What you’re staring at here is a giant Scrabble board, which measures in at nearly 49 square feet. It’s made by artist John Kahn, using Russian birch plywood, covered with galvanized steel and vinyl game graphics. Each one of the game’s 100 tiles is made from wood with a strong magnet inside, and measures a whopping 4-3/8″ square. The board also comes with two wall-mounted tile holders, and a pair of tile racks for game play – though it would have been nice for them to include two more – in case you want to play a four-player game.

Only nine of this gigantic Scrabble set are being made, and with a price tag of $12,000(USD), I can’t imagine they’ll all be snapped up quickly. But if you have enough enough capital to afford one, you can check it out over at Hammacher Schlemmer now.

[via SUATMM]

The ADzero is made from bamboo and it will probably be sold in design boutiques, not cell phone stores, since it won’t be mass-produced. The overall weight of this phone is half of an iPhone, despite its larger screen. Woodhouse is a design student at Middlesex University who was contacted by Jerro Lao, a tech entrepreneur after he saw some early concept images of the wooden phone.

The prototype runs Ice Cream Sandwich and will have access to the Android Market. Other than a mention of a built-in ring flash, there’s not much other detail about the specs of the final phone. A production version of the ADZero bamboo phone is expected to be launched in 2012 in both China and the UK. There’s no word on any North American distribution at this point.

[via Pocket-Lint via DVice]

The speakers are handcrafted out of wood, and not just any wood. JMC uses spruce that’s been hand harvested from felled 350-year old trees in the Swiss Risoud Forest in order to reduce the need for deforestation. They are quite thin, and respond well to vibrations, and their convex surface is supposed to disperse sound well in a room.

You can choose a few different colors and finishes if the beauty of the natural wood isn’t good enough for you. Of course, all this craftmanship and style doesn’t come cheap. Expect to pay up to $6,530(USD) for a JMC Soundboard.

[via Cool Hunting]

While it’s an unusual concept, it’s not a surprise that one young entrepreneur in the Kiandutu slums of Kenya has decided to build his own power strips. Amos Njoroge really wanted to be a professional an electrical engineer, but lacked the resources to go to school and earn a degree. Instead, he decided to take his self-taught skills and set up a small assembly line where he churns out wooden power strips that he sells in his neighborhood. I love how he calls his tiny start-up “Gigantic Electronics.” Think big, Amos. Think, big.

Like me, your first reaction was probably that a wooden outlet strip is probably not the safest way to distribute electricity – especially in damp environments. But as long as it remains dry, wood is nearly as good of an insulator as plastic or ceramic, so I don’t think it’s dramatically more of a shock hazard. They are painting them with something in the video, so that might help seal out the moisture too. On the other hand, my scientific instincts tell me a wood outlet strip is way more of a fire risk than a plastic one, but that’s just me.

On the other hand, this self-taught skill and spirit of ingenuity is helping Njoroge and his co-workers make a living in one of the poorest parts of the world, while at the same time providing his community with a product that’s in demand. Hopefully, any fears about safety will be unwarranted, and Amos will continue to see success in his budding endeavor.

[via Afrigadget via Reddit]

The Love Box was created by the Honest & Smile agency in Barcelona, Spain and it was conceived for a documentary film as a simple way of capturing both sides of a conversation in a single shot, using an iPhone. It’s a wooden box which pops open to reveal a tray inside. It’s got a slot for an iPhone, and a carefully positioned mirror which you line up about 1/2 way in front of the camera’s lens. It requires a little fiddling with the angle to get it just right, but once set, it allows you to shoot split-screen videos and stills.

It’s definitely an interesting idea, but you’ll have to shell out €58 (~$78 USD) on Etsy for what amounts to a few blocks of wood and a small mirror positioned in the right spot. I suppose if you’re the DIY type, you could make your own if you don’t want to spend the money.

[via Wired]

What sets the Material 6 Wood iPhone Backs apart is that they’re available in a bunch of different finishes. Each package comes complete with a the special screwdriver that will allow you to remove the glass back of your iPhone and replace it with this wooden one.

Material 6 sells these from $90 to $100 (USD), so there on the expensive side of things, but they do look quite good. The backs are available for the iPhone 4 and 4S. Custom engravings are available for an extra $5.

[via Uncrate]

These Solid Wood iPhone Back Panels by Monolith will be available in oak, teak, or walnut for the iPhone 4 or 4S. They will definitely make a nice pairing for your phone, and come in equally stylish packaging. The product page is quite sparse, so it’s not clear if it completely replaces the back panel, or if it’s just a veneer that sticks on. Given its $55 price tag, I’m guessing it’s a full replacement panel.

You can order yours directly from Monolith when it goes on sale later this month, so check back with them or sign up for their newsletter for updates.

[via NOTCOT]

This Wii-mote shaped wooden pipe has been hand-sanded, woodburned, and coated with carnauba wax so you can smoke your *uhm* tobacco in it. Now, I’ve never personally witnessed anybody smoking tobacco in this way, but seller Nirvana Corner is quick to point out “**This item is for Tobacco use only**,” so I’m going to take their word for it. In the mean time, I’ll be checking out their Bob Marley switchplates and hemp necklaces. That all said, this Wii-mote is best for tobacco smoking at precisely 4:20pm.

If you’re a fan of the Nintendo Wii, and prefer a smoke over your (1UP) mushrooms, head on over to Etsy now, where you can order this for $14 (USD).

It was designed by Orly Locquiao and it doesn’t just stick on. It completely replaces the glass backplate on your iPhone. This one has been etched out of Hawaiian Koa wood and will definitely look distinctive. The pack comes with the right tools needed order install it, along with an anti-glare screen protector, a squeegee and polishing cloth, as well as illustrated installation instructions.

There are only 100 of these available, so if you fancy it, you should order yours from the Cukui website for $99 (USD).

Designer John “Wilhelm” Dunn of the Victorian Steam Calculation Engine Company originally created this steampunk mod on commission for Sony, but is now selling the same thing as a mod for your own laptop. The primary components of the eCog Mercury include beautifully-finished birch plywood trim, retro key caps, and a grid of copper and steel “pipes” (actually wires and drawer pulls) and (non-functional) gauges which protrude from the back of the laptop’s display, which John refers to as his “boilerplate” design (also available as an iPad 2 or Nook Color case.)

The keyboard keys are encircled by solid brass bezels, and have translucent off-white keycaps which allow the keyboard’s backlighting to show through in the dark. The larger keys also have birch ply veneers, and the trackpad is surrounded by red fabric wrist rests.

If you want one of these, you’ll first need to go pick up a Sony VAIO F series laptop of your own. That’ll set you back between $1000 and $2500 (USD). Then, you’ll need the eCog mod, which costs another $1250. So this clearly isn’t a project for cheapskates. On the other hand, the end result is pretty spectacular, and I’m pretty sure even your pals with the sleekest new MacBooks will be jealous of your laptop when it’s done.

John is quick to point out that the design could be customized to your liking if you’d like to commission him to make additions or modifications to the design. Down the road, he even plans on building a steampunk goggle mod for the 3D glasses which work with the top-of-the-line VAIO Fs and other Sony 3D displays. You can see way more of John’s original mod in this video clip from Sony’s SGNL:

If you’re interested in the eCog Mercury mod for your VAIO F, head on over to Etsy for more details.

The Art Deco influenced Aerodyne was created by Jeffrey Stephenson. The system is built around a Mini-ITX form factor PC, so its footprint is pretty small. The mini PC doesn’t have a fan to keep things compact, and is made out of mahogany and aluminum. Inside, it has an Intel Core i3 processor, an integrated Intel HD3000 graphics processor, a 256GB Crucial M4 SSD hard drive, and 8GB Crucial DDR 3 RAM. While those aren’t top-of-the-line specs, they’re still pretty solid for a compact machine like this.

Like what you see? Jeffrey is considering making a small run of 10 units of the Aerodyne, but he hasn’t announced pricing. If you’re interested, you can contact jeffrey[at]slipperyskip.com. In the mean time, check out the full Aerodyne build log over at bit-tech.

[via Boing Boing]

This DIY boombox was made by Matt Keeter using laser-cut plywood. It plays MP3 files from an SD card, plugged into a small custom circuit board powered by an Atmega328 chip. As a bonus, it looks like a bit like a wooden TIE Fighter with a handle.

The boombox features five touch controls and is powered by just a single 9V battery. This thing will be light as a feather compared to it’s predecessors. I don’t think it will run very long on a 9-volt though. It’s a pretty good looking boombox if you ask me.

If you’d like to build your own, full build instructions, source code and schematics are available here, and it should cost about $100 in parts.

[via Designbuzz]

Before they “melted,” each of the three pieces were supposedly picture frames. Each of the three sculptures were carved, sanded and finished by hand from of various types of woods like oak and fir. The different wood types provided a beautiful contrast for the sculptures (which sort of reminds me of milk and white chocolate.)

The Duramen Series is explained like so: “Born of a simple impulse, the one to break with conventional ways of exhibiting, Bonsoir Paris and its team have imagined a series of frames so strongly mistreated that they have become unrecognizable. Their wish is to break the properties of the compound, a form of compromise as minimal and it is efficient. They found a subtle twist while remaining faithful to a primitive form of revolt, without getting lost in vain styles effects.”

All I see is melted chocolate.

[designboom via Gadgets Matrix]

This beautiful overkill of an enclosure was created by Etsy seller Will Rockwell. It features a drivewheel and shaft, a service light, and even generates smoke as it works.

If you need extra RAM, simply pull the brass SURGE lever for a burst of overdrive, as a dense puff of smoke belches from the brass stack.

That sentence alone makes me want to buy it. It’s covered with walnut veneer and brass edging, with controls everywhere. The blinking service light rises like a periscope, as the drive wheel turns. Just insert your hard drive into the hinged door on the rear where you will find power and connection cables. It will hold any size drive up to a LaCie Big Drive. At least you get plenty of Steampunk for your $1,200(USD) purchase.

It was created by the German designer Elena Belmann using hundreds of individual wooden cubes. The main reason why she created it was to find out what a two-dimensional object would look like in 3D, and if information could be embedded into a 3D object. She also wanted to find out if the QR code could still be scanned. The answer is yes. She doesn’t say what message or link this particular QR code conceals though. Perhaps it says something like “sit on it.”

Personally, I’d probably use this intricate structure as a mood light. I’m not a fan of stools, and for some reason, it looks somewhat delicate – and even more uncomfortable.

[via NOTCOT]

This ultra-cool office cubicle was designed by London’s David Ajasa-Adekunle of the Innovation Imperative studio. It was designed to be an extremely, well, different kind of workspace either for your home or for your office. Each self-contained workpod can be opened or closed to increase privacy or to let the light in.

But let’s face it, unless you’re your own boss, I doubt you’ll be able to secure permission to haul in your own cubicle, especially for something that looks like it’s going to be taking up a whole lot of space – thought it does look like they’ll be able to closely interlock if you convince your company to replace all their cubicles with them.

That said, Tetra Shed is a futuristic office cubicle that will be made available to the eager working public early next year. What do you think?

[via Dvice]

Yep, what you’re looking at here is the most awesome bar for serving up your finest booze – all in the shape of an AT-AT. Luckily, it has yet to be brought down by a snow speeder’s tow cables, as that would be a horrible tragedy. The cabinet appears to be handcrafted from wood and brass, and stands at least 4 or 5 feet tall – unless those guys in the photo are Ewoks disguised as humans.

I know not from whence this tasty morsel of awesome comes, other than the fact that these photos were posted up on imgur about a week ago. If you happen to have been involved in the construction of this monument to geeky greatness, speak up and take credit where credit is due. I’ll be over here in the corner, keeping warm with a Hoth Toddy.

[via Obvious Winner]

Created by Dutch audio designers Thodio, the iBox XC is packaged in a handcrafted wood cabinet, and looks like it means business. The speaker system has a pair of 6.5-inch Kevlar coned drivers with soft-dome tweeters. Power output is a hefty 70 watts RMS (140 watts peak) per channel, so this thing is going to push out some serious sound.

The system weighs in at a hefty 19.8 pounds, partially due to the built-in rechargeable battery, which is supposed to give you about 12 hours on a charge. The iBox XC and can be custom ordered a variety of different woods, including MDF, beech, oak, teak and zebrawood, and there are options available for a Bluetooth audio receiver, or an integrated Apple universal dock if you prefer not to connect via the 3.5mm audio jack.

The iBox XC is available over on broodr starting at $495 (USD). That’s the price for the MDF model. Solid hard woods will run you a bit more.

The iPhone Speaker is basically a wooden dock that amplifies your iPhone’s tiny internal speaker. It’s supposed to work with all iPhones, and Lowell says the amplification effect is “amazing.” The dock measures 2″×2″×9″ and comes made out of cherry, walnut or soft maple. Each one has been handcrafted and finished with orange oil, coupled with wax.

Note that Lowell mentions that some older iPhones with cases won’t work in this dock. Other types of wood are available for $10 extra. The wooden iPhone speakers sell for $60 to $70 (USD) at Lowell’s Etsy shop, YellowGlueBlues.

[via Make:]

The veil is attached to your smartphone thanks to a special industrial adhesive, that’s supposed to leave no residue if removed. It will most definitely add a bit of a natural touch to your futuristic phone. They use maple wood veneer to create the veil, and it’s made in the USA by hand. It definitely looks better than the vinyl stickers and plastic backings that we’ve seen before.

You can purchase the wooden iPhone 4 Veil from Killspencer for $30 (USD).

[via Swipelife]