The pocket-size speaker has a built-in rechargeable battery which takes 2 hours to charge up via USB cable, and it will last you 5 hours of playing time. It comes in three color variations: silver, gold, and black. It looks extremely simple, yet well put together.

You can get this portable speaker for around $65 (USD). Since they’re a Japanese import, it’s not too easy to find them, but you can head over here for a few different shops that stock these. Whether or not they’ll ship to the US is another problem.

[via NotCot]

Museum curator Akimoto Yuji and ceramicist Mitsuke Masagasu worked together to create this delicate looking speaker being produced by Nendo. These high-end speakers are 1mm thin and for now are not available yet. But if and when they ever go into production, they will most likely be incredibly expensive from the way they look. Just look at these things. Don’t they just ooze money?

Whatever the price may be, they do look beautiful and I wouldn’t mind having these in my living room.

[via We Heart]

In some cases, a single larger LCD isn’t ideal, like when you work form a notebook. A second LCD is the only option for many notebook users and MEDL Technology has a cool one. Their portable screen is 13-inches diagonal, and uses a bright, energy-efficient LED backlight. The screen resolution is WXGA and the display connects to Mac or PCs with a single USB cable.

The screen weighs 2.2 pounds and has a battery inside letting you work away from outlets. Once work is done, the screen can also hook to your Xbox or PS3 for some gaming or movie watching. Pricing is unknown at this time, but you can sign up here to be notified when the MEDL Panel is available for sale.

Chicago startup FLEx Lighting claims to have come up with a way to manufacture LED backlighting that’s as slim as just 0.02″ (appx. 0.5mm) thick. Their new method for producing LED backlights involves coupling LEDs to a flexible film lightguide. As a result, the light can be used to produce edgeless LED/LCD television sets, and a more even backlight with far fewer LEDs than other edge-lighting technologies. And since the backlight material is flexible, it can be produced using a roll-to-roll manufacturing process, which will keep costs even lower than other LED lighting technologies. I’m hoping someday, it might enable the production of curved displays. The ultra-thin lighting technology can also be used to produce flexible banner advertising.

FLEx plans on showing off their new technology to prospective buyers at the upcoming CES show.

Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan today showed off the JooJoo in a web-based video conference. During the conference, Chandra attempted to set the record straight, insisting that Arrington never delivered on promises of VC funding connections and marketing, and that there was never a contract. Now the simple fact that TechCrunch and CrunchGear built such buzz around the CrunchPad name should be proof enough that they did their part from a marketing perspective. But I’ll leave that to the lawyers. Anywho, back to JooJoo. I hate that name already.

For starters, the JooJoo won’t be priced in the $200 to $300 (USD) range that the CrunchPad was expected at, and instead it will sell for $500 bucks. But I never really believed that pricing would be realistic, given the technological promises made. Speaking of technology, the JooJoo will have a 12-inch capacitive touchscreen, and runs a proprietary Web browser that runs all its apps in the cloud (ala Chrome OS). No OS here, just web apps and a local cache.

It’s expected to also sport Wi-Fi, an accelerometer and 4GB of internal SSD storage for caching apps and content. Battery life is said to be 5 hours, and Chandra claims the JooJoo will boot in a zippy 9 seconds. He also says the green screens shown during the video conference were an artifact of the cameras, and the hands-on video and stills below from cnet should allay any fear about any such green screen of death…

If you’re not one of the masses who think Fusion gave Crunch the shaft, you can start pre-ordering your CrunchPad JooJoo this Friday (12/11) over on their website. Again, you’re looking at $500 bones for one of these, which seems like a heckuva lot for something that’s only “killer app” is a web browser.

Me? I’ll keep waiting for the Apple Tablet.

[via Gizmodo and cnet]

The Newman Newsmy A18HD (nice name there) is a new media player out of China, which claims to offer a spectacularly svelte 9.8mm thick form factor (which is a couple of millimeters thinner than an iPhone at it’s thinnest point). In addition to its striking looks, the A18HD has 16GB of built-in memory, and sports an oversize 5-inch, 16-million color LCD display.  The device can play videos in 720p resolution,  but the screen’s resolution is an underwhelming 480 x 272, so you’ll want to connect the included component video cable if you have any hope of playing back your flicks at higher resolutions.

Audio formats supported include MP3, WMA and FLAC, while video can be played in RM, RMVB, AVI, and FLV formats (although I’m not sure if you need to do any conversion first, which is often the case with cheap Chinese media players). The A18HD also supports what Newsmy is calling “64-bit games” – whatever those might be. I doubt you’ll be playing your old N64 titles on here, but I could be wrong.

If you’re willing to take a gamble on one of these, head on over to Ownta.com, and plunk down your hard earned $142.71 (USD). I have a funny feeling that none of the instructions are in English.

[via Ounae]

The design has its drawbacks of course, like being able to toast only one side at a time, so that may be a deal breaker for some folks. But if you’re looking to liven up your kitchen, then you’ll be glad to know that the Bistro comes in all sorts of crazy colors.

Or I guess I should say it will come in all sorts of crazy colors; I’m not sure, but I think right now only the default color scheme is available. You can get the Bistro flatbed toaster at Amazon for $80 (USD). Are you insane and would rather pay an extra $10? Then get it at Hammacher Schlemmer. And oh I just thought of another drawback: compared to the common slot-loading toaster, it’s easier to accidentally burn yourself on a flatbed toaster. At least it’ll only burn one side at a time, right? Right?

[via Uncrate]

Created by Q Acoustics, the Q-TV2 straps onto the back of your flat-panel television, providing true 2.1 stereo sound that should beat out anything that’s built into your TV. Just snap the QT-V onto the back of your set, plug it into your TV’s optical, RCA or headphone jack, and you’re all set. The whole thing measures in at just 38mm (appx 1.5-inches) deep.

If you’re sick of your  TV’s thin, tinny speakers, the Q-TV2 should blow you away. Left and right channel sound is provided by a four wide-dispersion balanced-mode radiator speakers, powered with a 25w per channel amp. For big bass boom, there’s a slim vibration-free subwoofer that hides behind your display, powered by a 50W amp (the sub uses 4 individual to fit into such a thin package). Both the left and right satellites offer swivel mounts so you can adjust the angle of the speakers too.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While the base model of the Q-TV2 is designed for TVs that are sitting on a stand, they do offer optional wall mounts (both stationary and cantilevered) for an added charge. Since the Q-TV2 is made in the UK, you’ll probably need a power adapter if you want to use it in other countries, and at this point it’s only available for TVs between 30 and 42-inches diagonal. So if you have a bigger screen than that, you’re out of luck. The system is available now from Amazon UK for £299.99 (appx. $497 USD).

Measuring in at 13mm thick, this portable GPS is definitely one of the slimmest units I’ve seen. Although last time I checked, my iPhone 3GS is actually a hair slimmer at 12.3mm thick, but I suppose that’s splitting hairs. Regardless, as standalone units go, this one could be the thinnest. The compact GPS features a 5-inch diagonal LCD touchscreen, and is powered by a SiRF-Atlas III processor. The device runs on the Windows CE 5.0 operating system, and takes map files loaded onto a MicroSD card. The system offers voice guidance, 2D and 3D map modes, as well as day and night modes for the display.

In addition to its GPS capabilities, it can play media files in MP4, AVI, 3GP, MOV, WMV, M4A, WAV, MP3, WMA and even SWF formats. There’s even a built-in FM transmitter so you can send the audio to your car stereo. And it does all this for just $100 (USD).

So that sounds okay, right? Well, here’s the bad news. According to Chinavasion’s product description: “This model is compatible with most brands of GPS software – however hardware specific software such as Garmin may not run on this unit. As the wholesaler, Chinavasion provides the GPS- enabled hardware only, not the software. Chinavasion provides no warranty or customer support regarding GPS software. Chinavasion cannot provide downloads / links / advice regarding GPS software. Any software installation you undertake should be performed or supervised by a professional… Actual GPS voice and display languages depends on the GPS software package.” So unless you know where to go digging for Windows CE-based GPS applications and maps, it sounds like this super-thin GPS could be pretty much useless.

If you’re feeling adventurous and don’t mind trolling around some Torrents looking for GPS software, you can order one here. Just don’t blame me when you drive your car into a drainage ditch.

These flat LED panels can be mounted on your wall or ceiling (although dancing on these isn’t recommended) and can change colors with the push of a button. Using the panels, you can set the color of your room to suit any mood. Especially if that mood is You should be dancin’, yeah!

Each colorful panel has an array of bright multi-color LEDs that can be switched between 16 different colors using the included wireless remote. The panels crank out 180 lumens of illumination, and in addition to solid colors, can be set to flash, strobe, or cross-fade between colors. Of course, to really achieve any real effect with these, you’ll need to buy a bunch – and in the case of the illustration below, you also need really bad taste.

In addition to wall and ceiling mounting, the panels can be used on the top of a table or on a bar as long as you place glass or plexiglas over the tops to protect them. If I had a bar, I’d totally cover the surface with these – then freeze the whole thing in ice.

These color-changing LED panels are available over at Chinavasion for $52.39 (USD) each.

Korean designer Joonhuyn Kim has reinvented the classic incandescent light bulb by putting it into a flat glass enclosure.

Kim claims the new bulbs take up just 1/3rd of the space of a conventional bulb, making them easier to pack and ship. And since they’re not round, they won’t roll off the table when you’re changing your bulbs.

And they just look cool. And taste good too. At least that’s what I got from the photo below:

At this point, the flat bulb is only a design prototype, but if Kim ever manages to get these produced, I’ll replace all the bulbs in my house with ‘em.

[via designboom via Book of Joe]

The Hybred Gaming PC takes up residence in a custom-built aluminum box, housing both the PC’s motherboard and a 17-inch LCD panel. The system runs on a reasonably speedy Athlon64 3500+ CPU, with graphics powered by an ample nVidia GeForce 6800GT on a PCI-e bus.

In order to keep things cool, Willek separated the power supply from the computer, placing it inside an industrial-strength external case, complete with matching accent lighting.

The whole machine is illuminated by tons of LEDs, which makes it glow a bright orange when the lights go down. I especially dig the glowing Titan aluminum fans which provide plenty of visual interest from the back of the case.

iMac, eat your heart out.

[via Metku Mods]

Johns Hopkins materials scientist Michaely Yu and his team claim to have invented a material which could allow for piezoelectic sound devices to be placed in areas previously thought to be too challenging.

The invention provides for a resin polymer which possesses piezoelectric properties usually found only in very heavy, brittle materials. If the early findings hold up, the flexible material and could be used to produce a coating which could create speakers embedded into wallpaper or even speakers that could be folded in two.

[Patent Application via New Scientist]

This new design for a Humax LCD television was envisioned by UK industrial designer Tej Chauhan. Combining the curvy lines of an old 1950s television with the modern technology of today’s flat screens, the set is a real stunner.

It’s not been revealed if the set will ever see the light of day as a production model, or if it’s just a conceptual prototype. Either way, it’s good to see something different, and I’m hoping that it does make its way to stores some day. If you happen to be in Milan, Italy between April 16-21, you can check it out in person at the Zona Tortona design show.

[via MoCo Loco]

The flat speaker/microphone is perfect for use with the iPhone or any other phone with Bluetooth wireless headset connectivity. The SurfaceSound Compact has a built-in rechargeable battery which can run for up to 15 hours (or 22 days standby) on a single charge. It can be charged using an included car charger or via a USB cable connected to your computer.

SurfaceSound Compact’s $100 MSRP seems a bit high to me, but I was able to find them for under $70 over on MobilePlanet.

Designed for people like me who like to use applications with tons of palettes open (think anything from Adobe), the Kuato-like outgrowth lets you drag those extra windows and widgets out of the way of your primary workspace.

Now I know you could just buy a bigger monitor, but there’s something about getting those small windows out of the way that I find strangely appealing. The SyncMaster 2263DX should be available any day now for about $550.

[via DVICE]

According to my rough math, the display cranks out over 230 pixels-per-inch, about 3 times that of the typical LCD computer screen. Perfect for use in electronic book readers, the flat panel measures in at just 3mm thick, and can display 1400 pages on a single button-cell battery.

While Seiko Epson hasn’t revealed any products which use the new display, it’s only a matter of time before we see these in real world devices.

[via MobileRead]

While they may just be flat posters, the pieces still plug into a wall socket. The images are then illuminated by embedded LEDs. For example, the desk lamp has a single LED to substitute for the light bulb. In the case of the alarm clock, he’s actually installed a 7-segment LED clock into the image.

Very cool stuff. I’m pretty sure these are one-of-a-kind works, but would love to see Magee produce these for the masses. I’d certainly hang a few in my house.

[via Torc.]

By using an array of plasma “tubes” aligned between film electrodes, they’re not only able to keep the display super slim, but the display can actually be bent. While it might not be immediately evident from the photo, the image on the big screen shows the flexibility of the screen material up close.

In addition, plasma tube technology is designed to seamlessly stitch together small unit pieces to construct larger displays. So for instance, multiple 1-meter square base unit could be combined into a larger 1 x 2 or 2 x 3-meter display without retooling.

At this point, the technology is in the very early stages of development, but if they can manage to gear up for production, it could find its way to market in the next 5 to 10 years.

[via TechOn]

For comparison’s sake, most of today’s 52-inch LCDs measure in around 4 to 5 inches deep at their thickest point. The new televisions are expected to offer a super-wide color gamut as well as an astounding (but likely to be exaggerated) contrast ratio of 100,000 to 1.

While not much else is known about the prototype design, Sharp does intend to take it to market in just a couple of years (2010 to be exact.)

[via Impress via Engadget HD]