Tag Archives: iF Design Award 2021

This configurable remote control is the one remote to rule them all that your fingers might love

Posted on by

This ingenious remote control almost solves all the hangups people have with complicated remote and flat smartphones while giving your finger an almost familiar sensation.

Smart home products are invading our houses, be it in the living room or in our personal sanctuaries. From lights to speakers to TVs to even ovens, almost anything can be controlled with a smartphone these days. That’s not always the most convenient way to control all these devices, even when they’re located in a single place. A dedicated remote control can free your phone for other uses, and this configurable device could be the only one your fingers will ever need.

Designer: Ruwido

Traditional TV remotes are often considered to be the bane of usability and simplicity with their dozens of buttons, but few would deny the benefits that tactile and haptic feedback has on our minds, especially when it comes to developing muscle memory. Some smart TV remotes have ditched all but the most essential buttons but at the cost of flexibility.

Smartphones seem to offer the best of those two worlds since controls can change at a moment’s notice to control almost any smart device, but it sacrifices the physicality of control in the process. Additionally, using the phone as a remote means not using the phone as a phone, which cuts into the time you might otherwise spend on social media. A dedicated remote is still a better option, and the Ruwido Liza might actually have the perfect blend of all three worlds.

It doesn’t have the dizzying number of buttons as a typical remote, but the Liza easily has three or four times the “buttons” as an Apple TV remote. What’s special about these concave buttons is that they are actually tiny touch screens that provide haptic feedback when pressed. Unlike a phone’s screen, the vibration of each “button” gives better tactile feedback, even if they’re not exactly like a physical button that you can feel when it goes down at each press.

Unlike many programmable remote controls, the Liza does show the icons that you assigned for each button, including cover art for your favorite albums or playlists, for example. This takes away the guesswork when switching between different smart appliances and helps develop the muscle memory that conventional remotes are best known for. All that’s left now is for the Liza to support more smart home products and services beyond Spotify, Sonos, Philips Hue, and some TVs, and it will truly be the one remote you’ll ever need.

The post This configurable remote control is the one remote to rule them all that your fingers might love first appeared on Yanko Design.

Siemens Pendulum Seat swings out of the way when trains need more standing room

Posted on by

Trains are designed to sit commuters comfortably, or at least in theory. In many cases, however, it might be more efficient to have everyone just stand, and this concept makes it possible for the same train to do both.

As the world tries to return to normal, mass transportation services are once again becoming crowded. In many countries, trains of all kinds are seen as the most efficient way to move the biggest number of people, but their designs are mostly stuck in the past when it comes to seating accommodations. In trying to accommodate both sitting and standing passengers, trains actually fail at serving both at the best of their capacity. That is unless they try to implement Siemen’s idea.

Designer: Siemens

Image Courtesy of Red Dot

Despite its name, the Pendulum Seat doesn’t swing back and forth freely or loosely. It is, instead, more like the pendulum of a metronome that can be locked at fixed positions. A single seat is actually made up of two seats whose backrests can either fold up or swivel down to form an atypical sitting position.

The idea here is to have the same train change its sitting or standing capacity at any given time. If there aren’t that many passengers onboard, like during off-peak hours, the Pendulum Seat can be used as a conventional seat with ample legroom for commuters. During rush hours, however, the backrests can go completely vertical to provide more room for people to stand.

All of these can be controlled by the train driver to adjust the configuration with the push of a button. There is even a configuration where backrests can alternate their positions, creating an odd seating arrangement. In its vertically folded form, the backrests can even be used as support for standing passengers to lean against.

The idea is definitely novel and interesting, which is why Siemens bagged a few awards for its design. That said, the design itself might not look that comfortable, especially as a chair where you will be parking your bum on what is practically a padded cylinder. This design seems to be more focused on getting as many people around as possible rather than on providing comfort during the travel time. Then again, there is probably nothing more uncomfortable than having to fight for space on a crowded train made more cramped by unyielding seats.

Images Courtesy of iF Design

The post Siemens Pendulum Seat swings out of the way when trains need more standing room first appeared on Yanko Design.

Award-winning minimal TV Stand uses an easel-style design to prop your TV up in sleek fashion

Posted on by

In what could easily be a first, this sleek, minimal TV stand actually looks better than the TV it holds – so much so that you’re sure to have guests asking you all sorts of questions about it!

A winner of the iF Design Award, the Carry TV Stand from Eva Solo takes the shape of a slim easel that props your TV up. Its metal pipe-based construction provides two distinct benefits, strength without the visual or physical weight. The stand looks so incredibly slick, it feels almost as if the TV is floating in mid-air, and the pipes themselves provide the perfect tubular structure to hide your TV cables behind. All you need to do is display some NFTs (especially easy if you own a Samsung TV) and you’ve got yourself an easel with literal art on it!

The Eva Solo Carry offers a nice way to freely place your TV anywhere in a room without being restricted to a wall, TV unit, or credenza. The lightweight stand holds flatscreen TVs between 40″ to 65″ in size regardless of their company or type, offering a flexible experience that isn’t as restrictive as a wall-mount, letting you position your TV anywhere in your living room, bedroom, or even office space and plan your furniture layout accordingly.

The minimalist Carry TV stand comes constructed from durable stainless steel piping that easily and comfortably lifts your TV 9 inches off the floor, angling it upwards for a comfortable viewing experience whether you’re seated on the floor, a beanbag, or even a sofa set. My only real concern with this angled design is that you’re almost sure to catch the reflection of a fan or a tube light if it’s right in front of the TV, so that’s something to watch out for.

Aside from the stainless steel piping, the Carry TV Stand even comes with a few accents, including leather straps that fasten to the back of the TV, holding it in place so that it doesn’t accidentally fall forward (a serious hazard if you’ve got kids or pets), and rubber details at the base of the easel and on the TV’s resting bars to prevent any damage to your flooring or expensive television.

The Carry TV Stand is a winner of the iF Design Award for the year 2021.

Designer: Eva Solo

The post Award-winning minimal TV Stand uses an easel-style design to prop your TV up in sleek fashion first appeared on Yanko Design.

This futuristic-looking cooking device promises shorter cooking times and smaller electricity bills

Posted on by

They say two heads are better than one, so it might make some sense that combining two cooking methods might help cut down on your reluctance to eat healthy.

Many health and fitness experts explain that healthy living really starts in the kitchen, implying that carefully prepared healthy meals are the gateway to that goal that eludes so many. Not everyone, however, is keen on cooking the food themselves for many reasons, and one of the biggest excuses is the lack of time involved in preparing and cooking healthy meals. While you still have to undergo the process of preparing the ingredients you’ll need, this rather hefty cooking device promises you won’t have to wait too long for things to cook, which, in turn, helps reduce power consumption.

Designer: On2Cook

The idea behind On2Cook sounds so simple that you’d probably be left wondering why no one has thought of it before. It basically combines two of the most common methods of cooking, namely stove or induction stove and microwave, to cut down on the time that food needs to cook. It offers the best of both worlds with almost no drawbacks, or at least that’s the premise.

Conventional flame or induction cooking cooks the food from the bottom and outside, which leads to the familiar brown color that stove-cooked foods have. The microwave part, on the other hand, cooks from the top and starts from the inside, yielding in a more evenly cooked and often moist dish. This “Combination Cooking” technology also manages to retain the juices and nutrients better than either cooking method in isolation.

On2Cook says that the device is able to cut down cooking times by 50% to 70%, depending on what is being cooked. In addition to halving the waiting time, this also implies that you will use less electricity while cooking. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the device itself won’t consume more power in the long run.

One important design detail is that the On2Cook is a rather large device, and you’ll definitely have to make room for it in your kitchen, alongside the stove and the microwave, which you are unlikely to throw away. The idea, of course, is to have a single cooking device to replace those two, but its design may make certain dishes unsuitable for it. Unsurprisingly, there is an app that will suggest meals and dishes that are a perfect fit for the On2Cook, though there might be a bit of data sharing with the company involved to make this AI-powered system smarter over time.

The post This futuristic-looking cooking device promises shorter cooking times and smaller electricity bills first appeared on Yanko Design.

Nifty gaming accessory turns your smartphone into a renegade Nintendo Switch OLED

Posted on by

If you don’t have the moolah for a handheld gaming console, the Gravitation Controller turns the one device you’ve got into a capable gaming rig. With an expandable ergonomic design, the Gravitation transforms your smartphone into a high-definition gaming device, relying on your phone’s powerful GPU and its high definition screen (grab yourself the latest flagship and you’ve got yourself an OLED display too, to rival Nintendo’s latest offering)

The expandable design of the Gravitation controller serves two purposes. Firstly, it provides a platform-agnostic gaming experience, allowing you to play on Android and even iOS devices alike. The expanding grips work with small and large phones, and can even grasp onto phones with cases, covering a wide variety of devices. Secondly, the controller even expands sideways, turning a relatively compact handheld gaming rig into something more expansive and immersive. When stretched longitudinally, the Gravitation lets you play first and third-person racing games with a steering-wheel-style ergonomic design. Moreover, a stabilizer built into the controller’s design lets the two grips rotate independently while keeping the smartphone perfectly horizontal. If that isn’t the most kickass feature I’ve seen on a third-party handheld mobile controller, I don’t know what is!

The Gravitation is a winner of the iF Design Award for the year 2021.

Designer: Compal Electronics

8 of the most inspiring Professional Concepts from the iF Design Award global design community

Posted on by

The iF Design Award has been consistently hand-picking the best, most innovative designs since 1953, honoring top-class achievements in categories spanning Product Design, Transportation Design, Communication Design, Packaging, Service Design, Architecture, Interior Architecture, Professional Concepts, and UI and UX for 67 years in a row. The entire iF Design Award program saw as many as 10,000 submissions this year, which were evaluated by 98 international design experts from 21 countries, on the iF Jury.

Just this year alone, 1,744 designs received the iF Design Award for their creative accomplishments across various categories, while an additional 75 designs went on to win the highly-coveted iF Gold Award for their outstanding work. The iF Design Award always culminates in a grand ceremony in Berlin, although owing to the pandemic and global travel restrictions, award-winning products and projects this year are being celebrated digitally with an international content campaign encapsulated by the slogan “The CreatiFe Power of Design” in cooperation with popular design platforms and seven renowned design museums.

Over the course of the past few months, Yanko Design has curated and featured winning designs from this year’s program too – this time, we’ve hand-picked ten award-winning designs from the ‘Professional Concept’ category below(the list even features TWO iF Gold Award winners!) All the iF Design Award winners can also be viewed on the newly-launched iF Design App that gives you access to a grand database of award-winning design projects and their creators, right at your fingertips!

To view all these designs and many more, visit the website of the iF DESIGN AWARD.

Click Here to download the iF Design App – a new experience in discovering outstanding designs.

Award-Winning Professional Concepts from the iF Design Award 2021

Infinity Mover by büro+staubach for Beijing E.U.K. Co., Ltd.

Modeled on the format of a tram, the Infinity Mover bypasses the tram’s demerits – its need to travel on tracks, its clunky nature, and its reliance on a human driver. The Infinity Mover modernizes this by turning the tram into an electric-powered autonomous vehicle that’s modular, interactive and intuitive for riders, and moves on regular roads. Working off a series of LiDAR sensors, the Infinity Mover can easily be deployed on existing roads with no infrastructural changes, and can help turn public transport into a state-of-the-art human-centric public service!

Lilium Aircraft by Lilium GmbH (iF Gold Award Winner)

With 36 tilting jet engines that give this eVTOL the power of flight, the Lilium Jet is capable of carrying up to 5 passengers for a distance of 300km on a single charge in just a 60-minute ride! It boasts of a wingspan of only 11 meters, with a design that has no tail, rudder, gearboxes, or oil circuits, making its design truly revolutionary. The iF Gold Award-winning design is all set for its debut in 2025, with a hope that future models will be able to fly autonomously too!

OBEX Protective Surf Hood by Design Partners

Concussions are bad enough… combine them with being stranded in a water body and you have a deadly combo that can easily become a life-threatening situation for surfers. The OBEX is a life-saving piece of equipment that helps protect surfers in the event of a rough fall. While the hood can’t prevent concussions, it helps soften the impact with a head-enclosing design. A special pressurized container near the neck also contains an automatically inflating neckband that keeps the surfer’s head above water in the event of a fall. The inflatable flotation device is colored yellow, making it easily visible against the blue of the water, and comes with reflective tape too, to increase visibility and save lives.

BMW i Interaction EASE by DESIGNWORKS for BMW Group

The reason the BMW i Interaction EASE looks the way it does is because it aims at challenging the very notion of how cars will look in the future. Envisioning a future where cars are simply extensions of our homes and our selves, the BMW i Interaction EASE concept comes with a ‘cabin/chariot on wheels’ design that autonomously moves from one point of the city to the other with the passengers sitting inside as they would in a lounge. The i Interaction EASE is powered by the virtual BMW Assistant, which recognizes the passengers as they board, welcoming them by adjusting the interiors to suit their preferences. The warm, welcoming seats with 3D-knit-surfaces awaken on contact with embedded smart materials ready to assist, giving passengers the freedom to move and naturally interact. “Depending on passenger desire, the space adapts using gaze, gesture, and touch for the closest, most natural interaction to transform the entire interior”, mention the DESIGNWORKS team (an in-house subsidiary of the BMW Group).

S I X T Y & T W E L V E by Rosenthal

Sixty years ago, Rosenthal stirred up the porcelain industry – with avant-garde designs by artists, designers and architects. Now the German porcelain manufacturer is celebrating its studio line with a limited anniversary collection and translates 60 iconic vases with twelve contemporary colors (hence the collection’s name). The vases come in a dizzying variety of styles that are the very antithesis of wheel-spun pottery. Designed to look like they were created using generative design techniques (I wouldn’t be surprised if they were), the vases don’t show the same revolved symmetry you’d associate with traditional ceramics. Instead, they’re boldly inventive, unabashedly geometric, and have an artistic quality that brings pottery and ceramics into the 21st century!

Interactive Intelligent Unmanned Sweeper by LanWei for Jilin University (iF Gold Award Winner)

Approaching autonomous vehicles rather differently, the Interactive Intelligent Unmanned Sweeper isn’t your average self-driving vehicle. Instead of providing transportation as a service, it provides cleanliness, working like an oversized Roomba for your streets. “It can clean streets automatically by means of accurate sensors and intelligent algorithms, and it can also do more”, mentions designer LanWei. “Unlike current street sweepers, the new design makes it futuristic and approachable, and also ensures that citizens can safely come into zero-distance contact without danger.” Moreover, the sides of the sweeper can even display important messages, civic announcements, and even traffic guidance.

CITO Liquid Biopsy Analysis for Cancer Treatment by Cambridge Consultants

CITO is a rapid liquid biopsy diagnostics platform that improves patient experience in cancer care. The platform makes it possible for non-specialist technicians in small clinics to monitor patient response to treatment while a patient waits, significantly reducing delays to diagnostic results. The compact device combines functions of three instruments in an easy-to-sterilize form and sub-surface lighting pulses intuitively to alert system status. CITO opens the door to personalized cancer treatment by giving oncologists rapid access to biopsy data so they can make informed adjustments to each patient’s treatment plan.

Atmocube by notAnotherOne for AtmoTech

With its interior-friendly design, Atmocube is a one-stop solution for complex air quality management in private, public, and commercial buildings. It accurately measures the most dangerous air pollutants and vital environmental parameters in real time, while looking less like a complex, technical, bordering-on-industrial appliance and more like a design-forward product that helps blend into the space while giving it a touch of avant-garde tech. Considering the serious impact of indoor environments on people’s well-being and health, the device serves the user by integrating various air pollution sensors into a single neat platform. The wall-mounted device comes in a variety of colors with replaceable swatches (like terrazzo, wood, concrete, metal, glass) to suit different interiors, allowing clients to customize their Atmocube to suit their decor. This approach to design brings products like Atmocube into the forefront, allowing people to place such gadgets in their living rooms and lobbies, instead of relegating them to store-rooms.

To view all these designs and many more, visit the website of the iF DESIGN AWARD.

This rollable phablet brings the big screen experience to your pocket without any excessive bulk!

Posted on by

A big rollable screen smartphone/tablet (a phablet to be precise) that’s designed to be the style statement in your pocket without the bulky form factor associated with big-screen mobile devices.

After foldables, the next revolutionary upscaling to the contemporary form factor of smartphones and tablets is going to be the rollable design. The Scroll bendable roll-out phablet designed by Compal Electronics is a perfect example of how smartphones will be an even more of an extension of our personality. The rollable device takes a cue from the hotshot mobile device manufacturers who have already fascinated us with their rollable phone concept designs. The likes of LG, Samsung, TLC and OPPO who are looking beyond the avenue to make scroll-like mobile devices mainstream.

Compal’s rollable phone (or should I say tablet) draws inspiration from the ancient papyrus rolls, enhancing the in-hand experience with readability. The upmarket device does this by enhancing the inherent benefits of the flexible display. Scroll comes with a 10-inch bendable screen that rolls out with the push of a button and retracts back into the opulent tube when not required. The amount of screen real estate that you require (up to 10-inches) is completely at the user’s discretion. A perfect way to carry the digital world in your pocket or bag in style. The company envisions this concept to radically reduce the packaging required, due to this compact shape and design.

Scroll has a secondary display on the outside to beam important notifications, display the interface of media players, or alert the user of incoming calls. The rollable device is targeted for the high-end market since it comes in a plush casing and leather finish. The front-facing camera is placed on the upper edge of this casing so that the user can click selfies. The rear-facing shooter is positioned on the opposite end of the casing, although no specifications of either camera are mentioned by the designer.

Designer: Compal Electronics

Meet the VR Cap, a gadget design that can make bring a radical evolution to the wearable tech world!

Posted on by

The VR Cap fixes one nagging problem with VR headsets today – the head-mount. The solution is so ingenious, it makes you wonder ‘why didn’t anyone think of this earlier?!’

While most VR gear comes with a single strap that goes around the side of your head (or a T-shaped strap that also sits on top), they’re almost always fiddly, uncomfortable, and feel like they’re going to fall off. The VR Cap improves upon that detail by turning the headset into a golf cap-style piece of gear that physically wraps around your head as a cap would.

The level of detail and immersive experience a VR-enabled design brings to the table is unprecedented. Can you imagine, actually being a part of the sci-fi world we admire from afar? Which begs the question, why is VR-enabled content not yet mainstream or popular with the general public. I think a huge part of the problem falls with the excessive nature of the wearable required to immerse yourself in VR. Most designs till now focus on a headgear that covers your eyes, giving you the look of a very googly-eyed creature.

VR Cap solves this by merging the glasses with an existing and comfortable piece of clothing – the humble cap! “VR Cap is the world’s first head-mounted display (HMD) to join a crisp VR display with a detachable, woven head covering”, Compal Electronics mentions. Woven from stretchable fabric, one size fits most heads in comfort, and customizations can be made to accommodate users like ponytails without developing new injection molds.

The detachable fabric cap is machine-washable too, resolving the problem we often face (especially in the COVID-era) with being uncomfortable in the level of sanitization for shared gadgets. The fabric of the cap also unleashes the possibility of a ton of customization, taking this a step closer to mass acceptance.

Designer: Compal Electronics

10 hottest gadgets and consumer-tech products from the iF Design Award global community

Posted on by

The iF Design Award has been consistently hand-picking the best, most innovative designs since 1953, honoring top-class achievements in categories spanning Product Design, Transportation Design, Communication Design, Packaging, Service Design, Architecture, Interior Architecture, Professional Concepts, and UI and UX for 67 years in a row. The entire iF Design Award program saw as many as 10,000 submissions this year, which were evaluated by 98 international design experts from 21 countries, on the iF Jury.

Just this year alone, 1,744 designs received the iF Design Award for their creative accomplishments across various categories, while an additional 75 designs went on to win the highly-coveted iF Gold Award for their outstanding work. The iF Design Award always culminates in a grand ceremony in Berlin, although owing to the pandemic and global travel restrictions, award-winning products and projects this year are being celebrated digitally with an international content campaign encapsulated by the slogan “The CreatiFe Power of Design” in cooperation with popular design platforms and seven renowned design museums.

Over the course of the next few months, Yanko Design will be curating and featuring winning designs from this year’s program too – we’ve hand-picked ten award-winning designs from the ‘Consumer Technology & Entertainment’ category below (the list even features TWO iF Gold Award winners)! All the iF Design Award winners can also be viewed on the newly-launched iF Design App that gives you access to a grand database of award-winning design projects and their creators, right at your fingertips!

To view all these designs and many more, visit the website of the iF DESIGN AWARD.

Click Here to download the brand new iF Design App – a new experience in discovering outstanding designs

Award-Winning Consumer Technology & Entertainment Designs from the iF Design Award 2021

iPhone 12 Pro by Apple (iF Gold Award Winner)

Last year’s iPhone is this year’s winner of the iF Gold Award. A remarkable smartphone by even this year’s standards, the iPhone really holds up its own to other flagships. The phone debuted just in time to enter into this year’s award, and made the cut for introducing radical new features like the 5G chip, the Super Retina XDR display, the cutting edge A14 Bionic chip, state-of-the-art computational photography, and obviously, MagSafe!

Gravitation Smartphone Gaming Accessory by Compal Electronics

Designed for an era of gamers who are migrating towards the new echelon of cloud-based gaming, the Gravitation is a universal smartphone holder/controller that lets you game almost as if you were gaming on a console. Built out like a traditional ergonomic controller, the holder comes with 2 joysticks, a D-pad, four action buttons, and even 4 shoulder buttons. Its most interesting feature, however, is its ability to expand sideways (image at the top of the article) to turn into a makeshift steering wheel, allowing you to play A-list games across multiple genres… right on your smartphone!

PlayStation 5 by Sony Interactive Entertainment

As polarizing as its organic, alien-inspired design may be, the PlayStation 5’s incredible demand really cements its reputation as the most popular gaming console of all time. The whole structure is designed to look as if it were formed by floating components, accentuating its slim appearance. On the inside, haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and 3D Audio deliver deeper immersion, while the power of a custom CPU, GPU, and SSD is harnessed to rewrite the rules of what the PlayStation 5 console is really capable of. With a performance that’s out of this world, it helps that the PS5 looks otherworldly too!

Odyssey G9 Gaming Monitor by Samsung Electronics

Having debuted in 2020, the Odyssey G9 still remains unmatched in exactly how bonkers top-of-the-line it is. The display measures 49-inches diagonally, and comes with a 32:9 aspect ratio that’s so ridiculously wide that it covers your entire periphery, giving you the most immersive gaming/working/computing experience you could ask for. Oh, and the monitor is curved too (with a 1000R curvature), allowing it to offer more screen area while occupying less space horizontally on your table. The monitor also comes with an ultra-fast 240Hz refresh rate and a 1-millisecond response time… and while the Odyssey G9 isn’t really 4K, it is the world’s first Dual Quad High-Definition monitor (basically the equivalent of eight 720p screens arranged in a 4×2 layout).

U+ Slim VR Headset by LG Uplus

Designed to give you access to a VR experience no matter where you are, the U+ Slim is a slick little VR headset that was made to be carried around with you. It works off your smartphone (which docks into the headset) and comes with all the essential elements such as a face cushion, lenses, and headbands carefully positioned inside the headset in a way that makes it compact to carry around. When you want to use the U+ Slim, the face-cushion slides right out, and the headband (which remains hidden until you need it) pops out too, giving you the ability to enjoy immersive virtual reality content no matter where you are. Once you’re done, just fold down the U+ Slim into its compact clutch-shaped form and carry it around with you either in your hand or in your bag!

instax SQUARE SQ1 by Fujifilm

The instax SQUARE SQ1 balances itself between being a classy instant camera and a fun accessory to carry with you and capture your life. The instant camera’s design is a combination of muted minimal as well as eye-catching, and boasts of an easy user interface featuring a power button and a shutter button. Lanyard-holes on the side let you string the camera around your shoulder or neck, and a viewfinder + flash let you capture great photos no matter where you are!

VR Cap by Compal Electronics (iF Gold Award Winner)

The VR Cap fixes one nagging problem with VR headsets today – the head-mount. While most VR gear comes with a single strap that goes around the side of your head (or a T-shaped strap that also sits on top), they’re almost always fiddly, uncomfortable, and feel like they’re going to fall off. The VR Cap improves upon that detail by turning the headset into a golf cap-style piece of gear that physically wraps around your head like a cap would. “VR Cap is the world’s first head-mounted display (HMD) to join a crisp VR display with a detachable, woven head covering”, Compal Electronics mentions. Woven from stretchable fabric, one size fits most heads in comfort, and customizations can be made to accommodate users like ponytails without developing new injection molds. The detachable fabric cap is machine-washable too!

A7 Dual-Screen Smartphone by Hisense

Here’s a clever idea… while the world is figuring out the technology behind folding screens, and the use for folding screens, the Hisense A7 actually focuses on first getting users accustomed to the idea of having a split/extended screen experience. The A7 comes with 2 displays attached together (quite like Microsoft’s Duo tablet), offering you the ability to use multiple screens to multi-task as well as for power-use. One of the screens uses an electronic paper display, functioning as a keyboard + notification center (without the heavy power consumption), while the other screen serves as a primary display, allowing you to use the A7 as a makeshift laptop when you need. Cleverly enough, one screen’s actually narrower than the other, creating a notification ribbon when the A7 is closed. The ribbon (which forms a part of the always-on electronic paper display) gives you quick access to notifications, the time, alerts, etc… all without needing you to tap or wake up the phone!

SberPortal by notAnotherOne for SberDevices

Although the name “Portal” reminds me of Facebook’s failed attempt at building a domestic video-conferencing device, the SberPortal actually serves as a smart-hub for your smart-home… with video calling features too. The SberPortal’s unconventional design gives it an interesting appearance – with a screen attached to a sphere behind it in a very Memphisian fashion. The screen features a tiny-but-powerful 4K camera on the top, while the sphere at the back houses a Harman/Kardon 360° audio system with a Kevlar-coated passive radiator for incredible sound. The SberPortal also sports a specially designed 6-mic array, allowing you to deliver commands to it (as you would a smart hub or smart speaker) and even use it as a high-quality video-calling platform.

ASUS ZenBeam Latte L1 by ASUSTek Computer Inc.

Rather adorably named the Latte, this coffee-glass-shaped device is actually a portable projector, capable of delivering 720p content while also functioning as a speaker-system. The ZenBeam Latte blends 720p HD projection and Harman/Kardon audio performance into a compact, lightweight, and ultra-portable design that’s similar in size, shape, and weight to a grande cup of coffee. The tiny projector can project screens measuring up to 120-inches in size, and works seamlessly with iOS and Android devices. Go ahead and Netflix & Chill in style!

To view all these designs and many more, visit the website of the iF DESIGN AWARD.

This multi-monitor laptop’s detachable screens can be used as a standalone tablet

Posted on by

For someone who is used to multi-monitor setup and using a laptop is for mere portability, the Compal Airttach is reason enough to rethink the traditional setups.

A laptop brings the promise of portability that prompts many users to go for the proven useful gadget. Although it compromises on the multi-monitor setup aspect if you are carrying your laptop around, the configuration has its own set of advantages. But who says, you cannot have the best of both worlds – ie the portability of a laptop and the versatility of a multi-monitor setup on the go? What’s interesting is the fact that not only it brings the compactness aspect to a multi-monitor setup with a laptop, it is actually much more.

The Taiwanese manufacturer reimagines the general perspective of a multi-monitor setup and gives you the freedom for enhanced productivity. This laptop has a 13-inch main screen having canted edges with the option to join the other two 13-inch displays for a 48: 9 aspect ratio wide-screen real estate.

When not needed the screens can be removed for a seamless workflow. The feature I like the most is the ability to use these extra screens as a standalone big-screen tablet(s). Both the screen have kickstands, so you can use them in either vertical or horizontal orientation. All this comes with the luxury of wire-free clutter – another advantage that can’t be ignored.

Compal Airttach’s main laptop screen has no bezels, and the secondary displays also have visually no bezels. This means when in connected multi-screen configuration, the whole setup looks like one big wide-screen. When you’re done with the day’s work, the three-piece gadget can be easily carried in a folio-like bag which clearly shows the compact nature of the design.

The Airttach is still in the concept phase, and it’ll be interesting to see the details when Compal releases a prototype and hopefully a commercially viable product. Do expect Airttach to burn a hole in your pocket since the hardware and technology required to accomplish such a design will cost a lot!

Designer: Compal