Top-notch AV fiddlers Bang & Olufsen have unveilied a new brand recently called B&O Play.  The new brand is not going to be a poor man’s B&O (sorry!), instead a range of products which integrate with consumer electronics and take design inspiration from art, fashion and furniture.

So this, the first offering from B&O Play, not surprisingly looks a bit like a toaster.  It’s not though, it’s a high-end portable wireless speaker system.  Running Apple’s proprietary Airplay standard this one is only for the iPhone/iPad users of the world, but surely that’s everybody by now.

Inside that shiny exterior is a 120 watt amplifier, 2 tweeters and one 4 inch subwoofer.  It also has a built-in power supply and rechargeable batteries for music on the go.  Looks lovely and I’m sure it will sound fantastic because it’s by B&O – but that fact will probably also mean I can’t afford one.

For more info, visit beoplay.com.

This is Qlocktwo, part clock, part art – a digital timepiece that tells you the time in words using LEDs and an acrylic matrix of words.

The designers, Biegert  & Funk, have decided that you probably don’t often need to know the time exactly, with the clock displaying the time described in 5 minute intervals.  Others clearly agree as the Qlocktwo has received more than a handful of design awards.

You can choose from a range of colours, or a stainless steel finish – and now there’s a smaller desk clock version available too.  Still, as ever design goodness don’t come cheap – €885 to you…

Available from Biegert & Funk

]]> http://www.mantrends.co.uk/2012/01/qlocktwo-clock/feed/ 0 http://www.mantrends.co.uk/2011/09/porsche-ice-cube-tray/ http://www.mantrends.co.uk/2011/09/porsche-ice-cube-tray/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:20:23 +0000 admin http://www.mantrends.co.uk/?p=472

In an apparent move to align the sportscar brand with good old fashioned boozing Porsche have added an ice cube tray to their extensive merchandise catalogue.

This blue silicone badboy costs a round tenner and features moulds of the 911, Cayenne, Cayman and Panamera.  Not that you’ll be able to distinguish between them once they’ve been cooling your schnapps for a while.

But why not?  Perhaps it will stop a few rock stars driving their 911s into swimming pools.

If you must, it’s available here…

Hopefully this is all licensed and not just someone ripping the designs off, but either way there are some cool items available.

Check them out at Obey Clothing.

These coasters with images and quotes from The Big Lebowski are the perfect place to set down your white russian between sips!  They come in a set of 10, each with a different design.

They’ll also satisfy your inner printing geek, having been letterpressed by hand using a vintage 1915 Chandler & Price press.  You know, if that’s your thing…

Either way, the dude abides.

$12 USD (that’s about £7.50 to you guv) on Etsy.

Found via CoolMaterial.

DJs: Looking for an alternative to that wobbly pasting table which makes your records skip all over the place?  Perhaps your other half is fed up of your decks sat in the corner of the living room uglying the place up?  This might be just what you need…

The Hoerboard Scomber Mix is a beautiful, hugely customisable deck stand designed and made in Germany.  You can have it glossy or matt, in any number of colours.  You can specify whether you need space for turntables, CDJs or both, maybe a laptop stand, and lay it out in either standard or battle configuration.

The construction itself is all sleek lines and curves, and your equipment fits flush into the surface of the Hoerboard.  All cables are neatly hidden away and you can choose what sort of connectors you need (located underneath).  The stand is made from laser-cut, powder-coated steel.

Such beautiful engineering and customisation doesn’t come cheap, naturally – prices start at €1,690 – about £1,450.  But if you’re still tempted head on over to the Hoerboard site…

Bringing a new meaning to “Robots in Disguise” is this Rorschach-inkblot-inspired t-shirt from Threadless featuring Optimus Prime, the king of the Autobots!

Anyone who was a kid in the mid 80s should have no problem answering “what do you see in this picture?” 

It’s called “Optimust” and it has to be one of the coolest Transformers t-shirts I’ve seen…

“Optimust” t-shirt – $15 from Threadless

This is the Keybrid – a hybrid of key and keyring in such an obvious way you wonder why you didn’t think of it.  Available in several types of blank ready for the man at Timpsons to cut it to fit your lock.

$8.99 from Keybrid.

Love this “Vague” t-shirt from Gateshead-based designers Disturbia.  Yours for £22, squire.

Found via iloveyourtshirt.com.

Bringing a new meaning to the word “lampshade” this little number is called “The Celebrity” – an Austrian-made table lamp made from 40 pairs of aviator sunglasses.  Even the switch is the arm from one of them.

Apparently the shadows cast from it create a “unique sophisticated ambiance”, but to be honest whether that’s the case or not it does looks pretty cool.  What could be cooler than sunglasses indoors?  40 pairs of sunglasses indoors.

On launch a couple of years ago this thing cost $1,600 but someone’s seen sense and it’s now available from Deeply Madly Living for $160 (just over £100).  How mad would you be if you had already bought one for 10 times that?  And yes, they do a 240v version for this side of the pond.

Found via technabob