It's pretty simple: Just flip the cube so the length of time you want counted down is the number on top. If you outfit your kitchen with items from the MoMA catalog, this'll fit right in. Just hope that every recipe you make calls for either 3, 10, 30 or 60 minute increments, or wait until the Dungeons and Dragons 20-sided timer comes out. It's available in three colors for $34 each. [OhGizmo]

MintPass' Cube MP3 player, a 2"x2"x2" box, sits somewhere between concept and product (leaning toward concept), and incorporates design details from analog music into the digital realm. The VU (volume unit) meter, a former staple of audio equipment, is celebrated front and center, backlit by LED. Similar battery and RF gauges dominate two other main sides, with the very back of the unit offering USB and 3.5mm out. (Expect Bluetooth as well.)

And then there's the top, which is spattered with 10 buttons. REMEMBER BUTTONS?? I loved buttons, especially the kind that if you pushed down would stay down unless you hit other buttons. It's like pressing buttons for buttons' sake, which is pretty much the most wonderful experience I could imagine (other than drugs and rock 'n' roll). [MintPass via Unplggd]

Nah, it's one of the many art installations sprinkled over the dusty playa at Burning Man 2009. This year's theme is Evolution: A Tangled Bank. Safe travels if you're a weekend burner headed to the Blackrock Desert, and don't forget the distilled white vinegar to neutralize that alkaline playa dust!

One year later (and having travelled around three continents since), that stuff is still turning up in random places like my hiking shoes. [San Francisco Chronicle]

It's actually pretty amazing what Nagasaka and Schemata Architecture (his firm) have been able to put in such a small space. There's a kitchen, a folding table, secret toilet, umbrella-style shower attachment and sleeping hammock.

The cube also features a "convertible" top, which can open up to allow in ventilation and natural light. While it's not a place you'd quite want to live in forever, it's certainly an incredibly functional get-away. Too bad the price tag is ridiculous: $68,000. [Paco via Cscout Japan]

• First you have to tell the app the state of your Rubik's cube.
• You can do this with two methods: Either painting the faces of the cube or, better yet, taking a photo of each of the faces.
• The program will analyze the faces and, after a few seconds, it will tell you the solution step by step, using a 3D interface.

I'm digging out my old Rubik Cube and getting this app just to have the pleasure to beat it 50 times in a row. [iTunes Store Link via Wired]

The neatest bit (and most difficult to design) is that specific segments of the processor are arranged for optimum performance: timing delays and synchronization issues are thus minimized. Apparently it's the first 3D synchronization circuitry chip, and it's running at 1.4GHz. It's one possible future for chip tech (should we rename them "cubes"?) As the team leader puts it, horizontal fabbing tech is getting closer to its size limits, but "we're going to start scaling vertically, and that will never end." [HotHardware]

And while it's certainly an interesting piece, there has to be a real-world use for the concept, no? I mean, other than productivity-waster. [via technabob]

Having successfully constructed the aforementioned prototype, Seekway now have plans to enter the device into production, but they're thinking of beefing things up a litlle—how does a cube containing a 48 x 48 x 48 grid of interconnected LEDs sound? Does it sound like 11,000 diodes? Yes, yes it does. We want. Unfotuantely, there is no word on prices or availability as yet. Dammit. [Technabob]

The Fentix Cube is just the tip of the iceberg of his stunning work. Many of his inventions are still ahead of current technology, things which we are only starting to get familiar with now. I talked with Andrew about his inventions and the future of human interfaces.

Jesús Díaz: We are big fans of multi-touch technology and think it's the future of adaptive user interfaces. Do you see them replacing the keyboard and mouse in many applications? I'm just looking at your sequencer now...
Andrew Fentem: Touchscreen and 'multi-touch' technologies have a bright future, and will certainly replace the keyboard and mouse in *some* applications. However, the keyboard and mouse have some BIG advantages that have proved hard to overcome: A physical keyboard provides great tactile feedback - meaning that you don't have to look at what your fingers are doing while you type. And the great thing about a mouse pointer is that it doesn't obscure what it's pointing at on the screen (unlike your fat dirty fingers - this is why the buttons are so big on touchscreen ATMs - wasting valuable screen real estate).

Another issue with touchscreen technologies (and multi-touch systems in particular) is their inability to track rapid finger movements. This not only puts many applications (especially certain types of games) off-limits, but can also interfere with gesture recognition.

The key future developments of touchscreen/multi-touch systems will be:

1. faster touch sensing hardware and firmware
2. improved (i.e. more intelligent) gesture-sensing software
3. improved tactile feedback
4. larger touchscreens

The ultra-high-speed touchscreen that I built back in 2001/2002 — which I am still confident is the fastest large-scale touchscreen ever built - demonstrated how improved touchscreen technologies could be used to create exciting high-speed touch-oriented game systems like virtual air-hockey. There are now plenty of other virtual air hockey systems on Youtube - but they're all a bit sluggish because the off-the-shelf touch sensing and data processing sub-systems that have been employed by the designers are too slow for the job.

The "Tactile Multi-touch Sequencer" that I developed in 2004 showed how combining multi-touch finger sensing with multi-object sensing could improve a multi-touch system - enabling you to program the machine with your fingers, but also by moving a multitude of small objects around the surface (thereby freeing up some of your fingers, and making the interface more tactile).

JD: How long have you been investigating touch surfaces and alternative user interfaces (like accelerometers or kinetic surfaces)?
AF: Since 2001. Before that I was running a consultancy company advising market-leading companies about product innovation. I was always shocked how unreceptive big-name hi-tech companies were to new ideas.

So, having a fairly unusual background in both user-interface research, and in military and music electronics research, I thought I could maybe do better myself. Everyone at the end of the 90s was obsessed with software and the Internet. It looked like no one in the West was really innovating hardware, so I guessed it might be easy to develop novel eye-catching stuff.

I was also keen to challenge the received wisdom that the complexities of modern electronics, operating systems, firmware, and software mean that you need a large team to develop a sophisticated world-class gadgets. I suspected that all you really need is some creativity and one or two ultra-motivated alpha geeks.

Expressing my motivations in more artistic/cultural terms, I suppose I also wanted to make an 'intervention' in the gadget market - i.e. just put some stuff out there and see what came back. One of my friends calls this calculated recklessness "Gonzo style" product development. I've always been interested in art - I attended art college for a bit, and ran a kitsch/ironic hairdressing salon/DIY clothes boutique for year or so when I was at college.

So anyway, in 2001 I started developing ideas around a concept that at the time I called "Couture Electronics" - i.e. hardware that is big, expensive, fast, hi-spec, and beautiful.
I went to trade shows and asked the touchscreen market leaders if they could sell me a multi-touch touchscreen system - the sales reps just looked at me like I was weird, and asked me why anyone would want one. I just shrugged and thought, "Hmm, this could be an interesting opportunity.."

JD: Are you working in developing better tactile feedback to touch surfaces beyond haptic vibration or is the technology not there yet? I'm imagining flexible OLED surfaces that can have bits raising, for example...
AF: No. It would be nice, but other companies have moved heavily into this area now - Sony, Apple etc.., so I've moved on - you have to stay agile and on the edge if you're a small operator. (Obviously if Apple, Sony, Mattel, Microsoft, Motorola, or whoever want to pay me to design edgy stuff for them I'd be happy to oblige...)

One of the reasons for publicizing the cube was to attract investment for the development of other gadget technologies that I'm currently developing - gadgets promising even better fun/dollar ratios.

Judging by the traffic on my website and the positive global reaction to the Fentix Cube, this exercise seems to have gone reasonably according to plan.

JD: The Fentix Cube seems to have definitive commercial potential, have you commercialized any of your developments?
AF: Yes, mainly in the form of one-off projects though. As well as developing gadgets, I'm currently being asked to consider some pretty interesting architectural electronics for skyscrapers in London. These are going to be BIG gadgets!

However, my main aim for 2008 is to launch at least one major mass-market commercial product.

The nearest I came to commercializing the multi-touch technology was back in 2002-2004. I negotiated a deal with a manufacturer (Novation EMS Ltd) to start manufacturing multi-touch hardware interfaces, but in mid-2004 they went into administration after losing money on other projects. A UK Government R&D fund who were also backing the project then bailed because of the "increased risk". It was a great shame and a gut-wrenching experience after having been so far ahead of Apple's teams of 'innovation gurus' for such a long time.

People in the UK tend to be extremely risk-averse - consequently there's not much VC culture over here. I'm currently trying to forge links outside of the UK, and would love to get the opportunity to work somewhere more like the US. (I spent a very short period at Harvard - it was a great experience.)

JD: In the BBC article I read about your work a while ago, you mention you are being bombarded by Korean-based toy firms. Have there been any interest by mainstream giant toy groups like Mattel and the like?
AF: I get a lot of traffic on my website - mostly from universities and a broad range of hi-tech companies in the US and Europe - everyone from Lucasfilm and Disney, to Sony and Microsoft. The big companies don't get in touch directly though - it seems their employees just spend all day gazing at my website. (I *adore* Google Analytics!)

Hasbro (the giant toy group) appears to be my largest single source of traffic. I would *love* to know what they're up to. Maybe they just want to see what the future looks like ;-)

Most of the serious offers that I've received have been from firms in Asia - they tend to be super keen and want everything done yesterday. It's a refreshing attitude.

JD: What price do you think the Fentix Cube could have in the market?
AF: It all really comes down to the cost of the screen hardware. I can't see it being much less than $100 as things stand at the moment. There are a lot of decisions to be made that could dramatically effect this pricing though.

JD: In a commercial Fentix Cube, would users be able to load new software?
AF: Yes. I'm a great believer in DIY, open-source development, and end-user customization. The Rubik's Cube and Pac-Man style games were written to demonstrate the potential of the 3D touchscreen and motion-sensing capabilities. I'm hoping that people will come up with game ideas that could merge the two. I've already been emailed an enormous range of ideas - 3D Snake games, modeling fluid dynamics, math puzzles, aids for the handicapped, game controllers, you name it...

JD: Does it have wireless networking? In other words, can the Fentix Cube connect to other Fentix Cubes either directly or through the Internet?
AF: Yes...but at the moment it's fairly rudimentary.

JD: I'm also imagining using the cube as an alternative interface for computers. Like a custom interface for editing video or music, either off-line or in real time (for performances). Can the Fentix Cube connect to other devices and act as a UI front-end?
AF: Yes. Theoretically. But I'm sure that there are plenty of mouse manufacturers like Logitech working on this kind of thing already. I'll leave it to them.






Hopefully, we will see Andrew's stunning work in commercial products soon. Steve (Jobs) or Steve (Ballmer), grab this guy's stuff, pronto! [Andrew Fentem]

We came across a few folks who were actually keeping up with us while they were in line–including our 5th Avenue coverage. Better head for the hills, Mr. Frucci! They saw your comment about "nerd bombs" and are set to detonate all over you.

Some specialists from the popular Apple Store alternative, Tekserve, were in the crowd. They mentioned that they decided to come out when they saw the pictures of the line posted on Gizmodo earlier this morning, as it was looking pretty long.

Thanks to some cloud cover, the day's remained cool and not too bright. After the recent bouts of rain and weather, Apple couldn't ask for a better day to release the iPhone. We're almost there, guys and gals–four and a half hours.

This is about where the line was last night, at the corner of FAO Schwartz:

Here's the last guy in line. See the corner down there at the end of the block? By the time we'd walked the line again, there were about 15 people after this guy.

Now if these news crews would just share some of their bagels...

The area is a swarm of news vans, camera crews, reporters, and the curious passerby with camera in hand. Greg and his fellow campers were grilled by persons famous and mundane–from the random lady recording an interview on her phone, to the likes of Mo Rocca, who arrived just in time for the wind and some light rain. By all reports, the line has been a polite one. Campers are free to get up and stretch, grab a bite to eat, or stop at a nearby public restroom. No one complained when a spot was empty for 20 minutes or more, and there wasn't any scramble for the vacant spot.

It's amazing how many people walking by didn't know about the iPhone. With media buzz about the device right now, you'd think it inescapable. Still, we had nearly a dozen folks come up to us and ask. Very few saw the point in camping out for it, let alone in the rain.

The weather hasn't been too bad, but the rain tonight is the second time nature's tried to dissuade the campers from their impending purchase. While we were out there, it really only drizzled, though some heavier rain and maybe thunder might be headed their way. Still, the line grows by the hour. At the end of it was Pablo, around 40th in line, who came straight from work to begin camping. He brought a book the size of a dictionary to help pass the time.

Update: Wilson went by the line later this evening and counted nearly 70 campers. Looks like the rain picked up a little, too.

We'll be there tomorrow to check up on our brave early iPhone adopters. May they see the floor of the Cube in good health.