We're just twenty-four hours away from Samsung's big unveiling of the Galaxy S IV, and the firm is kicking the advertising campaign into top gear. We've already seen plenty of leaks, as well as official invites to the press event and the like, but now Samsung has taken things to another level, in typical fashion.
The claims that Apple is finally looking to bring an "iWatch" device to market seem to have gained some traction over the past couple of months. For years, fans have suggested the fruit company would bring some kind of wearable device to the mass market, and having seen the fanfare surrounding the Pebble Smartwatch, it seems as though Apple may be ready to silence the speculation and come through with a new product. Concepts of the iWatch have been aplenty, particularly of late, and this latest one courtesy of MacUser magazine is one of the best we've seen yet.
We've been using and adoring the iPhone for six years now, and in that time, we've seen Apple iterate the device through a number of aesthetic designs to get to where it is today. It's naive of us to assume that when Steve Jobs and his company first decided to get serious about the iPhone, we believed that the design of the original device was the only one that they considered. During the last six years, we've seen a number of iPhone prototypes popping up all over the web after having been leaked through various sources, but have we ever stopped to consider what the original iPhone looked like?
Considering how integral the iPhone has become in the mobile industry, it's amazing to think the device is scarcely six years old. It was in 2007 that then CEO Steve Jobs wowed audiences at the Moscone West Center with the game-changing handset, and for those with a more vivid memory, you may also recall a moment when Jobs made a prank call to the local Starbucks. Ying Hang "Hannah" Zhang was the Starbucks worker in receipt of Jobs' tomfoolery that day, and having retained her position at the world's most recognizable coffee chain, recently spoke of how die-hard Apple fans still, even today, call up the store and ask for "4,000 lattes to go, please."
Oxford University's Department of Engineering Science has developed a technology which allows a car to essentially drive itself - controlled by an Apple iPad. As demonstrated in a video of a Nissan Leaf electric car independently navigating through stretches of private roads, the robotic technology certainly takes the phrase "automatic car" to an entirely new dimension.
The iPhone 5 is now almost six months old, and such is the speed in which the smartphone market moves these days, that talk of its successor is already well underway. While we don't have much info pertaining to the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, or whatever it shall be named, the concept makers have been busily churning out their own ideas regarding which direction Apple should take. Designer Peter Zigich on his website has used his imagination to come up with his own vision of the next-gen Apple smartphone, and although based heavily on the revered design of the current iPhone 5, it is quite unlike any concept we have previously seen.
It feels like Google Glass is on the tip of everyone's tongues right now, even more so since developers got their hands on a unit recently. We're sure you're more than aware of Google Glass already, but for those that haven't been paying attention or somehow managed to miss the next big thing in technology, then here's the skinny; Google Glass is a computer. On your Head. With a camera.
Concept ideas help us to visualize a specific new feature or piece of software or hardware, rather than just imagining, and with the faults of iOS 6 having been well-documented of late, it's no surprise that we've seen a slew of concepts purporting to improve elements of Apple's mobile OS. One area which has seen a lot of attention - particularly in the jailbreak scene - is the app switcher, and Sentry, the designer behind Auxo tweak, has come through with another alternative take on how the Cupertino company could reinvent the multitasking bar.
Concept designs of future iterations of our favorite products keep us dreaming of what one day may be, and given their reputation among the design elite, it's fair to say Apple gadgets get a lot of attention from designers and concept-makers. Ricardo Afonso envisions the iPad eventually taking on a transparent look at some point in the future -- a simple pane of glass which, as he puts it, "blends perfectly with the surrounding environment". Check out the images and video below for more.
It's hard to ignore the increasing wave of iWatch concept ideas. It's almost as if the community is not-so-subtly hinting at something, and one designer operating under the Twitter handle @ipavel has come through with one of the best we've seen yet. It combines cutting-edge finesse with a logical, innovative set of features to back it up, and we've got all the details after the break!
