This poorly rated (2 1/2 stars at the time I wrote this) app doesn’t do much, but it’s Dieter Rams beautiful. I honesty almost bought it just for it’s pixel perfection.

Alarm talk will read you the time, weather and your agenda in a low-fi robotic voice- That’s it. All for the low, low price of $2.

So it doesn’t follow all of Dieter Rams Ten Principles for Good Design, but it sure is aesthetic.

My nephew is a huge fan of The Hunger Games books and his enthusiasm inspired me to give it a read, which I did (in just two settings). I have to say that the upcoming film really nailed the casting for me. Except for President Snow, every character is almost exactly how I imagined them. For Snow, I pictured Malcolm McDowell.

Looking forward to this film.

I have a feeling I’m late to this bandwagon, but I just discovered Sweet Paul magazine and I love it! This indy London mag is full of wonderful recipes, crafts and hip articles that “chase the sweet things in life”.

Sweet Paul magazine is based on Paul Lowe’s successful blog Sweet Paul, which ranked 22nd in the London Time’s Top 50 Best Design Blogs. I can see why. It’s full of delightful photography and charming layouts that would give Martha Stewart a run for her money.

I can’t help but be drawn into the whimsical and complex tree houses created by Takanori Aiba. In the 70′s he was a maze illustrator for a Japanese fashion magazine, then he became an architect. You can see the merging of his past careers in these incredibley detailed tiny worlds.

Check out his Flickr stream.

Here’s a great interactive outdoor campaign from DDB Stockholm for McDonalds. Pick N’ Play offers viewers a fun and interactive challenge where they can play a re-imagined game of Pong, using their mobile phones as the controller, for their favorite McDonald’s treat.

By using HTML 5′s geo location technology the smartphone verifies that the user is in the game area, & there is no app download required in order to participate.

Players choose their treats, and if they last for more than 30 seconds they win a coupon, earning them free fast food at a nearby McDonalds. This digital coupon is automatically sent to the users phone along with instructions on how to claim their McDonald’s treat at their nearest store.

It’s great to see a campaign that combines clever digital execution with a fun and interactive idea while also driving customers in store to redeem an instant win prize.

I ran across this beautifully done pretzel recipe video by Rachel over at Elephantine and I couldn’t resist trying it out. My kids opted for the cinnamon sugar variation, vs. the salt version. They were a BIG hit.

It was all pretty simple, as long as you don’t mind waiting the hour and fifteen minutes for the dough to rise. Trust me, it was worth the wait. Recipe on Elephantine

But back to the video. Content is still king, and this little gem illustrates the point perfectly.

mall pretzels from rachelchew on Vimeo.

Remember when you had to make vibrations to hear music? No? Ok, me either. But before digital music there were records, and this wedding invitation designed by Kelli Anderson complete with a playable record hits right in the middle of my geek, design and music passions.

It simply requires you to fold a page and place the needle onto the flexidisc record. Then using your finger you spin the record up to around 45rpm to hear the original song sang by the bride and groom. Brilliant. Of course you can remove the record and play it on a record player too. And for good measure, they included a link to download the mp3 as well. Watch the video below or on Vimeo to see it in action.

Paper Record Player from kellianderson on Vimeo.

Kelli shares some of her process on her blog, check it out.

With services like iTunes, Vimeo, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc. watching TV isn’t the same experience it was just a few years ago. Many of my friends have abandoned cable altogether for these on-demand options, and I’m close to doing the same.

With the landscape so dramatically changed, and the long foretold conversion of TV and the internet upon us, I’ve been dreaming up thoughtful iOS apps that might help viewers connect with friends, get more entertainment, and have access to more information while watching a show. And apparently I’m not the only one thinking about this. Check out the GOAB TV Concept by Syzygy Lab (Video Below or on Vimeo)

GOAB. A TV Experience Concept.

Ok, this isn’t technically an iPhone concept. Mac Funamizu resisted the urge to use the Apple logo or “iPhone” in his renderings. But I wish Apple would consider this or some alternative to the candy-bar form factor that has been the iPhone since it’s inception.

Perhaps this wouldn’t be has easy to place in and out of your pocket, but it sure is sexy. Video below…

Mobile Phone Sketch: Zimmer from Mac Funamizu on Vimeo.

I don’t have to play with the iPad for very long before I start to imagine all the interaction design possibilities for so many industries. My heroes over at IDEO created this video documenting 3 different approaches to how we might read books in the near future.

This makes me think of several other possibilities, like a transformed text book/learning scenario where information is shared from an expert to students… almost like a moderated WikiPedia. Or perhaps a narrative where different groups control different characters actions in a story.

Fun stuff…

The Future of the Book. from IDEO .