Tag Archives: portable audio

This 2mm glass speaker with crystal clear audio was designed for disassembly!

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Most of us listen to music through plastic speakers and earbuds lined with silicone, which typically end up lost somewhere in landfills once it’s time for that upgrade. Music and sound surround us and fill up our homes most likely every single day, but many of us wouldn’t even be able to say what comes of our audio systems or where they end up once we kick ‘em to the curb. The creators behind Ammos, a home audio system that produces music through a sheet of glass, hope to have designed an answer. Ammos, which stands for ‘repairability,’ is built ecologically from sustainable materials such as glass, bamboo, aluminum, and ABS thermal plastics in order to promote the product’s repairability, which in turn deepens its longevity.

In order to tackle typical consumer electronics issues such as planned obsolescence to shorten product life-cycles and an old building principle of relying on rare-earth elements, the team of industrial design engineering students went through an intensive conceptualization phase, going through several phases of ideation and iterations. The final product, a fully-operational speaker that’s held together by a slender, metallic, prism-like frame. The design team, Martin Steffner, Emilio De Jonghe, Orelio De Jonghe, Dimitrios Seleridis, Rick Cazemier, and Thor Gerard, found their main inspiration with Ammos’s most defining attribute: glass. A two-millimeter sheet of soda-lime float glass hangs between the sleek, metallic frame and produces crystal clear audio using actuators. Producing mid to high range frequencies from 200 to 20.000 Hz, the actuators are placed subtly close to the edge of the glass, providing the float glass with just enough force for it to wiggle and reverberate unnoticeably. Then, careful not to forget about the bass, the low frequencies from 20 to 200 Hz are caught and produced by an enclosed subwoofer. Just beneath the glass, touch interaction and feedback is made possible on a bamboo interface that provides visual, illuminated feedback through an LED matrix below. The bright LED matrix further intensifies the character of Ammos by providing intuitive, simple feedback through a haptic interface. Encased in the belly of the product, a powerful processing unit provides the engine for Ammos, which is constructed from aluminum in order to maintain the cooling system and increase the product’s overall recyclability.

With repairability at the forefront of the team’s focus, Ammos achieved its architectural durability with deep integration of FE analysis, sustainability assessment, and cutting edge production methods. After many rounds of audio testing in the Netherlands’ only anechoic chamber, the group of design students managed to produce Ammos so that no glues are used in construction. The design team was sure to follow the Japanese design principle, poka-yoke or “mistake-proofing,” which means for them that the whole speaker can be put together with just one Allen key, an approach they like to call, “designed for disassembly.”

Designers: Martin Steffner, Emilio De Jonghe, Orelio De Jonghe, Dimitrios Seleridis, Rick Cazemier, and Thor Gerard

A designer and consumer’s critique of the new Apple Airpods Max headphones

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It’s been roughly 13 months since the last time I felt the need to express a sense of disdain at a product launched by a large company – and in a lot of ways, it’s a good thing that I haven’t found myself tapping into this side of me in over a year. It’s a testament to the fact that we’ve got enough good design to talk about. The Swiss-Cheese Mac Pro and the Toblerone-on-wheels Tesla Cybertruck drew my ire last year, and while most of my time in 2020 has been focused on making banana bread and dalgona coffee while we figure out the vaccine situation, I now find myself disapprovingly tut-tuting at Apple… and it isn’t because the company has literally had 4 separate keynotes in a single year.

Let’s talk about Apple’s “One more thing” moment this year with the AirPods Max. Steve Jobs would be rolling in his grave at that word-salad of a product name for something as simple as “headphones”. The name, however, is just one of many issues I have with the product, which I’m sure is “the best pair of headphones” Tim Cook’s ever experienced. So, why don’t we break down the AirPods Max and analyze why Apple’s probably dropped the ball on this one.

Hey Apple, it’s a name, not a family tree…

I can only imagine how disappointed children will be on Christmas when they ask for the AirPods Max and their parents come back with a pair of 2nd Gen Airpods saying “Isn’t this what you asked for?”. Names are supposed to give you clarity, not confuse you. The strategy has been working phenomenally well for Apple’s MacOS version nomenclature (which used to be named after animals, but are now named after locations in California). It’s sweet, memorable, and you rarely confuse version Catalina with version Big Sur because they sound so different. The AirPods Max, however, is confusing because each word is a separate product, and I venture it won’t be long before they release a pro-line of headphones that they’ll call the AirPods Max Pro.

Wait, where’s the Apple Logo??

Aluminum used to be a design statement a decade ago. Now it’s just the ‘boring option’. The AirPods Max’s biggest tragedy is that it never built on the legacy left by Beats by Dre. Instead, you’ve got a product that looks like something available at a Shenzen streetside vendor with no branding or recognizable design language. That’s right, not even an Apple logo. Now the AirPods (the small ones) had a valid reason for not including the Apple branding on them. They were small… and they looked exactly like the wireless versions of the EarPods that came with each iPhone (which also didn’t have the branding on the earpieces). The AirPods Max, on the other hand, are large enough to accommodate the logo, but more importantly, they’re a new product and category… two pretty strong reasons to need to brand your product (especially as some sort of protection against counterfeiters). I mean, even the Beats headphones had massive branding on them.

The lack of branding is just further reinforced by the lack of identity. The AirPods Max would look practically unrecognizable in a sea of headphones (even though the AirPods are a design icon themselves), and if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, take a look at this concept from a couple of years back that arguably does a MUCH better job of looking like a great Apple audio device. It has synergy, by using the same weave pattern on the HomePod and even the same holographic abstract color-blob associated with Siri. The AirPods Max, however, looks like something you’d find in the ‘Free Models’ section at CGTrader. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t show appreciation for the Apple Watch-inspired rotating crown on the top of the right-earcup, and the way Apple weaved L and R into their loose-woven earcups.

Too Little, Too Late, Too Expensive

I honestly can’t think of a good enough excuse for why Apple waited this long to release their wireless smart headphones. They launched the AirPods in 2016, waited a whole 3 years before launching the AirPods Pro, and then decided now was a good time to drop the headphones, when a majority of Apple users already own the wireless AirPods. Those 4 years were enough to see a wide variety of companies like Sony, Bose, and Microsoft launch their OWN smart headphones… a blunder that Apple made with the HomePod too, releasing the device years after the Amazon Echo and Google Home. That would’ve been tragic enough if Apple hadn’t also made the massive error of pricing these at a whopping $549… that’s double the price of the Microsoft Surface Headphones (2nd Gen) and it’s as much as the price of the iPhone 11 today. It seems like Apple is doomed to repeat the same mistakes it made with the HomePod, even though I’m sure the AirPods Max are a pretty impressive pair of headphones when push comes to shove (I’ll wait for the reviews to come in). Now let’s hope Apple doesn’t surprise us with any more launches this year.

Designer: Apple

Turn any object into a wireless speaker using this sleek bone-conducting audio device!

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Have you ever tried to call out to someone standing far away, only to find yourself instinctively cupping your hands to make your voice louder? What you’re doing is creating a chamber to channel/amplify your voice. Musical instruments like guitars, and most speakers do this too, by having a vibrating element like strings or a diaphragm, and an acoustic chamber that amplifies the sound created by that vibrating element… The Blade, however, isn’t most speakers. It comes without the hollow acoustic chamber you’d find in most speakers, but that isn’t some sort of oversight or defect, it’s a design feature. The Blade is what you’d call a vibration speaker, i.e., it turns anything it’s kept on into a speaker. Place the Blade on a hollow box, a wooden table, a suitcase, an empty vase, or your mum’s Tupperware and the Blade turns it into a speaker! By transferring the vibrations to any object it comes in contact with, the Blade uses that object’s physical properties and its hollowness to transfer and amplify sound. Theoretically, you could even place the Blade against your throat and open your mouth and you’d essentially have music playing through it!

By ditching the acoustic chamber, the Blade allows itself to become extremely thin. Practically the size of a credit card, the Blade can fit right into your pocket while packing the punch of a speaker roughly 20 times its size. The absence of the acoustic chamber also means the Blade can be as ‘big’ or as ‘small’ as you want it. Place it on a small box and you get the kind of sound you’d expect from a tiny Bluetooth Speaker… position it against a massive carton and the sound is exponentially more audible. The Blade works differently with different materials too. Materials like wood generate a more wooden, warm, earthy sound, while ceramics and glass give you something more balanced. Metals, on the other hand, offer a more treble-heavy high-range sound.

While vibration speakers aren’t a new concept, they’re still an exciting area that’s filled with potential. Bone conducting earphones work on the same principle by relaying vibration through the bones around your ear, rather than having audio play into your eardrum. The Blade pioneers the same technology, by giving you a speaker that’s sleek, portable, and infinitely customizable. You could literally place the Blade against your table, on your bathroom mirror, the body of your guitar, or even an empty pizza box, turning objects around you into actual speakers, big and small. Its vibrating tech aside, the Blade works just like any other wireless speaker, and comes with Bluetooth 5.0, an inbuilt omnidirectional microphone for answering calls, a 4-hour battery, and even a built-in FM radio for some extra fun! Introduce two Blades and they instantly auto-pair, turning into stereo speakers with left and right channels! Its small form factor and pocketable size means you can carry the Blade around everywhere you go. Most of the Blade’s fun is in experimenting with different materials to see what works best with your music, but at its heart, the Blade is all about the freedom and power to transform anything around you into a loudspeaker, all with a device that just costs $30!

Designer: Summer Lee

Click Here to Buy Now: $29 $50 (40% off). Hurry, only 106/200 left!

BLADE – The Thinnest Portable Bone Conduction Speaker

Adopting bone conduction technology and moving coil acoustic technology, the BLADE Speaker turns sound into a mechanical vibration of different frequencies, leveraging the effects of the different materials on top of which it is placed and used.

The vibration produces a truly original, variable and customizable collection of sounds through self-vibration. Everything has its own sound.

Features & Benefits

Portable & Lightweight – At its thinnest point is only 3mm and weighs 40 grams in total.

Surround Sound – Use two Blade speakers interconnected and you can have Surround Sound 2.0 experience since this Bluetooth-enabled device is also TWS-enabled.

Enjoy Radio Tunes Everywhere –  In addition to being a speaker for playing music, you can also use it to listen to your favorite channel. Blade’s wireless FM ensures that you can enjoy your favorite channels everywhere.

Click Here to Buy Now: $29 $50 (40% off). Hurry, only 106/200 left!

These intuitive portable speakers come with detachable headphones that keep the music always ‘on’

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Here is an organizational problem that music lovers face: not knowing where to put their bulky headphones when they aren’t wearing them. As someone who recently bought her first proper pair of headphones, I relate to the struggle. Most of us are used to tossing my earbuds carelessly on your nightstand, leaving them in your jeans pocket, or finding them on the carpet at the end of the day. The headphones, on the other hand, took up more space and were more expensive, so I’m more careful about where I store them. But, I have the same problem that inspired the Talking Heads Speaker: no clear space to set my headphones down neatly. Until the designers at LeapX thought: What better place to keep your headphones than next to your portable speaker? (Obviously, true audiophiles have both!). You might as well keep your audio gear in one place. And then, the designer found that few things sparked joy the way that the image of a speaker wearing a pair of headphones could.

This was the beginning of what would turn into the Talking Heads speaker. The portable speaker/mount changed to a spherical shape instead of a boxy one. Now, the product truly looks like a head listening to music. However, the Talking Heads speaker offers more than just a pleasing, humorous aesthetic; the device has practical uses too. First of all, the speaker’s spherical shape allows you to slip the headphones on and off without stretching out the headband. Secondly, two devices are connected and will let you switch between listening through the speaker and the headphones. You don’t have to press any buttons: just pick up or set down the headphones on the speaker/mount, and the devices will automatically switch audio outputs. It’s almost like they are reading your mind. Finally, the speaker/mount doubles as a wireless charger for the headphones. I can’t review the LeapX speaker based on audio quality, but its design gets a 10/10. I appreciate how a delightful sight gag evolved into a product that truly made its users’ lives a bit easier and more organized.

A product that resolves a problem while adding to the aesthetic appeal of your work setup, that’s the definition of a truly useful product design. While the market is flooded with abundant headphone stands, having the stand just lie in wait is a waste of precious desktop space! The dual functionality of this speaker+ headphone combo is intuitive in approach and hence is a worthy addition to every desk setup!

Designer: LeapX

LeapX Talking Heads

LeapX Talking Heads 2

LeapX Talking Heads 3

The Google Nest Audio smart-speaker gets its own detachable Walkie-Talkie with a touch display

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Chris Barnes’ conceptual Google device caters to the niche audience that needs connectivity the most, but struggle to keep up with technology or to avoid the complications associated with advanced tech. The Google Home Phone is a fusion of the Google Home smart-speaker (now the Nest Audio smart-speaker) and the Google Pixel), but its spiritual ancestor is, in fact, the landline phone. Designed to be a smart device with a dockable receiver or ‘phone’, the Google Home Phone lets the elderly connect with their relatives and friends who are also a part of the Google ecosystem. Once set up, the Home Phone works like a smart speaker, allowing you to ask for help, access information, or contact people, while the detachable ‘handset’ functions as the receiver on a landline, allowing you to lift it off the base and talk to people, not just using audio, but using video too!

The Home Phone is an incredibly interesting concept for a whole bunch of reasons. For starters, Barnes envisions it as a “better”, smarter, and wireless version of a landline, allowing you to contact people without remembering phone numbers, see who’s calling (via Google’s contact database), be unencumbered by coiled wires, and easily avoid robocalls (thanks to Google’s incredible spam-detection AI). The touchscreen display on the detachable unit serves as a visual aid, allowing the elderly to tap icons without navigating confusing interfaces… and accessibility features like adjustable font-sizes make it easy for people with visual impairment.

Personally, the Google Home Phone gets a bunch of things right with its form factor. Not only is the dockable receiver + base interaction very reminiscent of the landline telephone (in fact the receiver can be held to one’s ear like a conventional phone too), but its circular ‘phone’ also ticks two arguably important boxes. The circular form-factor is rather comfortable to hold in any angle (a great win for people with dexterity issues), but at the same time, dock it onto its base and it also resembles a magical crystal ball, which believe it or not, is a familiar silhouette that also cleverly ties into the magical ability for the circular screen to really display anything, from faces of loved ones, to the time, weather, messages, and even Map routes!

Barnes even fleshed out the Home Phone concept to make sure it’s a practical systems solution (and not just a pretty concept). The base sports a wired connection (so you never have to worry about batteries), and features a powerful smart-speaker that’s easy to talk to. The dockable ‘phone’ sits loosely on top of the base, with ‘no fixed docking position’, which means the elderly never have to worry about making sure they’ve placed the receiver the right way. As soon as the phone and hub are in proximity, the hub begins wirelessly charging the phone. The phone-unit also comes with a notch of its own, featuring a powerful camera system that enables two-way video communication. Not only does it mean the elderly can have video conferences with their friends, family, caretakers, and medical staff, it also enables the latter to keep a watchful eye on their elderly wards by allowing the Google Home Phone to function as a home-camera.

Designer: Chris Barnes

This sleek wearable microphone with real-time audio backup is the need of the hour!

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With virtual work in full swing thanks to COVID-19,  practically half of our workdays depend on functional audio systems. Treating patients on Zoom can get difficult when a laptop’s built-in microphone doesn’t quite catch the diagnosis. Teachers sometimes have no other choice but to raise their voices when addressing a full classroom on Zoom since everyone’s using the same quality mic and the louder you speak, the more likely you’ll be heard. Fortunately, Anthony Mattana, the designer behind Hooke Lav, a wireless, wearable microphone that transmits professional-grade sound, has a solution.

In our world, where content is money, professionals of all ages need a microphone with which we can always rely upon. Hooke Lav, from Hooke audio, is a wearable microphone that has a 24-bit-depth, records in 48kHz with low latency, and is compatible with iPhones, Androids, DSLR’s, GoPro’s, various field recorders, and Mac/PC. Through Bluetooth 5.0, this mic allows users to record anything, anywhere, but since Bluetooth isn’t always reliable, Hooke Lav has 8GB worth of internal storage so that each and every audio recording is backed up in real-time, making capturing audio seamlessly foolproof.

To get started, just slip the mic on wherever with the light facing inside and press record – simple as that, no bulky hardware necessary. The designers with Hooke Audio know that sound matters above all else. With built-in microphones, our voices are constantly challenged to compete against background noises, spotty service, and far distances, but with Hooke Lav, pro-grade audio can be recorded from any distance to any device. Since the need for microphones changes from day to day, Hooke Lav incorporates some mutable features. In solo mode, only one mic records audio and transmits it to your device. In duet mode, two microphones can capture two separate streams of audio so that every voice is heard crystal clear, which makes it the perfect microphone for podcasts, interviews, or YouTube videos.

Young content creators know which equipment works best for their channels so, in addition to Hooke Lav’s compatibility with several different operating systems, when the mic is set to receiver mode, audio is transmitted from the mic onto a smartphone or other content-creating hardware, overriding any built-in microphone in the process. This means that you can live stream from Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube without the worry of your mic picking up on any other voice but your own. Alternatively, when Hooke Lav is set to island mode, the mic works like a recorder, so any sound you record can be stored for later use.

With an app to pair with its hardware and seven hours of continuous battery life, Hooke Audio seems to have considered any potential roadblock. Thanks to its wireless capabilities, the absolute commitment to zero-bulk hardware, and its user-friendliness, Hooke Lav beats out the competition and rises to every occasion, exactly how it will record your voice.

Designer: Hooke Audio

Click Here To Buy Now: $115 $179 ($64 off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $568,945.

Hooke Lav: A Sleek Wireless Mic With Pro-Grade Sound

A wearable microphone with studio-quality sound that captures dropout-free audio with one click.

Hooke Lav is a wireless microphone that captures pro-grade sound with no wires, no dropouts, and no hassle. The Bluetooth lav has 8GB of internal storage and connects to any device with the click of a button. This slick, minimalist microphone maximizes your freedom to record with no setup necessary!

It’s the first truly wireless device to send high-quality audio over Bluetooth at low latency. The stylish, clip-on gives you professional quality audio recording in the studio, on the go, and out in the wild. It eliminates wind noise, cuts the cord and, thanks to its internal storage, picks up every second of audio even if Bluetooth cuts out.

Give your phone or camera a mega upgrade

Smartphone cameras have been upgraded year after year, but their mics still don’t measure up, leaving you with subpar sound on crystal-clear videos. The same goes for mics on DSLR cameras and laptops—the quality isn’t there!

The only way to improve sound quality is upgrading to a better microphone, but that often requires sizable funds, technical know-how, and a learning curve. And on top of that, most “quality” lavalier microphones on the market have messy cords or bulky design.

Click Here To Buy Now: $115 $179 ($64 off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $568,945.

These egg-inspired earbuds were designed to be discreet, fit all sizes and replace your fidget spinner!

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When was the last time you looked at earbuds and thought “cute”? When I saw Sevy, it instantly made me connect to the organic form and reminded me of that perfect, record-breaking, Instagram-famous egg.

Designed as a concept of truly wireless earbuds,  Sevy connects with you through its inherently warm aesthetics and easy user experience. “I was trying to create something which is fun to use and simple in nature. By making the design/product familiar to the user, the product wholly connects with their activity of living the events. Mimicking plays a major role in this part. So, this project is inspired by the natural form which is more simple and important,” says Pon. The earbuds can be controlled via various touch gestures on the surface as well as the Sevy app. Unlike AirPods, these earbuds are completely inside the ear – there is no physical component that protrudes outside so it is a lot more discreet and well-fitting. I also love how they come with a variety of silicone tip sizes because one size doesn’t fit all and was the main reason I switched from my AirPods to another brand.

The design is minimal and modern, the most interesting part is that the case opens like an eggshell. It also serves as a little fidget gadget because of its self-balancing form. The designer used rapid 3D prototyping to visualize and test the product physically with real users to address any concerns that came up with regards to ergonomics, usability, form, and function. Pon was also conscious to reduce packaging waste and thus designed sustainable packaging from recycled and recyclable paper material.

Designer: Sathiswaran Pon

What if Netflix made a 4K projector and a Bluetooth sound-system to match?

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Picture this. You’re in your home (where else would you be, really?), the popcorn’s in the microwave, the couch is ready, the curtains shut, and all that leaks through is a tiny beam of moonlight, giving the place a dreamy aesthetic. You switch your Netflix 4K projector on and begin watching the movie you’ve been WAITING to watch now that the weekend’s finally upon us. That scene right there, that visual setup is the inspirational mood board behind the aesthetic of the Netflix projector. Designed as a concept (although I really wish it were true), the Netflix projector and Bluetooth speaker don’t just create the perfect Netflix-and-chill setup after a long day of work, they also are designed to look a lot like the moon popping up behind two buildings to create the perfect atmosphere for your night-time binging session.

The projector and Bluetooth speaker give you the best experience Netflix has to offer (provided you’ve got a great internet connection). This veritable home-theater features a projector capable of 4K complete with on-board controls, enough ventilation for cooling (coincidentally the vents look like pillars/floors of a building), a focusing ring on the front for a crystal-clear image, and enough ports on the back to be able to plug your USB-drives or Chromecasts in to watch content across other platforms. The projector pairs with a standing Bluetooth speaker unit that houses playback controls and a mechanical volume slider.

Netflix has a long history of partnering with television-makers, set-top-box manufacturers, and streaming giants to provide a dedicated Netflix button on their devices or remote-controls, but with the Netflix Projector + Speaker, this is perhaps the company’s first foray into physical devices (ever since they were a DVD delivery service up until 2007). The projector and speaker exist only as fan-made concepts for now, although I wonder how incredible it would be to have your own dedicated Netflix-powered home-theater setup during this pandemic!

Designer: Big Frogs Studio

This nostalgic Walkman inspired Bluetooth speaker uses your smartphone as the cassette!

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Kids these days will never know the sheer effort it was to rewind and fast-forward through a cassette to get to one’s favorite song… and the rewarding feeling of joy when you finally hear your song play. Cassettes were a BIG part of my music experience as a kid and I sincerely love them, but to be honest, I don’t miss them. We’ve made a great deal of progress ever since we shifted to listening to music in a digital format, and the Pl8ty Bluetooth speaker embraces it, but also looks back at cassette players with fond nostalgia!

Meet the Pl8ty. It looks like a Walkman, but it is, in fact, an external wireless speaker for your smartphone. It looks like any standard cassette player, complete with controls too, but behind its retro-avatar, it’s a powerful Bluetooth5.0 speaker and a 3200mAh power-bank. In short, it’s made to get your through your day, by charging your phone, as well as charging you up with some smooth tunes! Besides, it opens up so you can slip your smartphone in, like a cassette, effectively acting as a detox-box for your phone when you want to cut down on your screen-time.

On the hardware front, there’s a whole lot about the Pl8ty worth loving. For starters, it comes with a chunky, meaty, colorful design that is sure to grab eyeballs. A clip on the back lets you strap the Pl8ty to your waist, and it even comes outfitted with retro-esque controls like actual playback buttons, a volume knob, a headphone jack (for a private listening experience – provided you still use wired headphones), and even an aux-in so you can connect the speaker directly to a synth, your desktop, or even your vinyl player. It sports a USB-C in to charge the internal 3200mAh battery, and a USB-A out to connect the Pl8ty to other devices as an external charger.

The Pl8ty has a uniquely appealing way of being both old-world yet modern. It embraces what’s good about both eras, in a device that you’re sure to love if you’re a retro-fanatic, or anyone who’s a millennial or older. It works like your conventional Bluetooth speaker, but packs more oomph with an 85db power rating and offers stunning clarity thanks to a wide frequency range. The fact that it even functions as a power-bank for your devices is just icing on the cake! Moreover, it also embraces the old-world joy of listening to music in the 80-90s. The overall aesthetic, pocket clip, and the opening cassette lid are absolutely iconic retro-details, and that headphone jack is a feature that celebrates a golden bygone era. Even the fact that you can slip your smartphone into the speaker (as if it was a cassette) for detox purposes, seems like a very clever touch that helps complete the Walkman experience while also reducing your screen time. So go ahead, belt out some Lionel Ritchie or Wham! and reminisce about the good old days, because heaven knows we need it right now!

Designer: Pl8ty

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $196 (45% off). Hurry, less than 12 hours left!

Pl8ty – Radical, Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Design inspired by the iconic cassette players of the 80’s, the Pl8ty is an external Bluetooth 5.0 speaker for your smartphone complete with controls and a 3200mAh power-bank.

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $196 (45% off). Hurry, less than 12 hours left!

Samsung’s transparent phone & more innovative concepts that prove they are the technology trendsetters!

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Before we begin, let me say I have been a fan of Apple for a long time. But when it comes to the sheer audacity and genius of just creating the technology, I am veering towards Samsung to be the leaders of the pack! When we speak of technology, it is true that we tend to focus on our smartphones and laptops that we use and abuse on an everyday basis. However, the product designs showcased here today go for the entire range – from smartphones, of course, to robotics and even inclusive design that use technology to make the world just a little bit better. Based on our enthusiasm at these design concepts, we can only wait for Samsung to take up the lead and create new standards for innovation!

The patent war is on with LG and Samsung filing patents that discuss a transparent display. With transparent TV’s ruling the day in 2020, its almost a logical progression that we will see the transparent trend in smartphones too. From a feasibility point of view, the technology is not new, requiring an OLED screen that is equipped with a transparent luminous display panel through which light can shine. This means the users can see the content displayed on the phone as well as see through the phone. Even more interesting is that the display can be a standard flat display or even bend, fold, and/or roll. While the patent images show a modern smartphone with narrow bezels and a large transparent screen, the image we have here, courtesy of LetsGoDigital, in collaboration with Giuseppe Spinelli, aka Snoreyn (known for his viral Galaxy Z Flip and PlayStation 5 concepts) showcase a minimal and elegant smartphone that raises more question than it answers. But, love it or hate it, Samsung is sure to gather eyeballs with this transparent phone!

Now while this isn’t an official Samsung concept, I can’t help but really wish it was one! Combining technologies that aren’t outside the realm of possibility, the Samsung Galaxy Stick makes perhaps the best use of a flexible display. It rolls it up into a smart, dynamic scroll, making the Samsung Galaxy Stick perhaps the most interesting smartphone concept of 2019. The scroll-esque screen is a hat-tip to Samsung’s advancements in flexible OLED displays, and when not in use, it rolls right up into the phone’s slim, hollow, wand-like body. When you need the display, it promptly comes rolling out, turning the wand into a usable smartphone, with a nifty flexible touchscreen that maintains rigidity when unfolded.

Devoid of real feelings but with advancing AI, these Dog bots will surely be smart and efficient. Dog bots will probably be a hybrid of a smart pet and a household assistant, I imagine features like security cameras for the eyes while still being sweet enough to bring you your newspaper and waking you up in the morning. Dog bots may have the benefit of being low maintenance, they won’t require mandatory walks on days when you’re sick or make you panic if you forget leaving their food out during emergencies. And as you can guess, they definitely won’t be troublesome during bath time.

The 0° Clean concept offers a new way to make sure your face-mask is fresh, dry, and sanitized between uses. Created by Jungkwang Hwang as a fan-made concept for Samsung, the 0° Clean is a nifty flat-bed UV-C sanitizer that uses a combination of ultraviolet light and dry air to cleanse and blow-dry your mask. It comes with a detachable cylindrical battery-unit (with a built-in display) that you can easily snap onto the sanitizing flat-bed to power it.

This is not a concept, but given how good the design is, I will forgive you for having a hard time believing it’s true (just like I did!) Traditional laundry machine cycles can potentially damage clothes (how many of us even know the right settings for our loads?) and ever since the pandemic took over our lives we are doing laundry more often to stay safe – this is bound to wear them out 5x faster than usual. The Samsung AirDresser is here to save the day! Its sleek build is similar to a tall, thin fridge and can seamlessly blend in any room. The AirDresser uses a combination of steaming and heat-pump powered drying, and you won’t even have to plumb it in says Samsung. “That’s because, rather than a water connection like a traditional washer would require, the AirDresser relies on a refillable water tank at the bottom of the cabinet. It means it can be installed pretty much anywhere with a regular 120V outlet,” explains the team.

The conceptual technology of the Yingyang earbuds that make it one-of-its-kind lies in the inflatable hook which secures the earbuds in place. It also features wireless charging and magnets on the rear end of the gadget so they can be charged on the back of our NFC-enabled cell phone, thus eliminating the need for a charging case (if there was one, I would humbly request it not to resemble a floss box). You can also kinetically charge the earbuds by keeping yourself moving (we all could use some extra steps and exercise right now!) if your phone dies. The Yinyang earbuds can also be attached to the lapel of the jacket – that is how portable they are and with the sleek aesthetic, you are upping your accessory game with your tech.

Technology is not only for developing new futuristic designs but it is also for developing designs that work for everyone, by being inclusive in nature. This redesign of the iconic hand dryer is one great example of the same. The revised airflow design allows the user to dry their hands from above or below the main product body – making hygiene accessible to everyone – from disabled, wheelchair-bound people to standing adults. Named the Universal hand Dryer, this design by Hyunsu Park won the Samsung Idea Festival award for its simple genius!

This is a conceptual Samsung smart-wristband. Created by our current favorite patent visualizer, LetsGoDigital using patents that Samsung filed, this device is clearly Samsung’s way of flooding the market with flexible displays. It’s essentially a smartphone-esque device that also doubles up as a wristband (similar to a concept that Lenovo displayed in 2016). Samsung’s modus operandi has always been “Build it and they will come”, and this gadget is no different, although if Lenovo’s test-case was any indication, this concept could be used by people with physical disabilities who have trouble holding a phone. The smartphone conveniently wraps around your wrist, allowing the phone to hold onto you, rather than needing you to hold onto the phone. The phone/band even comes with dual-lens cameras and an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint reader.

Samsung’s Cube Refrigerator takes a modular approach to cold-preservation. Quite like the Flatshare Fridge that secured the winning position at the Electrolux Design Lab more than a decade ago, Samsung’s Cube fridge is stackable, and allows you to add carious units together to create the fridge of your choice. With its minimal styling, the Cube can be placed anywhere, from your kitchen countertop, to even right beside your couch in the living room, or even in your workshop, where you’d possibly like to keep a couple of brewski’s to sip on when you’re working on your DIY projects. The clean-looking fridge comes with a glass door on the front, allowing you to see what’s inside, and a nifty digital temperature indicator on the top right that lets you set each individual Cube at its own temperature, based on what you put inside it

The Escape is a conceptual gaming laptop from Samsung by Mitul Lad

The Escape is a conceptual gaming laptop from Samsung by Mitul Lad

The Escape is a conceptual gaming laptop from Samsung by Mitul Lad

Titled the Escape, the conceptual laptop series by Mitul Lad is a modest entry into an already saturated category, but Samsung does it with decades of technical expertise to back it. Inspired by the dragonfly, the laptop sports angular elements and accents, with a crossed-out design on the lid as well as the base, and with a diamond-shaped speaker grill right above the keyboard. Samsung’s acquisition of Harman Kardon would probably have a role to play here too, especially since the audio company has made some remarkable drivers for laptops over the years for Toshiba, as well as for Dell under their JBL brand. With an aesthetic that isn’t overtly gamer-ish, the Escape sounds like a great laptop to rely on for work as well as for play. With a screen that should undoubtedly be the best in its category, audio that should absolutely shine, and a nice backlit keyboard that’s just perfect for gaming, the Escape is a laptop that Samsung should start seriously considering taking cues from!