Daan Roosegaarde's pilot Smart Highway is a Dutch road illuminated with solar power
News: the first glow-in-the-dark road of Daan Roosegaarde's Smart Highway project has opened in Oss, the Netherlands (+ movie). More
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Keiichi Matsuda to "explore the future of the city" in new film
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: London designer Keiichi Matsuda shows us how he is making his new film about the future of augmented reality in the next preview of our Dezeen and MINI Frontiers exhibition. More
With smart textiles we can "download new colours or patterns" to our clothes
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: Francesca Rosella of interactive fashion brand CuteCircuit claims advances in digital "smart" fabrics will revolutionise the fashion industry, allowing us to download new styles for our clothes rather than buying new garments. More
"No one will ever write a book called Zen and the Art of iPhone Maintenance"
Opinion: is the Internet of Broken Things the logical conclusion to the ever-escalating cycle of technological development and built-in obsolesce in our gadgets, asks Justin McGuirk. More
Moleskine Livescribe Notebooks transfer ideas from paper to screen
Stationery brand Moleskine has created a series of notebooks for use with a Livescribe smartpen to turn notes written on the pages into digital files (+ slideshow). More
Personalised "bubbles of heat" could replace inefficient central heating
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: architect Carlo Ratti claims the heating system he developed with MIT, which uses motion sensors to focus beams of infrared radiation on people as they move through a building, can be "one order of magnitude more efficient" than traditional methods. More
French designers create "first ever" analogue watch with built-in activity tracker
Dezeen Watch Store: new content on our watch store blog includes an interview with the designers of the Activité watch, which they claim is the first to put smartwatch functionality in a traditional-looking Swiss timepiece. More
Smartphone app Human draws maps of urban movement
The creators of activity tracking app Human have visualised the routes taken by its users to create moving maps that show the world's cities throughout the day (+ movie). More
Smart cup by Yves Behar knows precisely what's in your drink
Yves Behar has designed a smart cup called Vessyl, which detects what you're drinking and displays its nutritional contents in real time. More
Honeywell joins connected-home market with Lyric smart thermostat
News: US technology firm Honeywell has released a minimal smart thermostat that learns household routines, a rival to Nest's similar connected home product. More
Yves Behar moves towards the connected garden with Edyn
First the connected home; now the connected garden: designer Yves Behar and entrepreneur Jason Aramburu have created products that monitor soil conditions and automatically water plants when they get thirsty (+ movie). More
Apple buys Beats and plans home- control system to rival Nest
News: tech giant Apple has bought Dr Dre's Beats headphone company for $3 billion in the same week that details emerged of a project that will turn users' iPhones into remote control devices for their homes. More
Within ten years "everything will have data in it", says Nest CEO
News: every electrical device in the home will be linked to the internet within a decade, according to the CEO of connected home products brand Nest (+ interview). More
Whistle wearable technology for dogs lets owners monitor pet activity
Wearable technology is no longer just for people, as San Francisco agency New Deal Design has designed an activity-tracking device for canine companions. More
"Smart" bicycle by Vanhawks gives directions with flashing lights and vibrating safety alerts
The Canada-based creators of the Vanhawks Valour claim to have designed the "first smart, connected bicycle", which gives riders directions as well as alerts to prevent them cycling into dangerous situations. More
Illum camera creates interactive photographs that users can re-focus after shooting
A new camera from American company Lytro will allow users to take pictures and adjust the focus after the image has been taken using a technique called light field photography. More
Peek smartphone adapter and app scans eyes to help combat blindness
The Portable Eye Examination Kit (Peek) aims to improve opthalmic health in low-income countries by adapting smartphones with clip-on hardware and an app, and is among this year's category winners for Designs of the Year 2014. More
Epilepsy aid uses wearable sensors to predict seizures and call for help
This wearable design concept helps epilepsy sufferers manage symptoms, predict potential seizures and alert passersby or loved ones when having a fit (+ slideshow). More
Smartwatch by Dor Tal monitors social networks to predict your future
Israeli designer Dor Tal has designed a set of gadgets that monitor data generated on social networks to help users predict the future and take action ahead of time (+ movie). More
Google’s Project Tango uses your phone to map your home
News: Google's latest research project equips smartphones with the ability to map their surroundings and build navigable three-dimensional virtual environments that can be used to give directions indoors. More