I guess Dubai is soon turning into the skyscraper haven, which is why the latest architecture gossip thrives there. Anara Tower, the 125-story skyscraper is about 700 meters tall and vies for the tallest spot. Its been designed by the British firm Atkins and apparently the structure will conform to LEED certification requirements. It will boast of at least a silver rating by maximizing water and energy efficiency and potentially including renewable sources of energy. The green thumb people will find solace in the sky gardens placed every 27 floors, but the metrosexuals can rely on the 250 rooms luxury hotel, shops and office space. The building will also host 300 residential apartments, and a place for exhibitions and auctions. The all-in-one package will probably be the most expensive place in Dubai. Luxuries like exclusive swimming pools, exclusive elevators and spectacular views of the Dubai coastline come included. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2009.

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There are three simple steps to unwinding and having a great evening. First get the bath running and will it with warm suds. Next bring out the aromatic oils to incense the environment and third place the Lotus mood lamps strategically to get you into the mood. Designed by Chris Carter for his final year project, this design won him many accolades and I can see why. The glowing lamps sublimate a soothing radiance that helps you relax and unwind. Ready for commercialization, the lamp will find many takers, including me!

Although he has christened it CeeJay, the Shadow puppet lamp by Jason Cooper reminds me of the fun times that my kids and I have making silhouettes on the walls on dark nights. The design also looks like it also took some inspiration from the Malay style of telling stories through shadow-dolls. Intended for 12 to 20 year olds, CeeJay uses black cardboard cutout silhouettes that users can themselves make or download from the Internet. I really want one of these, as they will look cool in the kid's room.

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When I was a little girl, the only dolls that I played with were Barbie, Ken and Kelly. My mother was always superstitious regarding doctor sets, ambulance or fire engine trucks and I was never allowed to play with such toys. With progressing times looks like such frivolous superstitions are out of the window. Take for example this gorgeous doll set, Los Barriguitas Hospital collection designed by Ludovico Misino. It includes an entire surgical ward with accessories. If I were to show this set to my mother now, I'm sure she will banish me from completing the post, lest some bad luck (or ill-health) befalls me.

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Queen did try to warn us with Radio Ga Ga and so did Buggles with Video Killed the radio star; but none of us took heed. Sad but true, the golden era of the radio is long gone. Thankfully there are some retro minded people who will indulge in the good old transistor and not succumb to the MP3 era. The Ruby Portable radio by QUO is one such attempt. The psychedelic colors that it comes in are as appealing as its features. They include FM/MW frequency, multicolored LED display and digital volume controls. Looks-wise the design sports a rubber finish and the handle on top cleverly conceals the antenna. Potable and chic, this radio is set to kill the MP3 star!

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Children born in China after the 1980's are unique because they were born after the single-child rule was implemented. Although they can't have siblings, they are growing up to be a more tolerant and caring society, treating others with compassion and respect. This era of adults is the base behind the concept Nissan Car by designer Yw Li. The post 80's generation is a special lot that made compromises in a difficult regime. The Nissan car is a concept to honor their personality that reflects pomp and stability. This generation was fed on the staple diet of Japanese animated cartoons like Astro Boy (ATOM). Taking the anime a step further, you will find striking resemblance between the character and the car styling.

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Browning you bread is no longer a mundane task; you can add fun elements like faces and impression to it. However adding funk to the design of the toaster has never been ventured before. Move over Philips and Braun, designer Craig Strangward's concept Triplo toaster is here to challenge your rectangular facets. Besides the unique design, the toaster apparently hosts some upgraded heating and mechanical elements, which let you simultaneous bake and roast the bread. Another good point is that the toaster is made from organic plastic. Putting all the design fuss aside, this is a neat concept that could set the ball rolling for challenging toaster designs. For all you know, next we could have a rooster-quad-toaster!

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On one hand we have designer Anthony Mapstone give us the wonderful Sony Ericsson Videophone concept and on the other hand he is ready to startle us with this exquisite timepiece. Designed in conjunction with Joel Williams, this watch was the entry to a Welsh competition to design jewelry aimed at the middle-aged woman. The Clogau Gold watch was inspired by the timeless nature of pure Welsh rose and gold. The watch includes two lights of which one circles the 12 links of the watch representing hours, and the other (lesser) light represents each 5 minutes of the hour. A classy design that goes well with the aging beauty!

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When you are tired of adding pesky features to the mobile phone, what do you do? You add brand value. Yes, that's what designer David Mayers has done for KT Licensing. He has added multi-brand value to the Motorola Razr. Coach, Coach Patch work, Hanna Montana, Rune Scape and Cowboys; theses are the brands embossed, rather pictured on the phones. Obviously they would come pre-loaded with content that will make them exclusive. But my question is, will adding these hypes to the Razr really make a difference? Are we so brand crazy? BTW I really like Coach Patchwork, it's a gorgeous render.

More pictures after the break.

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A novel energy-saving device that uses just an empty bottle to power it is the Bottle Light for you. It's a contraption that hooks on to the mouth of a bottle; just pump the bottle a bit to create the sufficient amount of vacuum and it transforms the mechanical energy to light energy thus powering the LED lamp. The device has two modes; up and down. In the Up Mode it works like a hand torch throwing light in front of the bottle and in the Down Mode it illuminates the entire bottle. A better option than lighters and candles used at rave parties and discos.

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Designer Omar Huerta's EVE may be a futuristic concept car, but his Altec Lansing speakers are very "for the moment" concepts. They kind of remind me of Gandhi's three monkeys that see no evil, tell no lies, and hear no lies. This iteration although hears no evil, belts out whatever lies you feed it. A cute concept with no details, but I sue would want this buddy in my room!

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Besides its sleek looks, designer Peter Woodthorpe has incorporated a number of features into the Tube MP3 to make it functional. It sports a foldable design so that you can round it up like a cup. It also is highly portable, a must feature in MP3 boomboxes. The uber-cool interface sees buttons for navigation, radio, MP3, alarm and extensions. It also sports a USB port on the face, so that you can hook up a hard drive or flash drive. There is a handle built into the central console to allow easy movement. Envisioned with new advances in speaker technology, this concept looks to be a one that will make it to the product line. Alls left to see is the branding it gets.

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I don't why is there is this sudden craze to listen to your music right in the middle of the pool, but the trend seems to be catching on. However summer is slipping away and we are heading into winter, but warm thoughts during freezing winter will help us tide the season. Designer Athanasios Manavis gives us the iDrop Speakers for our listening pleasure, while swim about in the pool. It devours the iPod safely in its belly and belts out the music via the speakers. The iDrop is shaped like a buoy and splits into two. The first part is speaker, which also acts as a holder for iPods and includes the headphones wire.

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Forgive my pun, but if Apple can make you a hardcore iEverything, then there should be something in the offing for a Micro- Softie besides the Zune (don't even bother!) and Vista. French designer David Turpin has an interesting take with this with the Windows Mobile phone. The slider features an ample touchscreen that tries to take in the best of both the worlds by providing a handy keyboard. The QWERTY keyboard (with function keys) ensures that fat-fingers will not have to venture towards the virtual keys, and those with the Apple hangover can find solace in the Windows UI. Specs like 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth are included and looks like the piece also as camera. Hail Dave! Maybe someone will sit up and take notice.

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Many of us use our cameras to capture pictures and videos. With the high-end ones supporting up to 8-Mp and camera-like functions, it's sometimes hard to decipher whether we have a phone or a camera on hand! Designer Jung Woo Baik takes the camera mobile phone a step further by introducing a digital frame to it list of features. Amazing as its sounds, the camera phone also sports a unique design to support this tag. A foldable design allows one to place the phone like a flip calendar on the desk. The 5-mega-pixel camera promises to capture crisp photos to display on the phone. Since the camera is placed on the keyboard side, you will also be able to take a self-portrait with it.

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