Category: Gadgets and Tech

A 70s plastic transistor radio? Actually no, it’s the very modern Orla Kiely retro wind up radio.

Yes, it does have the looks of a vintage piece, from the outer design to the old-style scrolling tuner. But unlike an old radio, this one doesn’t need batteries, requiring a wind of the handle for power. But in case you can’t be bothered with that, you can use batteries or mains. Also included is a telescopic aerial, splashproof speaker and a torch on the side. In fact, everything you might need for camping or a festival.

Available now, you can pick this up only from Millets, priced at £19.99.

Find out more at the Millets website

You may remember we featured the Thanko vintage-style MP3 Clock a couple of months back, but were disappointed that it wasn’t available to buy anywhere outside of Japan. Well, here’s some good news – you can now pick it up online.

You can buy one from the unfortunately-named Geekstuff4u website, which ships worldwide. That means you can now pick up a traditionally-styled alarm clock that hooks up to your computer, allowing you to download MP3s to playback and wake you up in the morning. In fact, you can even record your voice to shout you out of bed first thing. Oh yes – and it’s a clock too.

It’s cheap too, retailing at $33.61 (around £17) plus the shipping to your country.

Find out more at the Geekstuff4u website

Mickey Mouse has been around since 1928 – so I think that qualifies the artwork as classic. And that classic design is still being used today, the latest use being this Mickey Mouse MP3 player from iRiver – MPlayer.

Before you rush out to buy one, a word of caution. This has just been launched in Korea, so don’t expect it elsewhere until nearer Christmas. When it does arrive, you’ll get a miniature music player with 1GB of storage (enough for around 250 tunes) which can be played as WMA, MP3 and ASF files. There’s also a choice of five colours – black, white, blue, pink and grey.

It’s retailing in Korea for the equivalent of just over £30. Expect that figure to increase significantly when it makes it over to Europe.

iRiver website

Via Akihabara News

This might look like a portable radio from the 70s, but it’s actually a very modern piece of design from Singgih Kartono – the Magno radio.

Clever because it’s made almost entirely out of wood – even the knobs, handle and antenna topper. Obviously the inside isn’t wood, but you get the idea. It picks up AM and FM stations, runs off AA batteries and all in all, just looks incredibly stylish.

The design comes from Indonesia, but it is for sale online via Japanese retailers for the equivalent of around £75, which sounds like great value to me.

Find out more at the AssistOn website (translated from Japanese)

Via Technabob