Habitco Day Maker: The Charging iPhone Alarm Toaster

Assuming you already have an automated coffee maker that starts your brew every morning, Habitco Day Maker is looking to augment your morning routine with this truly unique Charging iPhone Alarm Toaster. And no, it doesn’t ready a few slices of toast for you to go with that coffee (you’ll need a significant other for that.) Designed as an iPhone charging station, the sounding of the iPhone’s alarm prompts the phone to be delicately ejected from the Toaster just like a piece of toast at breakfast. And a much simpler alternative than fumbling with your touchscreen while still half-asleep, you can simply push the phone back into the toaster should you so choose to ‘snooze’ for a few extra minutes. Habitco thinks they’re on to the next big bedside accessory — you can join their Kickstarter campaign and donate here.

SWYP – MIT Developed Technology for Moving Files Across Devices With a Swipe

We may be still a few years away from a Minority Report-esque reality where all of our computing is controlled through grandiose gestures from outstretched arms. But after seeing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology media lab-developed SWYP technology, that reality might be closer than we think. The open-sourced software essentially facilitates cross-application and cross-device data exchange through intuitive swipe gestures. Interestingly enough, the hardware being used (in this case, an iPhone and an iPad) weren’t hacked or altered in any way — SWYP takes advantage of the user’s existing wifi networks, Facebook and Gmail accounts, and associates that information with a simple, real-time gesture to transfer the desired data from device to device. Check out this video demonstration to see SWYP in action.

BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry has undoubtedly lost a lot of users to the iPhone and Android smart phones, it was once a staple for business men and university students, but it looks like they’re making an effort to catch up with the BlackBerry 10. It appears as if they’ve taken a large step forward in doing so. Take a sneak peak at the device in this video as it gives an idea into what will be next from the platform.

Ikea's "UPPLEVA"

Here comes a rather unexpected move by Swedish furniture brand/discounter IKEA – they are moving into electronic. Of course IKEA found the perfect way in for themselves. Taking the mess of home entertainment systems as the starting point, the brand figured out that in order to get rid of it, they would have to combine the furniture and the electronics – that is exactly what they ended up doing.

“The range includes three designs, all of which incorporate an LED TV, 2.1 sound system with wireless subwoofers, Wi-Fi for smart TV features, and DVD / Blu-Ray players. The company is planning to launch in Sweden, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal in the fall, with a worldwide rollout in spring 2013. The furniture is intended to hide away cables, and will come in a number of different color options.
A few specs on the system have been announced — the LED panels are full HD (suggesting 1080p) which Ikea says have a 400Hz refresh rate and come in four sizes, with four HDMI inputs, two USB ports, and support for DivX HD files. There’s also extra storage, which means that your Xbox 360 and PS3 won’t need to be left out.
The range, dubbed “Uppleva” (meaning experience) is designed to make your home entertainment simpler to use, with one remote to command the whole system. It’s built by Chinese manufacturer TCL, a company better known in the US under the RCA brand, or as Alcatel in Europe. The base model is set to cost about $995 with a 5-year guarantee, though it’s not clear what’s included at this price point, or how much the full version will cost.”

QLOCKTWO W - Time in Words

At the recent Baselworld watch and jewelry show in Basel, Switzerland, Biegert & Funk unveiled their QLOCKTWO W watch. This new wristwatch is the world’s first watch to tell time in words. For instance if it is 9:30, the watch will read: Is is a half past nine. The square watch face has 110 characters all placed neatly into a grid and when you press the stainless steel button on the side, the words light up to tell you what time it is. The watch will be dropping in Autumn of this year and it will be available in stainless steel and black. Also, the watch will be available in both the English and German languages, and it will cost approximately 550 Euros. If you are interested in the watch, check out the Biegert & Funk site.

Figure iPhone App - Pro Beats in Less than 1 Minute

Propellerhead Software presents their new $1 Figure iPhone App. While there are already numerous apps in the beat space, they thought they could make it easier, faster and simply more fun with Figure. From what we have seen so far, that might actually be true. The way beats and sounds are created in the app is the real innovation, rather than the musical output. Any amateur can actually start producing beats in the matter of a short time and enjoy the outcoming sounds.

“Playing bass, drums, and lead melodies on Figure all happens through the performance pads. These have been designed for touch control from the beginning. You can tap them like traditional keyboards or pad controllers or you can simply hold your finger down and let the rhythm wheels provide a pattern for you. You can easily tap into the sound-sculpting power of Thor’s filters, envelopes, and effects by adjusting each preset’s “Tweaks”. Don’t know what a filter or envelope is? No problem! Just move your finger along the same performance pad and listen to the changes in sound.”

Paper by FiftyThree

Sometimes the best ideas are those scrawled on bar napkins, receipts, scraps of paper, or faithful notebooks. FiftyThree design studio has set out to create an elegant, and convenient medium that encapsulates the rush of creativity in those epiphanous moments, through their new iPad App. But unlike a piece of paper that gets lost in a pocket, you can use this app to share your ideas and creations across the web. This will show to be the ultimate app for the tech-wise university student. And best of all, you can get “Paper by FiftyThree” for free from the Apple app store.