Designed by Jung Dae Hoon, the Dial Phone is a futuristic cell phone concept that takes the traditional dial technology from old school phones and adds a high-tech futuristic twist. The Dial Phone utilizes a minimalistic design that allows it to be easily disguised as a fashionable bracelet accessory. Whenever users want to make a phone call, they have to detach the phone from their wrist, and place it on top of a flat surface. The phone will then project numbers for the user to ‘dial’ using the phones integrated sensors.

Although the design features unconventional functionality, Hoon’s concept is a refreshingly minimal look at the possible future of cell phones. In a world filled with smartphone designs that focus on having the most features and the best hardware specs, it’s nice to see a design that sets itself apart from the crowd in different ways.

SOURCE via Tuvie

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced plans to build the world’s tallest building in Jeddah less than two years after the Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai at a height that many thought wouldn’t be surpassed for years.

The planned tower will soar to 3,281 feet (1,000 meters) and will include a hotel, luxury condominiums and offices. It would dwarf the Burj Khalifa, which is 2,717 feet (828 meters), and would also be the world’s tallest man-made structure.

Prince Alwaleed at a news conference Tuesday said his company, Kingdom Holding Co., had signed a 4.6 billion Saudi riyal ($1.23 billion) deal with Bin Laden Group to build the tower, which is expected to take more than five years to complete. Bin Laden Group is the largest construction firm in Saudi Arabia and is owned by the bin Laden family, which in the 1990s distanced itself from Osama bin Laden.

“Building this tower in Jeddah sends a financial and economic message that should not be ignored,” Prince Alwaleed said. “It has a political depth to it to tell the world that we Saudis invest in our country.”

Prince Alwaleed, one of the Middle East’s wealthiest businessmen, said finances for the tower are in place and construction is expected to start soon, without giving further details. Its designer was a team led by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

Countries for years have vied for bragging rights to the world’s tallest building. The U.S. held the title for decades with different buildings in New York and Chicago until 1998, when it shifted to Asia with the opening of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

But the world’s tallest buildings also have had reputations for poor financial performance. For years, the Empire State Building in New York was known as the “Empty State Building” because of its slow leasing progress. The Burj Khalifa, a mixed-use property, also opened during a global economic downturn. As the supply of office space has swelled, Dubai’s vacancy rate has risen to 44%, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

“The world’s tallest building has never been about making the maximum financial return,” says Antony Wood, executive director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. “It’s about ego. It’s about attention. It’s about making a statement.”

Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding, run by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has signed a $1.23 billion deal with Bin Laden Group to build the world’s tallest tower in Jeddah, which will soar 3,281 feet. Summer Said has details from Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi project is designed to be the showpiece of Kingdom City, a 57-million-square-foot megadevelopment north of Jeddah. Overlooking the Red Sea, it is slated to cost $20 billion.

“This project will provide sustainable profits to Kingdom Holding shareholders,” Prince Alwaleed said. It “has been in discussion since four years because of our emphasis to have it very economically viable.”

Prince Alwaleed, who owns 95% of Kingdom Holding, has focused his investments on banks, hotels and media companies, building sizable stakes in firms such as Citigroup Inc., News Corp., Apple Inc. and Time Warner Inc. News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

The prince kept a low profile in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. But more recently, he started seeking investors and acquisitions around the world.

Kingdom Holding said it had signed a shareholder agreement under which Bin Laden Group would take a 16.63% stake in Kingdom’s Jeddah Economic Co. unit, which will build the tower. Kingdom will own 33.35% in Jeddah Economic, while 33.35% will be held by Abrar International Holding Co. and 16.67% by investor Abdurrahman Sharbatly.

Construction costs are a lot lower in the Mideast than in the U.S. For example, the tallest building being developed in the U.S., One World Trade Center in New York, is slated to cost $3.1 billion. It will be 1,776 feet tall.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it has awarded Delft University of Technology a grant to develop a new type of toilet, one that might need you to login in order to pee. They say that this new device would process human waste much differently, especially without the use of water.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President of the Foundation’s Global Development program, said at the AfricaSan3 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, that the toilet has not been reinvented in centuries and has only reached about 2.6 billion people around the world. The fact that toilets are not available everywhere is causing a monumental sanitary problem that is a catalyst for the development of diseases that are filling half of all hospital beds in developing countries.

Future toilets should not require a significant infrastructure, work without water and recycle human waste to energy sources. For example, waste could be converted into bio fuel, fertilizer and even fresh water. Specifically, Mathews Burwell said that the “Toilet 2.0″ could be an electricity generator, a urine-diverting device that recovers clean water on site and function as a production device for minerals and biological charcoal.

The grant is part of a $41.5 million investment in water, sanitation and hygiene, the Foundation said.

The models have been made. The designs have been scrutinized. The talents have been exhibited, the ballots have been cast, and the prizes have been awarded for the 2011 Ferrari World Design Contest.

The competition attracted entries from 50 design schools and universities around the world, all vying for the eye of decision makers from both Ferrari and Pininfarina. In the end, the top prize went to a team from Korea for their innovative Eternità concept, pictured in the foreground above.

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It’s made of LEGO, but it’s square, black, and dull, but you just can’t ignore the aura of coolness that this casing emits. Yes it isn’t as cute as the cute looking LEGO made Wall-E rubbish collector, but this thing fights with a good cause, because this is actually a folding farm.

OK, this folding farm might not actually put an end to tumors, but it can churn out 135,000 points of crunching power per-day in IBMs World Community Grid. Inside are actually three separate PCs powered by a trio of Core i7 2600ks and a single, massive 1,200-watt power supply. But who cares about that — just look at all those bricks! About 2,000 of them, along with a few aluminum bars, make up this DIY case. And, thanks to the over-sized supply and modular design, creator Mike Schropp can easily stack another system or two on top, should it tickle his fancy.

Case modding gone way too creative and into the realm of the child, awesome!

SOURCE via Total Geek

In a concept that is sure to save trees as well as your precious money, designer Kim Su Yeon has created a printer that doesn’t exactly perform the typical task you would expect of a regular printer. The Ink Remover Printer utilizes laser technology to burn the ink right off of paper, essentially becoming your own personal paper recyclers. This would allow you to use the same pieces of paper dozens of times, assuming the printer doesn’t set it on fire.

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Obesity in children has become an increasingly apparent concern over here in the United States. That’s probably because we don’t have one of these pedal-powered school buses taking our kids to school. Made by the Netharlands’ De Cafe Racer, this child-powered vehicle brings an eco-friendly approach to encouraging kids to exercise. The teacher simply has to steer in the right direction while all of the children wear their sugar-filled hyperactive bodies out.

Okay, maybe this bike-bus thing isn’t a school bus after all, but it does come in that iconic yellow color! Rather than a transport vehicle for school kids, this vehicle is actually a rental that can be used for a day of fun. But a bright idea such as this one could definitely be worthy of some attention here in the U.S. or other areas with notable obesity.