design

Another designer has lived up to the fine sense of Italian aesthetics, which we've seen applied increasingly to home media furnishings. The latest example comes from Bonaldo in the form of a new twist--quite literally--on displaying a plasma or LCD TV with its "Swivel TV Stand."

But it's the striking circular design that will get your attention as much as its practical mobility. The stand's black lacquered frame is supported by a chrome base, according to Trendir, providing a "fantastic way to soften the harsh, square corners" of the television set and accompany … Read more

Against all odds, land lines are valiantly forging ahead in hopes of making an unlikely comeback. Though thoroughly mocked by other gadget blogs, for instance, Motorola debuted its "MOTOLIVN" home phone this week for the European market.

Maybe that's a key part of the strategy: Europe. Because Doro, a manufacturer based in Sweden, is also expanding its continental land-line business. And like other European phone makers--namely Philips and Siemens--Doro is focusing its efforts on form as much as function, if not more.

The company says its "NeoBio" line of DECT phones, for example, comes … Read more

SAP has finally launched its software-as-a-service offering, dubbed "ByDesign". I'm not sure if this is intended to imply "intelligent design" and the idea that divinity is somehow behind SAP's Big New (old) Idea, but as some point out, the big loser in ByDesign may be SAP itself. Time will tell if SAP can have it both ways: traditional, complex and mightily expensive ERP versus its new SaaS, easier to use and moderately expensive (but comparatively cheap) ERP.

I think this is the right thing for SAP to do as far as its customers are concerned. But it may not bode well for SAP, as Nick Carr highlights:

But in the end the company most threatened by ByDesign may be SAP itself....The big risk is that ByDesign will begin to cannibalize SAP's traditional and very lucrative software business--without providing similar revenues or profits.… Read more

According to a McKinsey & Company study of US economic activity, "Raising the productivity of employees whose jobs can't be automated is the next big performance challenge." The study argues that "as more companies come to specialize in core activities and outsource the rest, they have greater need for workers who can interact with co-workers, partners, and vendors," supported by highly personalized organizing and communication tools. 40 percent of labor activity, says McKinsey, comes not from making things or from traditional transactions but from what the consultancy calls the "Interaction Economy," which it … Read more

It's likely that more than a few would-be Mac buyers who decided that for whatever reason they couldn't part with Windows ended up with a VAIO. All PC manufacturers place an importance on design, of course, but no two more than Apple and Sony. Both companies recently put out updates to their all-in-one and small-form-factor systems. Let's take a look at how they compare.

Apple's latest iMac effort returns the shape and stand of the previous iteration but adds an anodized aluminum finish to the enclosure and a glossy glass panel to the display. The case … Read more

A group of kids from one of our local elementary schools has formed a "mini-laptop club." They don't use electronic machines. Instead, these first-, second- and third-graders draw their own laptops on construction paper and pretend to e-mail each other. They dedicate a surprising amount of time to this activity. I once had a chance to examine one of their "keyboards." I was fascinated to learn which Internet functions had sunk into the minds of these kids, who are just getting their first exposure to computers from watching their parents work, and from using kid-friendly sites. Follow the page jump to see one of their designs.… Read more

Do you eat ice cream when you're sad? I sure do. When I saw that my nasty co-worker Tim Moynihan had pitted the Beer-Launching Fridge against Keepon the Dancing Robot in his artificial intelligence showdown, I got totally emo because I had no idea who to vote for. Then I bought myself a pint of Phish Food and ate it for breakfast with a side of Kleenex, sunny side down.

But technology is always making our lives easier, and here's a gadget that can help me figure out just how much self-pity eating I'll need to do … Read more

Forget about phones and MP3 players--the next designer gadget is the toaster. And leading the way to branded nirvana are, of all things, sportscar dynasties.

Porsche joined the fray with a brushed-aluminum model that looks good enough for the track, and now Bugatti has gotten into the act with an appliance of its own. True to its exacting nature, Bugatti has included "six browning-control options" for its "Volo" toaster, Gadgetizer says, with especially wide slots to accommodate different sizes of baked goods. But it's the red Italian flair that drew us to it, of course.… Read more

LaCie is a tech company that understands design and marketing. Even though it's in the business of computer peripherals and components--products that don't exactly scream glamour on their own--it's never shy to apply its creative notions to items as diverse as speakers and USB hubs. But the company may have truly outdone itself with its latest effort, finding beauty in the most unlikely of subjects: an external hard drive.

The "Golden Disk" could easily be sitting in a modern art display somewhere, a "sleek, liquid-inspired device" in a reflective case created by French … Read more