Business partners Karen Coombes and Karen O’Neill came up with the idea and took the concept to Dragon’s Den in 2009. As the product drew more attention it won new fans in the form of British figure skating champion Mathew Parr together with the Dan Whiston, the winner of ITV’s Dancing On Ice program.

As well as being enjoyable to use, the skates offer a great way to keep fit, burning an estimated 500 calories per hour.

The launch of Off Ice Skating took place in Broadgate Circle near London’s Liverpool Street Station, where a performance by Dan Whiston and Hayley Tamaddon was enjoyed by a large crowd. A free public off-ice skating fitness session was then given by Dan Whiston.

Applied Product Design has brought a great deal of concepts to market. The combination of technical skill and experience in a variety of markets has uniquely equipped our team to develop a range of products. We are also able to carry out high end manufacturing – both here in the UK or by using our manufacturing connections in China.

If you are looking for a partner with whom to bring your concept to market, get in touch with us today.

LONDON– Evolve Media, the industry’s most exciting and stylish custom media server manufacturer from the United Kingdom, announced today the launch of their all new embedded software media servers designed for integration into the connected home. The new software platform, dubbed ‘PRIME’, brings advancement through Windows Embedded Standard 7 technologies to its award winning products, including the lifeStation, lifeStream and lifeStream mini.

Building upon the award winning ‘life’ range of media server products, the new Evolve PRIME platform is one of the world’s first range of media server products based upon the Windows Embedded Standard 7 platform. Windows Embedded Standard 7 delivers the power, familiarity and reliability of the Windows 7 operating system in a highly customizable and componentized form for embedded devices.

David Simpson, Managing Director at Evolve, comments

“With the release of PRIME powered products, Evolve has furthered its commitment to providing all encompassing media servers with class leading ease of use, performance, reliability, specifically designed for the specialised custom installation and quality hi-fi markets.”

“We are excited to have a strategic relationship with the Microsoft Windows Embedded team. The investment and commitment Microsoft has made in the Windows Media Center functionality within Windows Embedded Standard 7 is outstanding.”

The Evolve ‘life’ range of products deliver an unrivalled AV experience for today’s connected home, not only ensuring interaction and compatibility with consumable media and associated devices, but also promoting the use of new technologies and control surfaces through simple upgrade paths to existing base equipment.

“As well as being delighted with the tremendous experience we’ve had and continue to have working with the Microsoft Windows Embedded team, we at Evolve understand how important the ‘back-end’ is to providing high quality products that meet the demands and needs of today’s consumers,”

stated Charlie Mertz, Commercial Director at Evolve.

“The incredible flexibility of the Windows Embedded Standard 7 platform has allowed us to create PRIME, an essential suite of services and applications that work in perfect harmony with established, robust features, such as Windows Media Center, enabling us to deliver the highest quality media experience in the connected home.”

The Windows Embedded Standard 7 platform has allowed Evolve to take advantage of key development and commercial drives such as the Shared Source program, embedded tools allowing a faster time to market, minimising development costs, and pay as you go licensing, all key to successes in higher end markets where volume is lower than mass retail, but where the experience from initial purchase, to installation and after sales support, is paramount.

Mertz continues:

“The PRIME platform allows us to integrate the very best that the AV world has to offer. Our products are primarily aimed at a high end market where quality and performance are givens. The experience our customers receive should continue for many many years to come, and with PRIME we can easily employ shared source techniques to bring upgrades to our products quickly and efficiently. Our customers currently enjoy the highest possible level of home entertainment performance, with control options and features that ensure that their investment into Evolve technology is a solid one. We’re delighted to go to market with a high-end Windows Embedded Standard 7 AV platform, and look forward to a bright future with the Evolve products. I’m sure all who see the product at CES 2011 will be suitably impressed!”

“Microsoft is pleased to work alongside Evolve Media in providing reliable, high performance AV servers, such as the PRIME platform, to create a seamless, integrated and connected media device,” said Mark Pendergrast, senior product manager for Microsoft’s Windows Embedded business. “Our collaboration with Evolve Media leverages the Windows Embedded Standard 7 platform to present consumers with a rich and engaging home entertainment experience, and furthers our commitment in helping manufacturers build innovative devices of all types.”

The Evolve ‘life’ range of products consists of the lifeStation, the lifeStream, the lifeStream mini, and the lifeStore home server. Control options are vast thanks to the lifeControl software that runs on all the products, and interfaces are readily available for major home control systems as well as popular consumer handheld devices. Whether the need or desire is a single room media server system, or a large multiroom AV solution, Evolve media have the products to fit.

The lifeStation has recently been awarded ‘Best Buy 2011’ What HiFi magazine December 2010, for media servers up to a value of £5,000 thanks to class leading performance with all media such as Blu-ray, DVD, CD, digital music and video formats, as well as comprehensive online content capabilities and support for multiple languages. Using only the very best hardware components and advanced software techniques, the Evolve ‘life’ products bring media to life, reaffirming their living appliance status, and ultimately becoming a trusted member of the family at home.

The sleek simplicity of the LifeStation’s aesthetics are what immediately sets it apart from rival devices – looking most unlike a computer. But inside is where the real magic is: 64-bit Windows 7 Professional worksin unison with an Intel Core i3 chip to ensure the centre can cope with Blu-rays and DVDs as well as effortlessly timeshifting in both Freesat and Freeview. The generous 750Gb HD can be upgraded with ease, and as the What HiFi review points out, this huge capacity ensures 24fps 1080p video and Dolby 5.1 sound is delivered with consummate ease.

For more details on the unit’s specifications, check out our previous post here.

The Evolve LifeStation represents one of Applied Product Design’s highest profile success stories, manufactured at advanced facilities based within the UK. The combination of Passive Technologies’ wealth of expertise and knowledge was backed up by Applied Product Design’s own long-standing experience in bringing high end products to market – backed up by solid manufacturing relationships.

Re-cap of the project:
After being approached by David Simpson of Passive Technologies to assist in the design, manufacture and launch of a new breed of media centre,  Applied Product Design set about meeting the audacious brief. The plan was to create several different models, each boasting a unique set of high-end features. Requirements included the ability to play Blu-rays, DVDs, CDs and images, as well as to watch and record satellite television and radio. The LifeStation, the LifeStream, the LifeStream Mini and the LifeStore Server constituted the final quadruplet of Evolve media centre options.

For more information on how Applied Product Design can bring your ideas to market, contact us today.

As far as entertainment hubs go, the new Evolve LifeStation has to be the pick of the bunch. We found the project challenging as the end product speaks for itself; the LifeStation is a media server the likes of which few living rooms have seen before.

The new high-end device brings together the various elements of your digital world; playing and ripping Blu-rays, storing your digital music and images and slotting into a multi-room set up with ease. The striking design and top-notch build quality only hint at the cutting-edge technology contained within. The Evolve LifeStation has the ability to record 4 channels simultaneously (2 free view and 2 digital satellite), boasts support for Dolby True HD and DTS HD audio codecs (therefore connectable to a 7.1 channel speaker system), allows you to transfer all the major audio file types, and enables users to store CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays on its hard drive – for instant access.

If the generous 750Gb of storage isn’t enough, owners have the option to expand by a further 4TB or even 20TB, by adding one if the LifeStore add-ons. But the excitement doesn’t stop there. A free app means this can all be controlled by iPhone, Touch and iPad, and later this year a software update will enable Evolve LifeStore owners to watch 3D movies in their full stereoscopic splendour.

The Evolve LifeStore has been developed with the expertise of Applied Product Design, and has been manufactured in high end facilities in the UK. The Evolve LifeStore is one of the latest products that has benefitted from Applied Product Design’s long standing experience in bringing products to market, drawing on a wealth of in-house expertise and manufacturing contacts.

Summary of Project:

David Simpson from Passive Technologies approached Applied Product Design to assist in the design and launch of a new brand of media equipment called Evolve. The aim was to launch several different models, each with a unique set of features, enabling their customers to create their own multi-room, multi-media system. System capabilities had to include the recording, storing and playing of Blu-rays, DVDs, images and CDs, together with the ability to watch and record satellite TV and radio. The result was four Evolve products, the LifeStation, the LifeStream, the LifeStream Mini and the LifeStore server.

If you would like to know how Applied Product Design can help bring your idea to market in the same way, get in touch today.

The new product sterilises water in just 90 seconds, much quicker than the 30 minutes that traditional chlorine and iodine tablets take – and without leaving a nasty taste.

As Timothy says: ‘I began to experiment with using ultraviolet light to sterilise water quickly, without any distortion to taste.’

Attaining clean drinking water is a very big issue in the developing world and in disaster situations where clean drinking water is very hard to come by. The design will be going up against international heat finalists for the main award – who wins will be decided by Dyson engineers, international judges and James Dyson himself.

While developing products that fit a gap in the market is one of the main focuses of Applied Product Design, there is particular delight when a design appears that helps the population of the world with a crucial need. Whether you have a unique idea for a piece of product design that solves a problem related to a luxury or a necessity, get in touch with us today to see how we can develop it to the degree where it ready to go to market.

The shiny, flashy nature of the Surviva Jak – due to the fact it is made of aluminium covered PET – raised a few eyebrows among festival goers at this year’s Rockness Festival, where the BBC took the Jak. The fashion conscious were a little wary of the jacket’s cyber-feel, but ultimately warmed to the product’s heat keeping qualities.

Anyone who’s ever found themselves lost or caught short without enough warm layers, is likely to see how beneficial this item might be. If you missed the Roadtests, you can watch it at bbc.co.uk/dragonsden.

Products such as this are what make Applied Product Design tick; we love to see a new item that addresses a very real problem. In many instances products combine both visual appeal and functionality – the Surviva Jak may not tick everyone’s boxes on the visual count, but it certainly is highly effective at warming up a cold body. If you believe you have the next game changing piece of product design, get in touch with Applied Product design today, and discover how we can help make it a reality.

The fetching and rather unique design of the Windancer has evidently caught the eye of the book’s editor, with its combination of looks and functionality. This piece of product design is noiseless, highly efficient and compact – addressing some of the key issues that have turned off potential wind power users in the past.

At Applied Product Design we love to see innovations such as this, especially when such products contribute to the solving of some of the world’s major problems. Products that aim to answer some of the key problems of the future have an even greater chance of success. If you have a concept for a piece of sustainable energy equipment – or indeed any other type of product that meets a demand – get in touch today.

The new product has been available in the USA for a while already – with 300 retailers having taken on the seat. Now UK customers will be able to purchase the new seat too, retailing at £199 in Mothercare.

In order to be more attractive to UK buyers, the name was changed from 4moms mamaRoo to 4mums mamRoo. The seat looks set to be a popular product, having won several awards including The National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval, 2010.

The seat represents a completely new approach to infant seating product design, ensuring the child has fun while the parent has more ‘me time’. Here at Applied Product Design we love ideas like this; innovation that makes life more enjoyable and easier.

The future of Britain’s economy is perhaps under more scrutiny now than it ever has been – as the realisation that over reliance on the financial and service sectors is more than a little risky. There was perhaps a time when it was believed that the UK was not the place to build things any longer – but the recession seems to have altered that view.

It seems certain that future wealth creation will rely on what traditionally Britons have been very good at – innovation. Coming up with new product design ideas that fulfil a demand in the market can lead to long term job creation in various fields.

At Applied Product Design we believe strongly in UK design, and its ability to contribute a great deal to the economy. Whether products are built in the UK or overseas, the country will benefit in the end. If you have an idea you think meets an unmet demand, get in touch with us today.

Despite the economic challenges that face all business people, the Dragons know that the best way to keep ahead of the competition is to continually find new ideas that help to address specific problems –and make lots of money along the way. For any developed nation, it is of course paramount that it’s resident are as inventive as possible – and the new Dragon’s Den series looks set to demonstrate just how inventive the UK still is.

Last year Applied Product Design was lucky enough to help develop the Dry Ice product with Karen Coombes and Karen O’Neil. The invention aims to replicate the experience of ice skating – on dry land. The pair won £100,000 of funding from Theo Paphitis – who loved the concept. APD were involved with everything from the screws and fittings to protecting the intellectual property.

The success of the Dry Ice Blades demonstrates Applied Product Design’s consummate approach to design – as well as our long standing experience in developing ideas that people want to buy. Our strong connections with manufacturing facilities in China also mean we are able to help with long-term mass production, when ideas really take off.

If you have an innovative idea you think has the potential to fill a gap in the market, get in touch with us today, and see how we can bring your concept to life.