Crankset

Solar

I am not one to normally get excited about apps. But yesterday I discovered this – Solar. A simple and visually appealing weather app that turns checking the forecast into a surprisingly enjoyable experience.

It has many lovely features it lets you view the weather for up to four destinations simultaneously with an intuitive double tap or pinch—a winning feature for travelers. The beautifully simple interface which reveals itself once you hone in on a single location, with a home screen that displays on the time, date, weather condition (rainy, sunny, partly cloudy) and temperature in the upper lefthand corner while a beautiful, hyper-sensorial colorscape fills the background in gradient hues that reflect the time of day.

Solar’s most winning element comes in the form of its 24-hour forecast: scrolling up prompts the appearance of a simple clock in the screen’s upper righthand corner, its hands advancing through the day as your finger moves. The time, date and weather update in corresponding real time as the hours flash by and the background undergoes a series of beautiful changes in colour combinations.

Hollr’s newest creation wins out with its minimalist design and unwillingness to burden users with unnecessary information. Though the app doesn’t delve into the technical information required by a sailor or mountain climber, it suits me perfectly as a beautifully designed app, that reveals the weather to me in a well designed and aesthetically pleasing manner.

Solar is available for 69p at the iTunes App Store.

Not Another Bill

In our modern day age of emails and Facebook pokes, it seems no one has the time to send any good post anymore. Gone are the days of waiting patiently for letters or packages, the door mat littered with only bills and pizza menus. New company NOTANOTHERBILL aims to change this, however, with their new subscription service which curates and sends surprise gifts in the post every month.

When users sign up (for £15/month), they receive one present through the mail each month, sourced from far and wide and with the aim of introducing subscribers to great artists, designers and brands. Each gift comes with a personalised letter explaining more about the product, where its from and why it was chosen. Past gifts have included an exclusive key fold from leather brand Hard Graft, beautiful maps, bespoke notebooks and leather wallets.

Like Svbrsciption which we featured last month, this kind of curated gift service once more proves that despite out digital lifestyles, there's still a healthy hankering for old-fashion tangibility. Check it out here.

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The Energy Collection

Marjan van Aubel has designed a set of glassware that turns light into energy. Each piece of "The Energy Collection" is coated with a layer of photovoltaic (converting sunlight into energy) dye made form berries and spinach. The accompanying cabinet acts as a battery, taking the energy from each piece and storing it. Though van Aubel doesn't say exactly how much energy is captured, she does mention it can used for powering a light and charging an iPhone.

Assuming it's efficient, we'd be interested to see what other objects this technology can be applied to.

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Tangible Textural Interface

I've looked a lot of interactive-surface projects in the last few weeks. The technology isn't necessarily as avant-garde as Makey Makey, AnyTouch, or Sketch Synth, but Eunhee Jo's Tangible Textural Interfacesound system is a nice concept in a very nice package.

Jo says, "My proposal was to re-define the role of the surface in future lifestyle, exploring how surfaces can be an integrated as part of a product or environment. As you control the functions [backwards and forwards, volume control and equaliser], the left surface physically responds to the controls. Tactile surface also responds to the beat of the music."

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Kinetic Rain

Claiming to be the world's largest kinetic art installation, a new sculpture by German design studio Art + Com has recently been installed in Signapore's Changi International Airport.

Called 'Kinetic Rain', the sculpture consists of 1,216 individual raindrops cast in bronze, connected by fine wires and individually controlled by motors. The raindrops are computer programmed to transform into multiple shapes and switch between undulating gently and accelerating rapidly akin to an almighty rainstorm.

It's the best looking rain we've seen in a while (and in London, we've seen alot). Check out the video above for yourself.

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OKSU - I want one!!!

One part Polaroid, one part bookmark, OKSU prints screen captures that hyperlink users to specific content.

Each piece of paper loaded into the OKSU is embedded with NFC technology, allowing it to communicate with digital devices. OKSU uses Z-Ink paper (the pigment's inside) so no cartridge is necessary.

OKSU was developed by Alex Zhulin at the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow. It doesn't appear to be on the market...yet.

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