Three new additions to the Elegant Solutions portfolio:
BOSE QUIETCOMFORT 20i
I wouldn’t think of air travel without my Bose QuietComfort 15 noise-canceling headphones. Screaming babies, cabin noise, and ill-timed announcements are of no consequence to me. The problem is, they’re rather bulky, and given that I travel ultralight, with often nothing other than a single Tumi backpack, something that takes up a lot less room and lightens my load would be delightful.
I guess Bose read my mind, because the QuietComfort 20 noise canceling earplugs just went on sale (for $299.95 mind you).
It didn’t take long for customers to weigh in…nearly 50 reviews went up over the past two weeks, and the verdict is nearly unanimous: 5/5 stars. Most reviewers feel the sound and silence of these in-ear headphones is even better than the larger over-ear QC15s.
Better sound, smaller footprint, same price. In a word: elegant.
ONE-HANDED FIRST AID KIT
Designer Gabriele Meldaikyte has a brilliant solution to the unarticulated problem we all face: administering minor first aid to ourselves.
“The design of standard first aid kits usually does not address how they function in real life where they are often used by someone who has no medical training,” she writes, in her project description. “I have looked at first aid kits for the domestic environment. Burns, minor scratches and deep cuts to the hands are the main injuries in the kitchen, which often occur while cooking. My first aid kit is divided by injuries and every injury is described in steps, guiding the casualty through the treatment process. Furthermore, the kit has been specially designed to be used with one hand so an injury to other hand can be treated efficiently, even if the accident occurred while you were alone.”
Brilliant!
AUDI eKURZINFO
I hate owner manuals, user manuals, and the like. It’s why I love Apple products: they seem to get that complexity should not beget confusion and hassle. I’ve got my auto owner’s manual in pdf form on my laptop, table, and phone. It’s still a royal pain in the butt, and I find myself struggling with it all too often, as I’m just 60 days into a new vehicle that has a less-than-intuitive systems interface.
in a perfect world, I should need no user manual at all. Short of that, I’d want some sort of point-and-shoot, real-time, hand-held solution gives me a simple, instant answer. Well, tech design firm metaio (they built IKEA’s furniture simulation) has done just that for Audi A1 and A3, by way of the eKurzinfo: you point your smartphone camera at the part of the car you’re wrestling with, and you’ll get the explanation on-screen.
Nice. No more books and pdfs. No more downloading updates. Everything’s in the cloud.
The app won the 2013 GSMA Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Solution for the Automotive Industry.
Here’s how it works:
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