The ICON A5 has been flown successfully, but a funny side note—the company announced the plane before testing it in the air. Good thing it works!

Finally she [Susan Kare] came across a floral symbol that was used in Sweden to indicate an interesting feature or attraction in a campground. She rendered a 16 x 16 bitmap of the little symbol and showed it to the rest of the team, and everybody liked it. Twenty years later, even in OS X, the Macintosh still has a little bit of a Swedish campground in it.

It certainly marks the spot in this case.

I'm back from Lego's headquarters in Denmark, frantically writing features, editing video, and preparing images showing the amazing brick manufacturing process, the Lego cathedrals with billions of pieces in them and giant robots moving them around, the Lego secret vault with every single set ever produced, and many more awesome things. I've to say that I've been blown away and, trust me, it's not just fanboyism. [LEGO in Gizmodo]

Because when the A5 isn't being flow around...wherever people fly these days...its wings can fold up (manually or automatically) for storage in a large garage—which makes a lot of sense for a plane that features a dash that more closely resembles a car than a jet.

But maybe the best part is that the A5 comes with a parachute for the whole plane. So if you are too nervous/inebriated to land, just let the wonder of cloth do the work for you, landing you safely on someone's roof (and subsequently their living room). Order yours today for a refundable $5,000 deposit. [ICON via popmech]

With Linux under the hood, it's fueled by a Lithium Ion battery, and the Icon boasts a sizable 30GB HDD with room for expansion via a Mini SD slot. The device is fully wireless, sporting both Bluetooth and 802.11b, which is nice for users on the go who want to keep up with their audio books, podcasts and music.

It's a little large at 5"x3", but it only weighs half a pound so it's still portable. The Icon Mobile Manager also has stereo speakers built in, though the package comes with a set of earbuds to take advantage of the unit's headphone jack.

To fully use of some of the Icon's more advanced features, such as Web browsing, we imagine users will want to buy the dock that comes with a Braille or QWERTY keyboard. Besides that, the device does everything you'd expect for a handheld. Be ready to pay a lot more, however. The Icon Mobile Manager costs $1,395 for the unit alone, and is available only inside the United States. – Kevin Hall

Product Page [LevelStar via popgadget]

First up are the USB drives: Heart Beat is a two-piece heart-shaped locket drive, and the cool retractable padlock-shaped one is called Lock Out. (Philips says they're keeping things simple, and those names sure do, well, smack of simplicity.) They both hold 1GB of files, and will retail for $179.

The USB drives are bubbling with little Swarovski crystals, while the earphones are set with one big jewel for each ear. There will be four headphone styles in all:

An over-the-head set called Icon ($79) and a set of earbuds with neckstrap called Amazone ($149) plus two shown below, the Space sealing earbuds ($99) and the Mirage earhook ones ($129).

Whether the Philips-Swarovski combo has produced a silly novelty or the must-have gift item of the holiday season is still up in the air, but frankly, they are classier looking than I had previously imagined. And hey, is it any stranger than Porsche Design conceiving of a power drill? – Wilson Rothman

Press Release:

Philips and Swarovski partner to deliver a range of innovative fashion accessories

NEW YORK - Fusing lifestyle, technology and fashion, Philips is showcasing a new partnership with the world famous crystal and jewelry company Swarovski at the 2007 Holidays in June event. The alliance combines Philips leadership in developing innovative consumer lifestyle electronics products with Swarovski's expertise in creating fashion crystal jewelry and handbag collections to produce meaningful fashionable accessories for women.

Leveraging both companies' strengths, Philips and Swarovski have jointly designed and developed a range of unique products that will take technology to a fashionable new level for women. The Philips and Swarovski alliance will develop exciting market opportunities for each company by integrating high fashion and technology.

The initial innovations created by Philips and Swarovski are the Active Crystals range of products. These will be launched this summer and include sound accessories and storage devices.

"Philips' alliance with Swarovski combines two distinct and strong brands in order to create a unique proposition for consumers," said Rudy Provoost, Chief Executive Officer, Philips Consumer Electronics. "The outcome of the alliance is a range of products that go back to the essence of what many women are looking for: the fusion of functionality and fashion through a unique combination of technology and elegance. We are combining luxurious design with the practical, everyday benefits of consumer electronics to complement Philips' brand promise—Sense and Simplicity—and Swarovski's brand promise of Poetry & Precision."

Merging Simplicity with Poetry & Precision
The new range is the first result of the Philips and Swarovski alliance focusing on providing performance and class, offering technology with style and demonstrating a feeling of movement and activity combined with fashionable innovation. Targeted towards style-conscious women, the products combine the technologies of both companies to create unique, high-end products with a luxurious look and feel.

"The Philips and Swarovski alliance brings together the greatness of two companies with common values of quality, design and technological innovation," said Daniel Cohen, Member of Swarovski's Executive Board. "Both brands have distinct identities, rich histories and a passion to re-invent and enhance their value propositions, pursuing both brand repositioning and commercial goals. The result of this partnership will be a series of products that will provide women and consumers with meaningful and fashionable products that will enhance their lives."

Swarovski is a well-known brand in the fashion and jewelry industry. It brings credibility, style and design to the alliance, creating a unique product proposition with Philips. Unlike other products using the Swarovski crystal stones, the Active Crystals combine unique elements of functionality and fashion: truly jewels with a soul.

The full Philips and Swarovski Active Crystals range will be commercially available in department stores, consumer electronics retail and Swarovski stores in August 2007.

The QDA Icon qomes with a 4.0 megapixel qamera, OMAP 200MHz proqessor, EDGE, FM radio, and pretty muqh the same speqs as the QDA Lite. We wouldn't expeqt these before late this year at the earliest, sinqe they were just displayed at QommuniqAsia Singapore this week. – Jason Qhen

Qool Labs unveil QDA Lite and QDA Icon [uber gizmo]

Qool Labs Reveals the QDA Lite and QDA Icon [Poqket PQ Thoughts]