Design – SomeGadgetGuy

February 13, 2018

No More Notch! Leave our phone screens alone!

NO MORE NOTCHES! I don’t care that I CAN get used to a uni-brow cutting into my phone screen. I SHOULDN’T HAVE to get used to a screen cut out. As the iPhone X has sold relatively well, how can we stop copycat manufacturers from forcing us all to adopt a TERRIBLE selfie camera adaption?

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Continue reading “No More Notch! Leave our phone screens alone!”

April 29, 2015

Tag Heuer Designed Android Wear Smartwatch to Sell for $1400

Moving technology out of “geek” and into “chic” is now critical to get consumers to part with their cash. Apple raised the bar on what you could charge for a wrist wearable, and now traditional watch manufacturers are taking this sector more seriously.

Google announced a partnership with LVMH and we’ll soon see the fruits of that partnership under the Tag Heuer brand. Details are slim, and we don’t know yet what the watch will look like (the above pic is what I personally hope it’ll look like), but head of “Watchmaking Activities” Jean-Claude Biver estimates the watch will run for around 40 hours on a charge.

Their first Android Wear watch will land by November, and will launch at $1400, making it a perfect competitor to Apple’s midrange watch offering.

I’ve made comparisons in the past to Apple becoming less a tech company, and more a fashion brand like Luis Vuitton, which makes this an interesting fit for Google as Tag Heuer is owned by Luis Vuitton. Will partners like this improve the visibility if smartwatches and other wearables? Drop us a comment below!

(via Bloomberg)

March 30, 2015March 29, 2015

Is the Back Glass on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Indestructible?

Obviously the answer to the question posed in the title of this blog post is “No”. Shame on you for clicking on link bait.

However, this Korean video shows the GS6 surviving some pretty incredible intentional damage. I would never have handled an iPhone 4 or Nexus like this.

It should go without saying however, that regardless how durable a phone might be built, if you intentionally try to damage it, eventually you will succeed. Still, this is better survivability than I would have assumed.

January 28, 2014

Will more attractive frames solve Google’s Glass perception problem?

They do look better, less sci-fi, more natural.

I think heads up displays are our wearable tech future. After using several fantastic smartwatches, nothing seems to solve the problem of eye-level information like Google Glass. Of course it brings a completely different kind of stigma in that you’re wearing a computer on your face, which really seems to weird people out. A common criticism of Glass is that it looks too geeky, and now it seems Google is taking steps to curb that complaint.

Following their partnership with eye wear designer Warby Parker, Google is piggy-backing on the designer’s Titanium Collection of frames with four new looks for Glass that Google is calling “The Titanium Collection”. Not very original, but Google isn’t known for fashion, so maybe it’s better they leave that job to the pros.

This also marks the beginning of Glass supporting prescription lenses. From the FAQ: “Google is in partnership with VSP Vision Care for VSP members and VSP eye care providers to receive reimbursement on Glass frames up to the frame allowance provided within their current vision benefit. The prescription lenses are also covered under the patients’ lens benefit offering through their VSP coverage.”

See the new frames in this Google promo vid:

This does not change the process by which you go about getting Glass, it’s still a very public BETA, and the Explorer program is still the gateway through which people acquire their own face computer. This is simply another iteration in the design of the heads up display, hopefully making them a bit more socially acceptable for people who are concerned about the design of the original Explorer Edition Glass. Google is pushing into very new territory, and that can make consumers squirrely. Restaurant owners asking Explorers to leave, law enforcement issuing citations for operating motor vehicles with screens visible to the driver, there’s a stigma to this product Google’s going to need to overcome. You know you’re in trouble when The Simpsons dedicates an entire episode to showcasing how socially awkward heads up displays are.

The Explorer program isn’t getting the job done. For as many people who are fantastic ambassadors for this technology, there are just as many Glassholes who taint the product in the minds of people who might be apprehensive about its capabilities and their privacy. Google is still publicly stating “the end of 2014” for the consumer launch of Glass, but they’ve got some significant PR hurdles to clear before then. These new frames at least area step in the right direction.

Full Google FAQ below: Continue reading “Will more attractive frames solve Google’s Glass perception problem?”

September 6, 2013October 2, 2013

See Elon Musk’s Iron Man style 3D modeling and printing lab.

When Robert Downey Jr. retires from playing Tony Stark they should just follow Elon Musk around with cameras. A normal day for him is science fiction for the rest of us plebs.

Anywho, wouldn’t it be great if Iron Man’s garage were an actual real life thing. You move designs around by waving your hands through the air. You interact with models using advanced 3D optics, then have the ability to render and construct that design right there. Yeah. That’d be cool.

Well Musk and his engineers at SpaceX went and pretty much made it. Using tech like LEAP motion controllers and Oculus Rift goggles, designers are able to interact and manipulate models via gestures. Plus they can then build those models using 3D printers in the lab. It’s incredible stuff, and Elon “Man of the Future” Musk himself spends a couple minutes walking us through their advances.