Ever since it launched in 1984, the 128K Apple Macintosh has been a classic staple of computer history, introduce the public to an amazing new graphic interface, mouse and other fresh features.

Compact by the standards of the time, it felt like a universe of power was packed inside the small shell, and this detailed illustration brings that idea to life in a quite literal way.

This homage by Dorothy is a three-color litho print cutaway that imagines entire worlds unfolding inside the shell of this vintage computer, with various hints and allusions to Apple and its founder, Steve Jobs.

From the creators: “Dorothy’s new cutaway print imagines the internal going-ons inside the original Apple Macintosh. Look closely at our miniature world and the tiny people that work in it and discover what they get up to when no one is watching. Find the many references to Apple (and popular culture) woven into the illustration.”

The post Mac Fan Art Turns Classic Apple Computer into a Micro-City first appeared on Gajitz.

So you have an iPhone, but your significant other has an Android device, or perhaps you have friends over looking for a charge, which, thanks to this dual-functioning cord, you can now accommodate.

The LMcabe is as simple as it is essential: it can flip easily between either device type, working with Androids as well as Apples, lightning cable tied to MicroUSB. The narrow end is thin enough to slot into both devices. If you need to see it to believe it, here you go:

Lots of caveats, of course, including the fact that this is (at least a goal-met Kickstarter capmaign. Your $15 may take a while to turn into a cable, if it happens at all. And then, by that time, there may already be other solutions like it, or cable conventions could have evolved in general, too (e.g. the new flippable USB).

It could also conceivably be bad for your ports over time, or even the device itself if not engineered properly. One option: wait until it’s out, then decide for yourself after reading reviews, though the price may have gone up by then, too.

The post Finally: Dual-Device Cable Charges Both iPhones & Androids first appeared on Gajitz.

Apple has filed for a patent on a deceptively simple looking design, a possible harbinger of a near-future Apple Ring that would respond to voice, gestures, touch and would interface with other devices wirelessly.

The device could be used to collect biometric data, giving users feedback about their health or exercise program and obviating the need to use smartphone, wristwatch or other larger wearables currently serving that function. It could even be used to track hand movements, transcribing note-writing actions into digital documents.

From the patent: “A user controls an external electronic device with a finger-ring-mounted touchscreen that includes a computer processor, wireless transceiver, and rechargeable power source. The ring is worn on a first finger receives an input from a second finger, selects one of a plurality of touch events associated with the input, and wirelessly transmits a command associated with the touch event to the external electronic device.”

While many concepts and lower-tech prototypes exist, this device clearly aims to become the defacto miniature in the wearables department, able to do more than most real or proposed devices of similar size and function. If realized, this would clearly be the one true ring to rule them all.

The post iRing Wearable: Apple Patents Tiny Touchscreen Smart Ring first appeared on Gajitz.

Past generations kept precious keepsakes such as family photos and letters from friends in boxes to be brought out and admired occasionally. This kind of reminiscing has been made much harder by the digitization of our lives. It’s a lot less fun to scroll through old emails and photos on a screen.

Designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini and musician Giampaolo Scapigliati wondered what kind of keepsakes would be left to hold and admire after the current generation is gone. To create a new type of keepsake, the duo invented the Printeroid, a portable printing device that works with any Apple mobile device. The name is a nod to the revolutionary (for its time) Polaroid instant printing technology.

Printeroid can make hard copies of photographs, text messages, and any other type of document. Using an app they named PMS (Printeroid Messaging Service), users send documents or photos to the printer which can store rolls of paper up to 10 meters long. Printeroid prints on standard paper, sticky paper, or photographic film.

One of the many awesome features of the Printeroid is its ability to print out panoramic photos in one piece. The paper is only 2.7 inches wide so the photos may not be incredibly detailed, but they do bring back the tactile satisfaction of holding a treasured photo in your hands and preserving it for future generations.

In the age of purely digital communication, the Printeroid could be a way to preserve the text messages of a couple from their first meeting through the deep connection that forms. These long printed lines of text and pictures could very well fill the memory boxes of our children and grandchildren, giving them a glimpse into how we lived in the first few decades of the 21st century.

The post Screen Printing: Create Hard Copies of iPhone Memories first appeared on Gajitz.

Paying tribute to vintage characteristics of old Macintosh desktop computers as well as contemporary streamlined Apple designs, this sleek combination features elements of iPhone, iPads and the Apple Air.

Developed by Curved Labs in Germany, the design features the best of all worlds: stylistic elements referencing classic computers but the complete touchscreen functionality and streamlined construction of newer models.

Iconic elements like the vintage floppy disk drive slot are reintroduced with twists, in this case: the opening becomes a port for portable flash drives.

Shown in gray, gold and silver and set face to face with the original sources of inspiration it is easy to see how the concept was derived but also where it departs from its predecessors.

The design is intended, in part, to be a statement about change over time, with an interested in preserving some kind of aesthetic integrity over generations of development.

The post Retro Hybrid: Remixing Classic Mac & Classy Apple Designs first appeared on Gajitz.