Oct 31, 2006
Today I stopped by the KDDI Designing Studio to see the new INFOBAR2 mobile phone from the AU Design Project, designed by Naoto Fukasawa. It’s still officially a prototype, but you just know that this thing will go retail. I didn’t manage to take many pictures of the different models because my camera batteries died while I was there, but the KDDI Designing Studio blog has pics of all the models that were on show.
PauseTalk is a regular series of events that take place at Cafe Pause on the first Monday of every month, with a start time of 20:00. The idea is to create a forum where Tokyo-based creatives can get together and discuss their own projects, as well as cultural currents of the city. The next edition happens in March.
PLAY is a series of events with Jean Snow spinning some of his favorite virtual discs in a casual setting at Cafe Pause. The next edition happens in January. See the setlist for previous editions here, and subscribe to a feed of the mixes.
Being a survey of recommended titles for your gaming pleasure. New games are added 2-3 times weekly, and all selections are by your host, Jean Snow, a Tokyo-based writer and gamer.
Jean Snow is a contributor to Arcade Mania, your guide to the arcade gaming scene in Japan (Amazon US/Amazon Japan). He also provided assistance on Tokyolife: Art and Design, a guide to Tokyo's cultural output of the past few years, covering the works of over 80 influential creatives.
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of The Rough Guide to Tokyo and The Rough Guide to Japan, due for release in 2011.
I'm also a proud member of the Pecha Kucha Night family, working on various projects, including updating Pecha Kucha Daily, a blog that highlights the creativity coming out of PKN events worldwide.
I serve as editor-at-large at Néojaponisme, a web journal covering social and cultural aspects of Japan. Read the manifesto, by founder and chief editor W. David Marx.
“…shaped like a piece of candy that has melted in your mouth a while…” or how did the info-text read? ;)
Hehehe… Didn’t have much time read stuff since I needed to go meet you and Jens! I’ll be back though, I’ll be back…
Hmm, doesn’t this look a bit too round? The original Infobar looked cool cause it was square, in my opinion.
I think I agree with you Patrick. Part of the appeal of the original infobar for me was the squarish design, too. This one just doesn’t do a lot for me. Shame.
I have to say that I really like it. It looks terrific up close.
I can’t understand the fascination with square squarish phones. I wish that trend would end altogether. Infobar2 looks wonderful. It may be the one that brings me back to AU.
I’am a fan of Infobar,this version is still fun.
that phone looks mighty fine… niiiiiiiiice. do you ever stop Jean… it seems you just visit everything. keep up the great work.
i find it looks like an inflatable cell phone ;) funny stuff.
Yeah, it’s been a pretty crazy week, and I’m even seeing way, way more than what I’m posting about (the MoCo Loco has exclusives on most of my pictures). It’s great have a design week like this happen in Tokyo, but it sure takes a lot of energy to take it all in…