Everything is coming up Apple lately. The iPad is surpassing expectations, the newly-announced next-gen iPhone is creating a stir, and Apple recently overtook Microsoft as the world’s most valuable tech company. But not everything Apple touches turns to gold. They’ve seen their fair share of flops over the company’s long history. The above Macintosh Portable was Apple’s first attempt at a portable, fully-featured, battery-powered computer. At 16 pounds, its portability could be debated; the battery power was laughable and the thing couldn’t even boot if the battery was unable to hold a charge. The Mac Portable was discontinued just a year after its introduction.

The Apple MessagePad – often mistakenly called the Newton (which was actually the name of the OS) – is one of Apple’s most famous flops. To be fair, the device was not a terrible failure and still boasts a very large base of devoted fans. The most logical explanation for its commercial failure and quick discontinuation is that the MessagePad was a bit ahead of its time. The handwriting recognition was weak, the battery life was severely limited, and the original version lacked desktop connectivity. Still, CNET UK compared the MessagePad to the iPhone in 2009 and declared the Newton device superior to its “grandchild” because of its innovation at the time of its release.

The Twentieth Anniversary Mac was one of the most aesthetically beautiful Apple computers ever. Its sleek, modern form was unlike anything the world had seen when it was released in March of 1997. Unfortunately, it was widely thought that Apple had put way too much thought into its form and not nearly enough into its function. The original price of $7,499 was shocking, even though the price had originally been predicted at $9,000 (including a direct-to-door concierge delivery and setup service). Later, following widespread criticism of its high price and limited function, the price dropped as low as $1,995 – below the cost of production. Despite being technically disappointing, the extreme scarcity and attractive appearance of the TAM has made it a sought-after collectible for Apple enthusiasts.

The post Infamous Misses: 3 of Apple’s Most Notable Product Flops first appeared on Gajitz.

Nintendo has been stepping it up recently with the announcements of two new hand-held consoles: first the DSi XL, and more recently the 3DS. But the Nintendo designers aren’t the only ones thinking that 3D hand-helds are the future: designer Mario Troise came up with this sophisticated version of a future generation of DS. His concept features a single touch-screen that, when the unit is laid flat, functions as a single game board.

The screen also works with holographic-type technology. By combining 3D graphics that pop right off of the screen and cameras that sense players’ hand movements, game pieces can actually be “picked up” and “moved” without ever touching the screen. Players simply reach out and grasp them like they were actual physical objects.

The futuristic design also includes multiple cameras so that face movements can be tracked during gameplay. Most of us wouldn’t want our “game faces” on display, but face-tracking software could open a lot of doors for game developers to add new features into games.

Finally, the mechanical buttons that we’ve come to know and love on Nintendo hand-held consoles are present on this concept, as well. The directional pad and round buttons give a definite tactile satisfaction, so having them just enhances this already-cool idea. Of course, there are no plans to actually make this lovely machine anytime in the future, but there’s nothing wrong with admiring a design for its sheer inventiveness.

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For many years now, every time a new handheld device or fancy phone hits the market, it’s hailed as the “iPhone killer.” The media have adopted this term and use it liberally, despite most of us being utterly sick of it. Designer Ronen Kadushin has developed the first open-source product that is very literally meant to kill the iPhone.

The mallet is 1.6kg of steel attached to a wooden handle and meant to be used to smash every annoyingly over-priced iPhone that gets in its way. The free and open-source design can be downloaded from the designer’s website, and makers are even encouraged to adapt the design.

Unlike iPhone accessories, the iPhonekiller is guaranteed to be compatible with all past and future versions of the iPhone. As an added bonus, it also works with the iPad – and even non-Apple cell phones. The design, says Kadushin, is his response to the media’s and public’s seeming reverence of Apple gadgets. The tongue-in-cheek creation goes to show that some people can’t live without their iPhones…and others just wish they would go away already.

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There was a time when even the humble compass was at the height of human technological development. It was a marked improvement over the paper map, and for a long time it remained the preferred method for finding one’s way. But lately, our navigational gadgets have become exceptionally high-tech – they can talk you through every turn. Somewhere in between the simplistic antiques and the insanely advanced navigation tools is the Tamtam Flash.

The gadget, from Designaffairs studio, combines the classic functionality of a handheld flashlight with the futuristic features of a GPS. It goes from simply lighting your way in the dark to projecting a useful map (one that highlights your current location) to actually pointing out the way you should go with lighted arrows.

A simple twist of the device’s cylinder shifts the selected function, letting it guide you whether you’re on foot, in the car or even, according to the pictures, on camel. It remains a concept for the moment, but it’s not hard to imagine the Tamtam Flash actually coming into our lives one day as a simplified, but fully-functional, guiding light – a beacon leading us to where we need to be.

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The handheld gadget market is a tricky one. The gadget-buying public is finicky, only latching on to certain products and letting others fail miserably. Cheering on the success of certain gadgets isn’t that fun, but looking at the biggest flops of the past decade sure is.

This bizarre-looking device is, believe it or not, just as powerful as most desktop PCs and only a little bigger than a smartphone. It’s called an OQO, and the company that made it was both a little before its time and a little overconfident in its product. The first model of OQO was introduced in 2004, following a much-hyped build-up of several years. Just when eager would-be buyers started to wonder if it would ever appear, the Oqo finally materialized. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s the world’s smallest full-powered, full-featured personal computer. And to be honest, it’s pretty amazing – but the $3000 price tag put most consumers off of it, and the company went out of business in 2009.

As far as handheld devices go, the Pepper Pad was kind of cool. It was equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth and had a split QWERTY keyboard, a microphone, video camera, speakers and IR receiver/transmitter along with a 7-inch LCD touch screen and a host of other cool features. So why have most people never heard of it? Well, it was expensive, for one: for the same $800 you could get a much-easier-to-use laptop. And the design is, shall we say, less than attractive. The split keyboard probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but typing on it was weird and awkward. Pepper ceased production and support of its devices in September 2009.

Palm just wasn’t able to catch a break for the longest time. Their PDAs were once the “it” gadget that all well-appointed geeks proudly carried. As soon as smartphones came out, everyone stopped needing PDAs – so Palm came back with the Pre, which is doing pretty well. But before that, they tried to market this little gadget, which they called the Palm LifeDrive. It was designed to handle your music, pictures, documents, email and schedule, and it was equipped to browse the Web. It even had a 4 GB hard drive, which was pretty impressive back in 2005 when it launched. But timing killed this device, as it came out just when the best of the smartphones were hitting the market for the first time. And at $500, buyers decided they’d rather have the far geekier – and more useful – iPhone. The LifeDrive was discontinued in January 2007.

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