A patch of central London is festooned with pink this week, which can only mean Clerkenwell Design Week is in session once more. Lovely old buildings such as the Farmiloe Building, House of Detention and the Museum of the Order of St. John have opened their doors to designers and design enthusiasts on the lookout for inspiration. Armed with a camera, Gizmag went exploring, and was pleased to see one or two favorites among the novelties.  Read More

Clerkenwell Design Week kicked off in London on Tuesday. Though primarily catering to fans of light shades and soft office furnishings, there are some interesting and innovative gems lurking among the event's 60-odd showrooms. Among them was Ying Chang's Sketch Objects, a series of paper plates, bowls and vases waterproofed on the inside with resin.  Read More

Urban Green Energy (UGE) recently unveiled its newest vertical-axis wind turbine, the VisionAIR, as part of an installation at the Beijing International Garden Expo. The company confirmed to Gizmag that the VisionAIR is replacing its former 4K turbine, last seen adorning the top of an EV charging station, as its standard mid-sized option for customers. Compared with the previous model, the new turbine's design aims for better efficiency at moderate wind speeds, which UGE plans to integrate with its hybrid energy projects.  Read More

Though at first glance Huvafen Fushi may resemble a James Bond villain’s undersea lair, it is in fact the world's only submarine spa. First opened in 2004, the über-exclusive spa, located in the Maldives' North Male Atoll, was recently redesigned by UK architects Studio RHE.  Read More

If you polled a roomful of smartphone pundits about the best phone you can buy right now, there’s a good chance plenty of them would say the HTC One. Hell, we might even say that. So it’s a bit strange to hear stories of the company bleeding top staff and continuing to hit hard times ... while simultaneously selling one of the most important phones of the year. Welcome, HTC. You've officially entered Bizarro World.  Read More

The Pebble smartwatch is one of the standout Kickstarter success stories, attracting over US$10 million in funds to exceed its $100,000 more than 100 times over. Another smartwatch is following a similar trajectory on the crowdfunding site, exceeding its own $100,000 goal in a day. While the Agent smartwatch shares some things in with common with the Pebble, it also boasts a number of features that set it apart.  Read More

Emergency rescue beacons from SPOT have been slowly but surely moving toward a satellite device that provides seamless real-time communication around the world – in other words, a satellite phone. The company has moved from pre-written messaging to custom type-and-send messaging, and with the new SPOT Global Phone, it now adds capabilities for real-time voice. The phone keeps you connected with friends, family and rescue agents even when you're standing in the middle of a roadless, fly-in wilderness in Alaska.  Read More

Finis has significantly upgraded its SwiMP3 underwater audio player with the release of the new US$160 Neptune. Like the SwiMP3, which has been on the market for five years, the Neptune waterproof player uses bone conduction to deliver sound to the inner ear. Drawing on its experience, the company has redesigned almost all components for the new model, including the bone conduction speakers, and added greater memory, an OLED display and improved file transfer compatibility with iTunes.  Read More

If Apple can have a "spaceship," then Amazon can have a biodome. Although the company isn't creating a totally self-contained ecosystem so its employees never have to leave work, documents filed with the Seattle Department of Planning and Development indicate it is planning to build something not too far removed from that at its new campus headquarters in Seattle.  Read More