If you have a nice wooden desk, we have a nice wooden phone to go with it – the Hulger Pappa*Phone.
It’s a high-end internet phone, handmade by craftsmen by Furni (in Montreal) from a mix of walnut and brass – each one unique and made to order. It looks great, but it’s also pretty useful too, connecting to PC and Mac for VoIP internet calling (Skype, iChat etc), with around 1.5m of cable to offer you some freedom.
Available now, it retails for 225 Euros.
Find out more at the Hulger website
Pure is back with a new retro-styled radio – the Pure One Classic.
Inside those 70s-style looks, there’s the enhanced DAB+ format along with FM radio, an input for your iPod/MP3 player, ReVu to pause and rewind live DAB radio, a tone/radio alarm, kitchen timer, 30 station presets, adjustable bass and treble settings and a healthy battery life.
Take your pick from black, white or pink, all retailing for £49.99.
Find out more at the Pure website
Online vintage stores are always worth a browse and none more so than Sit On It, which has a huge selection of weird and wonderful period objects and design – including a range of Philips 1970s record players.
Take your pick from red, white or yellow, all with speed and volume control, mains operation and a lid that doubles up as our speaker – just pull it off and place it anywhere (or as far as the cable will stretch).
I have something very similar to this and while the sound quality isn’t up to your regular home deck, it is a lot of fun to use as well as being very eye-catching. Yours for £75.
Find out more at the Sit On It website
Apparently, film-based photography is big news in Japan, particularly the Lomography range of cameras. So it’s no surprise to see the country producing its own variations – like the Blackbird Fly from Superheadz.
Every bit as stylish as the Lomo cameras, if not more so, this is a twin-lens camera based on the classic Rolleiflex, complete with trademark top-down viewer. The photos are distinctly old school too – square snaps shot on 35mm film.
Available soon in limited quantities and a range of colours, they should sell for $100. which is around £50. Sounds a bargain to me.
Find out more at the Superheadz website
Via Trends in Japan
The phone everyone is talking about this month is undoubtedly the Colombo phone, but if you don’t manage to get hold of one then perhaps you can be consoled with this Swiss Desk Station Model M29 Telephone.
It is a reconditioned phone based on a vintages Bundespost design. It is available in a sleek black finish and has a distinctive high cradle that gives it an elegant look.
It costs rather more than the Colombo phone, priced at £215 from Design Shop UK.
Perfect for your bedside, the Hi-Fi Hi-Light offers both light and sound at arm’s reach.
Under those distinctly 1930s-style looks is a lamp (with 40w bulb) and a built-in 6-inch speaker, with connectivity for an iPod or via a 3.5mm audio input, any other MP3 player.
Take your pick from a variety of colours, all retailing for $149 (around £75).
Find out more at the PBteen website
