Wired Pop-up Store on Regents Street
I found out via twitter that Wired was opening a pop-up store just before Christmas to showcase ideas and innovative products from the magazine. I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on a free ticket to the opening pre-party on Thursday 29th November, so I went along after work to see what it was all about.
Location, Location, Location
Needless to say I got a little lost trying to find the shop, fortunately I had my trusty iPhone Google maps to hand (no dodgy Apple maps yet) and I managed to find the Quadrant Arcade where the shop was situated. When I arrived there were loads of people snapping photos inside and outside the store, the store itself was quite small so I knew this was going to be fun.
Once inside I was greeted by a pretty brunette who offered me a nice little alcoholic beverage and a Wired goody bag… don’t mind if I do. Walking around the store was the tech lovers equivalent to a kid in a candy shop, cool gadgets and gizmos all over the place, each with a little note beside it describing exactly what each item was. Although the shop was quite small it was jam packed, so instead of trying to cover everything I thought that I would talk about my favourite 5 gadgets. So first up…
Ready, Set, Print
This was one of the first pieces of tech that I came across, the Little Printer created by BERGcloud is a miniature web-connected printer. After looking at the printer Simon, who works for BERGcloud, came over and explained the device to me. He explained that you could use a smartphone to subscribe to content, create to-do lists and news headlines among other things and then Little Printer will create and deliver a miniature newspaper. Neat little idea I think.
The Little Printer costs £199, for more information check out BERGcloud.
Wood isn’t meant for keyboards
This surprised me as I’ve only ever come across keyboards that are made out of either plastic or metal, however the Oree Keyboard comes in either premium maple or walnut wood… yes wood. The keyboard works with any tablet, smartphone or PC that is equipped with Bluetooth and is fully customisable regarding keyboard font and layout. You can even get a bespoke message carved into the premium wood surface.
The Oree Keyboard costs approx £101, for more information check out Oree Keyboard.
3D Printing, what more can I say
For me this was one of the most interesting and exciting bits of tech in the store, the Makerbot is a 3D printer. It connects to a desktop computer and allows you to recreate 3D models of what’s on your computer’s desktop, I managed to snap a photo of some of the previously created objects. It appears to be able to recreate the items with an incredible level of detail and prints at a relatively high speed. Check out the picture and video below to see the machine in action.
The Makerbot costs approx £1,400, for more information check out Makerbot.
What do shelves and limpets have in common?
This was an interesting item, not really tech or a gadget but still intriguing. The most note worthy part of the shelf is that it’s not held onto the wall with any kind of screws or fixings, instead it clings to the wall like a limpet (click here if you want to know what a limpet is, I had no idea). The entire shelf slots together and is held together by 6 rings, pretty cool right? At just 9kg it’s fairly light and has enough storage for all you book worms.
The Small Comb Shelving costs £230, for more information check out Bouf.
Go, go gadget cycle
The final piece of tech I thought was worth mentioning was the GoCycle, I’m not one to cycle round London myself but I know that there are plenty out there who are. The GoCycle G2R is an electric, two-wheeler combining on demand power, portability, style and of course zero-emissions. If you’re looking for a new bike to get around town this could be a good bet.
The GoCycle G2R costs £2,704.10, for information check out GoCycle.
So there are my top 5 most interesting bits of tech at the Wired pop-up store, there were plenty of other pieces but I couldn’t fit everything into this blog. One more item I would like to mention is the huge 75-inch Samsung LED TV, you really do need to see it to believe it.
So ladies and gentlemen there we have it, if you want go down and view it yourself the shop is open from 29th November until 5th December 2012 and is located in the Quadrant Arcade on Regents Street. I would definitely say it’s worth stopping by if you’re in the area as not only is there a pop-up store but also a digital art gallery, for more information check out Wired or follow #WIREDStore on twitter. Let me know if you go down and tell me which bit of tech you found most interesting.
1 comment
A wooden keyboard? No way! What next a cardboard mouse?