Remember what Macintoshes (when they were still called that) looked like before the whole shift towards the transparent, candy-colored iMac? The man responsible was Robert Brunner.

He worked at Apple for 10 years as their lead industrial designer and it was he who found Apple’s current designer, Jonathan Ive fresh out of school. It was he who saw how talented Ive was and tried not once, twice, but three times to get Ive to join Apple. When Brunner left Apple, he told Steve Jobs Jonathan Ive should head up the new department.

Robert Brunner now has his own product design company called Ammunition and I gotta say, I still see some Apple lineage in all his work. It’s incredibly clean but leans towards the high-tech appliance side. Thank you Brunner for recommending Jonathan Ive.

No, not the beer. Corona is a solar powered outdoor lighting system. It can be staked to the ground, attached to a wall or simply placed on a table top.

The Corona’s solar voltaic cell transforms sunlight into energy during the day and its LEDs automatically start to glow when the sun sets. It uses no glues or fasteners, making it simple to disassemble for recycling. It’s the 2007 ICFF winner so may see production very soon. More pictures after the jump.

[Via Yanko Design]
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Pacific Design, a company known for colorful, functional iPod® cases and cutting edge laptop bags and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation have announced the VH1 Save The Music Case Collection Design Contest. The winning entry will receive an Apple iPhone, Apple iPod nano, and a VH1 Gift Basket. Hit the jump for more info.
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Hey NextLusters, wanna be cool? Step 1 to earning your cool merit badge is by voting for my design in the Nokia N76 competition. 598 international designers are vying for the coveted position of first place by way of a ratings system. I want to win so I’m asking all you readers to help a fellow NextLuster out and give me 5-star ratings. I’m not ashamed to ask. I’ve never won anything in my life. I think it’s about time!

Of my 3 designs, the one above is currently in the top 10. The other 2 designs are after the jump. You’ll have to browse for my designs since there’s no direct link. Just browse all the designs by country and choose the United States, then look for the name Long Tran.

Link to the competition web site

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Apparently Intel isn’t the only one with a crystal ball into the future. At an event in Mumbai, HP showed off their “Always Connected” concepts - a section of their HP Mobile Innovations Tour. The concepts show the company’s vision of 2012 with devices like watches, tablets, computers and wallets all connected to a central hub. Many of the concepts take today’s experimental technologies like paper thin LCD screens and ultra-slim portables and make them fashionable. HP believes in the future, high-tech electronics must depart from their current “techy” look and embrace a more friendly approach to design. More of it after the jump.

[Via Tech Ticker]

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It’s an inevitable fact. Once you move in with your significant other, control over the remote will be one of the first issues to come up. That’s why I whole heartedly endorse Didier and Nickolas’ Cushion Control pillows. Volume, channel and power buttons are split up between 3 pillows. The designers aim to provoke users to argue over “who has the remote”, ultimately resulting in a pillow fight.

[Via Core77]

The future of tech products is built upon today’s imagination, design, and inspiration. Concepts that allow consumers and manufacturers to see creative, novel, or utterly breathtaking products drive technology style and engineering forward. These are some of those concepts:
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Do you have enough creative talent to color within the lines? If the answer is yes, why not enter the Nokia N76 design competition called Show Off Your Talent?

All you have to do is download a template and have at it. Submit your design online by May 3rd and if yours is chosen, Nokia will produce your N76 just for you.

Nokia N76 design competition

Yes it’s cute and cuddly looking and yes it vaguely resembles some video game character free from its sphereonic prison, but don’t be fooled by its exterior. This robot can literally control your life.

Designed by Japanese robotics company Raytron, Chapit aims to make future home automation easy and sugary sweet. He understands and verbally responds to you in a bizarre baby voice, clearly a baby born of Scientology. His face lights up and his legs wiggle as he nods to your every demand. Anything with an IR, bluetooth or wireless connection is fair game. He even recognizes you and senses your mood. Had a long day at work? No problem, Chapit will turn down the lights and put on your favorite movie. He exists only to make you happy.

He also exists for a hefty 200,000 YEN ($1950) in stores sometime next year. Check out video of Chapit in action after the jump.

[via Electro^Plankton]

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What happens when an international brand like Disney gets together with another international brand like BMW to create a luxury phone? We present to you the Mickey Kuso.

The slim (10mm) candy-bar style phone is Asia only, sold by their version of Vertu called Omnipotence, purveyor of super-lux phones. It comes with mediocre specs though; 1.3 megapixel camera, bluetooth and micro SD, but wins in the design and packaging department. BMW penned this baby, everything from its carbon fiber and metal finish right down to its perforated leather box. In keeping with Mouse House branding, the entire UI is iconic, bright and colorful with a well integrated audio player designed to work with dedicated feather-touch controls.

Before you go and start writing checks, only 130 of these will be produced and you just know the final asking price will make the iPhone seem affordable. For those of us swimming in money, good luck trying to import one and for those planning to fish on eBay, check for the certificate of authenticity from Disney and BMW.

[Via Phone Daily]

UPDATE: Upon further digging, we’ve come across some evidence in regards to the phone’s authenticity. Just who is Omnipotence and why would a co-branded Disney/BWM phone misspell “Micky”? Although this isn’t the first Disney collectable phone (see Dmobo M900), it is quite telling if they can’t even spell Mickey’s name correctly. So I guess just because it comes with a certificate of authenticity, doesn’t mean it’s authentic, eek!
More pictures after the jump.

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