheld will be paired with a white carrying case and a microfiber cloth which you’ll need more often than not, since it’ll get dirtier compared to the black version.
According to Valve, the Limited Edition Deck will be available worldwide from November 18 at 3 PM. The stock has been allocated to all the worldwide regions proportionally for equitable distribution and it’ll only be available until the stocks exhaust. “Once we’re out, we’re out,” Valve says.
One user can purchase only one unit with one Steam account, so now’s the time to mark your calendars to get hands on one for $679. This is $30 more than the 1 TB Steam Deck OLED.
The recent retro craze when it comes to devices and even just designs of devices isn’t limited to just the people who actually experienced these things. The younger generation has a fascination with everything “old”, which can sometimes make older people really feel old. We’re seeing all kinds of product designs and concepts that play on this pseudo nostalgia (because it shouldn’t be called nostalgic if you didn’t actually experience it right?) and this trend will probably last for a long time. The best ones are those that are able to bridge nostalgia with modern sensibilities to get something that doesn’t just repeat what was done before.
Designer: Seunghyeon Kim (Focus Studio)
This concept for an AI speaker and record runner plays on the nostalgic feel that people are looking for. This is a 2-in-1 device for those who want to experience the convenience of a regular Bluetooth/AI speaker with the added different old school way of playing a vinyl record. The full device is a minimalist gadget that doesn’t give you a lot of features to maintain the external retro feel that you may be looking for.
The main part is a rectangular box shaped speaker complete with grills, a slider control for the volume, and the simple play/pause, rewind, and fast forward buttons. The power button and the slider control are the only colored spots in a silver monochrome device. There is a round thing on the left that at first looks like a detachable speaker but is in fact a record runner. This is a small record player that you place on top of an LP. It plays the record by pushing and pulling on the grooves, thereby earning the nickname of the vinyl killer (since some records get broken because of this).
The idea of a retro-looking speaker will most likely interest both those who want to get back to the good ole days and those that wanted to experience it in one form or another. The record runner feature may not be appealing though to those who prefer their vinyls to be played the regular way.
With the death of microSD cards in smartphones, the storage that you buy is all that you’ll ever get. Sure, you can use cloud storage, but that puts you at the mercy of an Internet connection. It’s not always available, as some might want you to believe, and it’s not always fast, especially for large files.
Nothing beats local storage in terms of speed and security, but OTG (on-the-go) USB flash drives for phones only have so much capacity. SSDs are the king of fast and compact data storage, and this rather unusual design puts as much as 2TB at your disposal, sticking securely to the back of your phone so you won’t have to deal with dangling cables while recording video or taking photos.
You can already connect external drives to smartphones these days, but even the smallest SSD would be left dangling when you pick up the phone. Yes, you can hold both in your hand like how some hold a power bank, but that makes things just awkward and sometimes dangerous. Thankfully, MagSafe technology now lets us stick things to the back of the phone, so why not an SSD as well?
The Dockcase MagSafe M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure does exactly that, coming in the form of a small puck that attaches magnetically to the back of your phone. It still needs a USB-C connection for data and a bit of power, but it can be a very short one that won’t get tangled in your hand. This design is perfect for mobile photographers as it can let them easily record even 4K videos directly to the storage, depending on the camera app being used.
This device, however, is just an enclosure, so you’ll have to buy and put in a compatible SSD module. This, however, offers more flexibility, as you can have up to 2TB in storage and, if needed, swap out modules. It also has a square LCD display that, at the push of a button, can show important information about the SSD inside.
Although it can technically be used with any computer that can read SSD storage via USB-C, Dockcase was clearly intended for use with iPhones and MagSafe-compatible phones or cases. It even has passthrough charging so you can keep the enclosure connected and charge your phone at the same time. It’s a rather simple yet elegant design that solves the data storage problem of smartphones today.
If you’re staying outside your house or office for a certain period of time, it’s almost always required that you need to bring a power bank. Well, unless you’re one of those people who can live without looking at their smartphone (or your device has a lot of juice). But for the rest of us that need our smartphones almost always, a power bank is attached to our bag as well as our devices. We don’t really think about the design of our power banks but some product designers do.
Designer: Anil Ramesh, Arun Kumar, Joel D’silva (Analogy Design Studio)
The folks over at Analog thought about adding a bit more functionality to the power bank and make it easier for users to carry it around. They focused on “usability, portability, and aesthetics”, the latter of which we don’t really think about as long as it gets the job done. But since we probably hold the power banks alongside our phone, it makes sentse to make it look better and also make it ergonomic.
The power bank has an elongated design rather than the normal brick version that most of them have. It actually looks like a cosmetic case and since that’s the look they’re going for, they added a beauty aspect to it. There’s a mirror inside of the power bank so you get another function for it aside from juicing up your device.
The power banks come in various pastel colors and because of the added mirror function, it might appeal more to women or at least those who need mirror on the go and like the color scheme. The ergonomic function will also be useful for those who may have some grip or muscle issues from holding phones for a long time.
Small pocket-sized flashlights are a dime a dozen these days, especially in the era of EDCs or Everyday Carry bags. Many of these come in rugged designs with bright LED functionality, and most of them utilize rechargeable batteries for convenience. Of course, that implies having some sort of charger always at hand, which requires carrying yet another separate device in your kit.
This EDC tool, however, takes a cue from the now ubiquitous wireless earbuds design, providing a carrying case for the LED flashlight that also serves as its charger. Even better, you can actually use the flashlight while it’s still in its case, removing the need to fiddle with two separate devices when you’re in a hurry.
On its own, the Olight Baton 4 LED flashlight looks pretty ordinary. It has a small cylindrical body typical of tiny flashlights, though it boasts a brightness of 1,300 lumens and a throw distance of 170 meters. It has small LED indicators for its brightness level and remaining battery charge, but that’s pretty much it for the flashlight itself.
The real killer feature of the Baton 4 Premium Edition, however, is its 5,000 mAh charging case. It has a flip-top design that makes it easy to open and close with one hand. You can easily slip in any compatible Olight flashlight for charging, but there’s a special function when used with the Baton 4 or Baton 3 flashlights. You can simply flip open the cover and press the side button to turn on the flashlight while it’s still in the case, so you don’t have to lose time pulling it out and putting it back in again.
The case itself has dual charging functionality. It can charge the flashlight inside or charge a phone like a power bank. This means you don’t really need to carry a separate charger for the flashlight and your phone, as the case can do both. It might sound like a small convenience, but for people who always find themselves outdoors in the dark, intentionally or otherwise, it can be a critical space-saving feature that helps make room for more things inside their EDC bags.
“Everything old is new again” is an adage that we will probably never escape. How we listen to music continually evolves but it seems that we still have a certain fondness for the old way like vinyls, CDs, and yes, even cassette tapes. Streaming music on our mobile devices is the most convenient but there’s a certain nostalgia attached to “vintage” that we enjoy. And of course, the music quality is way different to the compressed ones we have now.
Designer Name: Love Hulten
This designer is obviously of the generation that still enjoyed listening to music on cassette tapes since the main component of this device is his old Sony Walkman WM-EX655. And he still has a collection of cassette tapes so we know he’s a serious collector. What he developed is something straight out of a 60s science fiction movie. But instead of using it to conduct experiments, you use it as it was originally intended: to play sweet, sweet music.
What he came up with is a cassette player and storage unit for the colorful cassette tape cases. There’s also built-in dual circular speakers, keyboard switches and buttons with various functions like play, stop, forward, rewind, etc. There’s also an audio waveform meter to go along with the beat of the music and even a tape slot to put in the case of the album you’re currently playing. The cabinet looking device blends design and technology to give you a truly retro piece of equipment that still performs its original function.
It’s of course a device that he made for himself since he has been collecting and keeping cassette tapes. But unlike vinyls and CDs that you can still buy from a lot of places, I don’t know that many stores that still sell cassettes. So the possibility of having a commercial version of this is very slim.
You’ve probably heard about how some people bemoan the degradation of literacy thanks to “txtspeak” which abbreviated words to avoid hitting the SMS character count cap. Although that may be a thing of the past now that we have longer limits and more flexible messaging services, a newer trend is to completely replace words with their more expressive iconic equivalents: emojis.
In less formal settings, a string of emojis instead of a full paragraph could be more efficient and even fun, and SEGA thinks it could actually be a good thing for kids. Adults might roll their eyes at the thought, but these cute devices might remind them of their own past when text in a single scrolling line was the way to communicate. Of course, these kids have it easier with smileys and icons that can paint a dozen words.
Given how many icons, objects, and faces are now included in the set of emojis almost universally understood by everyone, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that some people can carry out conversations without typing a single character. Of course, just like any iconography, some images or expressions can be open to interpretation, but that’s also precisely the point with this “Emojam” pager from SEGA. It’s like developing a secret coded language that only you and your close friends can understand.
With this emoji pager, kids can “type” 10 emojis from a selection of 1,100 emojis to send to their friends. That’s quite a lot, especially when you consider that the device only has three buttons. Interpreting the sequence of icons correctly is also part of the fun, making communication more active and less mechanical like the way adults communicate with each other today.
As a device designed for kids, SEGA Emojam has a few safety features to protect their emotional and mental states. It’s a Wi-Fi-only device that can only have 100 people on its friends list, and group chats are limited to five people only. More importantly, you can only add a friend after you physically tap two devices together, which means it will be someone you’ve at least met face-to-face once. The library of emojis, vast as it may be, doesn’t include harmful imagery either.
Admittedly, the idea of an emoji pager might sound cute but its commercial success might be a bit questionable. Still, SEGA definitely thinks it will be a hit among Japanese kids, especially with special emojis from popular franchises like Sanrio. The SEGA Emojam pager launches on December 10 for 7,150 JPY, around $47, though it isn’t clear if it will require a paid subscription to use.
Are you the kind of person who’s always sleepy when at the office but suddenly feels energized as soon as you leave? Then when it’s time to sleep, you have so much energy and you find it hard to fall asleep? It’s a vicious cycle that affects a lot of modern employees now. It may be that they just don’t like the work but it can also be because of things like insomnia and even Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). It can affect your work, social life, and overall quality of life.
One thing that works for some people to help them fall asleep is having some kind of white noise playing in the background. You can use your phone or smart speaker to play white noise playlists but what if there’s a device that just does that? That’s the idea behind the concept for a white noise speaker. It doesn’t have any other purpose that may distract you from sleeping. All it’s supposed to do is play white noise and accompany you as you drift off to dreamland (hopefully).
The speaker looks like one of those digital photo frames that can display random photos from your collection. The rectangular device has a glass frame at the top and then the speaker grill at the bottom where the white noise comes out. The glass seems like a screen where white-noise related videos can play (like falling rain, leaves blowing in the wind) that can accompany the white noise as it lulls you to sleep.
There wasn’t much information about the other features or aspects of the concept design but the product renders seem to be self-explanatory. As someone who also has much trouble sleeping at night (and then consequentially has problems waking up in the morning), this can be a pretty useful device to have.
In the world of technology, AI has been consistently making innovative and significant strides. It has positively impacted multiple domains including the creative industry. AI tools aren’t just novelties for creative professionals, they serve as transformative instruments that elevate productivity, precision, and creativity. We have curated five innovative AI tools and gadgets that are handy for creative professionals.
These AI tools offer innovative solutions that enhance productivity, creativity, and precision. Whether you are a musician, designer, digital content creator, or global communicator, these tools provide invaluable support in your creative endeavors. As AI technology continues to advance, the possibilities for creative professionals are boundless, promising a future where creativity and technology go hand in hand.
1. ASUS ProArt PZ13
Say hello to the ASUS ProArt Pz13 – a 2-in-1 tablet designed to meet the demands and requirements of creative professionals. The PZ13 is tailored for designers, artists, streamers, and writers who need portability and performance. This sleek device is equipped with a detached keyboard cover and kickstand, ensuring you can use it in different environments.
The PZ13 is amped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus – an octa-core processor that balances performance and power efficiency, making it perfect for creative tasks. It is amped with a robust feature set including a 70Wh battery, IP52 dust and water resistance, and MIL-STD-810H certification.
Why is it noteworthy?
The ProArt PZ13 can seamlessly integrate AI features into the creative workflow, thereby improving productivity, and supporting new forms of artistic and creative expression. It also includes a Neural Processing Unit and integrated graphics processor which enables the tablet to deal with complex creative tasks with ease.
The PZ13 is a powerful sidekick for content creators, as it also features a lightweight design and long battery life, allowing creators to work virtually from anywhere. This makes it a flexible and valuable purchase for creatives who are always on the move, enabling them to capture and execute ideas wherever they may be.
What we like
Lightweight and compact design for easy transport.
Enhances creative processes with integrated AI capabilities.
What we dislike
It may not be able to match the performance of more powerful devices.
2. AIMake
AIMake is a generative AI tool designed especially for industrial design applications. It provides a prompt-based interface that allows users to effortlessly and easily create graphical outputs. It is great for working on 2D printing, laser-etching, engraving, or embossing, as it offers a streamlined solution to bridge the gap between concept and execution. It provides a choice between 70 different styles.
The platform is designed to meet a whole bunch of design needs and requirements, ranging from ready-to-print logos to editable SVGs for screen-printing and low-relief 3D engravings. AIMake is a versatile and invaluable tool for professional creators and DIY lovers, as it helps them bring their creative visions to life.
AIMake’s ability to democratize and simplify the design process makes it invaluable. It leverages AI, to cut down the need for extensive technical expertise, helping you focus on the creative aspect of your project. It features an intuitive prompt-based design system that helps users generate complex designs with a simple text description.
AIMake is integrated with DesignFind, an asset marketplace, offering users access to a whole range of free and paid project files from creators around the world. This helps build a collaborative and interactive environment where designers can share ideas and inspire one another. This elevates the platform’s utility even more.
What we like
Features an intuitive prompt-based interface that simplifies the design process.
Supports various output formats and styles.
What we dislike
It may not offer a lot of control over the finer and more intricate design details.
3. ROLI Airwave
Meet the ROLI Airwave – an impressive tool that harnesses the power of AI to completely rejuvenate music education and production. It isn’t an ordinary instrument, it is a comprehensive music-learning ecosystem powered by ROLI’s Music Intelligence (MI) platform. It merges AI with advanced vision and voice technology, providing an immersive learning experience that is interactive, intuitive, and fun.
It functions as an “intelligent piano” concept, that pushes the boundaries of traditional music learning, helping musicians interact with their instruments and instructors seamlessly and intuitively. It is equipped with 3D infrared cameras and Vision technology, which captures intricate finger movements and gestures, offering real-time feedback and guidance.
Why is it noteworthy?
The ROLI Airwave offers a novel and transformative approach to music learning and production. It provides dynamic, interesting, and real-time feedback to users, helping them improve their skills. The guidance is extremely personalized and tailored to each musician’s needs and requirements.
This level of guidance and help is provided on account of the sophisticated AI algorithms, which analyze and study the musician’s technique. Irrespective if you are a beginner having an issue with finger positioning or an advanced player fine-tuning your skills, the AirWave will be the coach you need.
Users may take some time to adjust to the new system.
4. AnkerMake M5
The AnkerMake M5 is a state-of-the-art 3D printer that provides an impression combination of high-speed printing and exceptional detail. It is created for professionals and DIY enthusiasts and is engineered to deliver flawless prints with efficiency. It features a PowerBoost technology, which optimizes energy through a Y-axis transmission system.
The system is equipped with a powerful stepper motor, double-belt driveshaft, and a stabilized motion algorithm, thereby generating extra power for high-speed printing without compromising on quality.
Why is it noteworthy?
The M5 is equipped with an advanced AI Camera Recognition System which ensures your prints are on track while making the entire printing process seamless and reliable. It can print at five times the usual speed while maintaining a 0.1mm precision. This enables users to produce high-quality prints in no time.
This is excellent for industries where rapid prototyping and production are essential, like product design and engineering. It features an ultra-direct extruder which always ensures precision, reducing the distance between the extruder and nozzle to enhance control and minimize errors.
What we like
Can print at 5X the normal speed significantly reduces production time.
Provides real-time monitoring and error detection.
What we dislike
The intricate components and systems, such as the ultra-direct extruder, may require maintenance.
5. VocaEase
For creators and creative professionals who often find themselves on the go, the VocaEase is a handy tool. It is an innovative AI-powered translation tool that supports seamless communication, bridging linguistic gaps in spoken and written formats. It provides a comprehensive suite of features to meet the needs of global communicators.
Whether you’re having voice or video calls with clients, or attending international conferences, VocaEase will provide real-time translations with a 0.5-second response time. It also features ChatGPT’s Whisper function, which improves its transcription abilities, and creates summaries of meetings, conferences, and conversations for users.
Why is it noteworthy?
If you’re someone who travels a lot, then the VocaEase will transform the way you communicate across languages. It delivers a whole new level of speed and accuracy. It can deal with multiple languages and formats easily, providing utility in a wide range of applications, from meetings to social media interactions.
It is quite handy for professionals who need to quickly collect information from multilingual sources, saving valuable time, and reducing the risk of miscommunication. It features a user-friendly design, which allows users to operate it easily, using varying levels of technical expertise.
What we like
Provides fast translations, facilitating smooth conversations.
Handles multiple languages and formats effectively.
What we dislike
Requires reliable internet connectivity.
May sometimes struggle with complex or nuanced translations.
Retro designs in technology continue to be a strong trend, from retro consoles to instant cameras to record players. Most of these products try to update the classic aesthetics to modern standards, reinterpreting them without straying too far from the original. In other words, they’re mostly modern devices simply paying homage to the past.
There might be times, however, the original designs still have a lot of pull, especially for eyes that have never seen them before. This series of concepts tries to imagine some of those with completely classic designs, save for the addition of 16-bit displays and a splash of 80s colors that make them funky and hip in their own unique ways.
Music streaming has pretty much replaced the radio for most people, but the medium hasn’t completely died out. Radios, however, have become rarer outside of vehicles, and most designs these days tend to make the device almost invisible. This concept, in contrast, is as loud as it can be, both in sound and in appearance with its pink body and clashing color combinations.
What sets it apart, however, is the square display beside the circular front speaker. It’s not a modern touch screen for controlling the radio, but more of a useless but fun embellishment to the experience. It displays a 16-bit video that looks at home in games of that era, rendering an accompanying visual to the audio, whether it makes sense or not.
Very few people these days listen to cassette tapes. Unlike vinyl records, there’s almost no special audio quality to these small rectangular containers for brown tape that all too often gets tangled up. That said, some people still have a collection of these tapes, and this cassette player concept adds a unique twist to the device without twisting those tapes.
The color scheme for the device this time is a faded yellow, complete with green streaks of corrosion. But just like the radio above, the flat tape player integrates a screen that can play 16-bit videos. Although it doesn’t serve any practical function, it adds a bit of fun flavor to the music being played, making you want to look at the device even when it’s lying on the table.
The record player in this Timeless Treasure collection steps farther back in time, adopting the form of a 40s gramophone. Its green, flower-shaped sound horn looks like copper that has aged over time, while the boxy platform has a mix of industrial and Art Deco details. Only the dominantly yellow color motif looks out of place and out of time, giving it an odd anachronistic flavor.
The large 16-bit display is again the center of attraction here, playing a pixelated video of an opera or orchestra performance. It could be related to the track being played, though it’s more likely a very generic clip for any and all kinds of records. It would probably be nice if each video was customized for different kinds of music, perhaps using some AI magic to make it happen.
Old-school audio devices aren’t the only ones getting this 80s retro facelift, though a watch is hardly that old to qualify. More like an old-fashioned kids’ digital watch, this particular concept adds a lo-fi feel to this somewhat modern wearable, particularly when an alarm plays. Like the rest of the collection, it’s a fun touch that doesn’t add any functional advantage but gives the designs a new flavor.
