What do you do with your Altoids tins after devouring the mints? Maybe for keeping your coins, hand it over to your mom for storing the sewing accessories, for keeping handy a first aid, or perhaps keep the watercolor paint for your little niece. DIYer “Exercising Ingenuity,” however, has a very unique use for the aluminium container.

The inventive YouTuber wanted to build a fully functional Cyberdesk inside of the Altoids tin. Sounds bizarre? Surely it is, given the size of the thing. In his video, he asked himself, “That looks like a tiny computer?” It was clear from the outset that the assembly would require the utmost level of detail and sourcing all the hardware inside the tiny housing. While it might not be the most powerful machine you can own, it surely is ultra-portable and quite nice nonetheless.

Designer: Exercising Ingenuity

Normally, Cyberdesks are built inside ammo cans, rugged Pelican cases, or anything that has a boxy form factor. The machines piqued in popularity during the 1980s after the science fiction novel Neuromancer. Altoid tins have all these attributes, just the smaller size makes them a very odd proposition in the Cyberdesk world. That said, he set out anyway on putting together the hardware. For the CPU, he used the Raspberry Pi Zero W he had lying around, and a 2-inch LCD from another unfinished project. The power comes from a 750mAh lithium-ion polymer battery.

The real challenge was to find the tiny mechanical keyboard and fit it inside the small space. According to him, this was the most enjoyable part of the project, even though the video suggests it was a difficult one. It required learning how to construct the diode matrix for configuring the input, along with the assembling and soldering methodology of each of the keys. The final step here involved painting the keys with a white ink pen. Once this bit was taken care of, the DIY headed into the moderate level difficulty (at least for us). The next step was to create a 3D-printed frame to keep all the components inside the tin in place.

Wiring had to be kept to a minimum, and soldering of other components had to be done efficiently, as space was a premium. As a last step to make more room for components like the UPS HAT board and the display, the original hinge was extended with another Altoids tin hinge for a makeshift, slightly bigger replacement. Once all the hardware components were secured properly inside the tin, it was just a matter of running the system using the software. To make the thing look and feel like a vintage desktop computer, the DIYer painted the front panel beige.

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The original Hario V60 is the kind of object that earns its own mythology. Released in 2004, it became the face of the third-wave coffee movement: a simple cone of heat-resistant glass (or ceramic, or plastic, depending on how serious you are) that turned the morning cup into a ritual of patience and precision. Baristas loved it. Coffee nerds obsessed over it. And somewhere along the way, it became as recognizable as a kitchen object can get without appearing on a museum shelf.

That legacy makes the V60 Dripper NEO an interesting proposition. Hario could have left well enough alone. Instead, they spent two years quietly engineering a redesign that touches the one part of the V60 nobody talks about but everyone deals with: the ribs.

Designer: Hario

The original V60’s spiral ribs are the reason it works the way it does. They create space between the paper filter and the cone wall, allowing air to escape as water flows through. The result is a controlled extraction, but one that demands attention. Get your grind wrong, pour too fast, let your focus wander, and the brew either stalls or races past the point of no return. The V60 has always been a beautiful, slightly unforgiving thing.

The NEO changes that equation with a genuinely clever structural update. Instead of a single spiral rib pattern, it introduces 72 ultra-fine vertical ribs along the upper walls of the cone, which then converge into 9 deeper ribs near the base. This dual-zone design guides water evenly down the entire wall before accelerating it through the outlet. The effect is a faster, more uniform extraction that minimizes bitterness from water lingering too long in contact with the grounds. The cup you get out the other end is cleaner, sweeter, and more vibrant, with a balanced acidity that doesn’t tip into sourness.

Two years of testing went into getting this right. Hario’s engineers ran exhaustive trials on rib counts, angles, and flow dynamics before landing on this configuration. The fact that they filed a utility model patent on the structure suggests they believe it is genuinely novel, not just cosmetically different.

The material choice is also worth noting. The NEO is made from Tritan resin, a lightweight, high-clarity plastic that handles heat retention better than standard plastic alternatives. It keeps the brewing temperature more stable from the first pour to the last, which matters more than people think. Temperature consistency is one of those variables that separates a good cup from a great one, and the NEO addresses it without requiring you to do anything differently.

For anyone already embedded in the V60 ecosystem, the compatibility factor is a quiet win. The NEO works with all existing V60 switch bases, so you don’t have to rebuild your setup from scratch. It comes in two sizes, both made in Japan, and retails for around $23.50, which is an accessible price point for a piece of equipment that functions this thoughtfully.

Not everyone is convinced, though. Since hitting the market, the NEO has sparked a genuinely divided response from the coffee community. Users describe the brew as cleaner and more tea-like, which sounds appealing until you realize that some people loved the original V60 precisely for its acidic punch and intensity. One Reddit user put it plainly: the NEO presents coffee “differently,” not necessarily better. For experienced brewers who spent years dialing in their pour technique to coax specific flavors from the classic cone, the NEO’s smoother, more forgiving nature feels less like an upgrade and more like a personality change. That’s a fair criticism. Hario didn’t make a bad V60. They made a different one, and that distinction is exactly what has the coffee internet divided.

Pour-over coffee has always had a slight gatekeeping problem. The ritual appeals to people who love it precisely because it requires care, but that same learning curve turns off anyone who just wants a good cup without turning their kitchen into a science experiment. The V60 NEO doesn’t eliminate that ritual. It just makes the margin for error a little more forgiving, which means more people get to enjoy the result without years of practice behind them.

The original V60 deserved its legacy. The NEO earns its own, just a slightly different one.

The post Hario’s V60 Gets Its First Real Upgrade in 20 Years for $23 first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Wheelhome is a budding compact camping solutions enterprise in the United Kingdom. It is changing the way camping is perceived and how all-electric camping trips can be made more convenient. First, it launched the electric rooftop camper for the Tesla’s popular Model 3, and now it is offering other lighter vehicle owners an alternative for solo or two-person camping with the new Dashaway ECT micro camping trailers.

Designed for efficient electric camping trips, the Dashaway ECT trailer comes in two variants: a solo version and a two-person model. The campers are packed with all the amenities and facilities one needs, from a lounge to beds and a toilet to a kitchen, so they can be fully packed for all sorts of camping requirements.

Designer: Wheelhome

A provided awning is one of the major highlights of the Dashaway ECT series. It is part of the trailer and delivers an additional outer space that can be used for a portable toilet. Of course, it is optional, but with awning rolled up on the front of the trailer when riding, you have the option of expanding the living space. It can unfurl easily and attach to the roof and two side poles to create a sizable space. Besides the awning, the trailer is otherwise similar to the other options on the market, measuring 12.5 feet long and about 5.3 feet wide, but it differentiates itself in the convenience campers can have inside.

When in drive mode, the Dashaway ECTS one berth and the ECT 2 two berth pack down to a height of 3.8 feet. At the camp, both models can pop up to the height of 6 feet. Setting up the trailers is as easy as it can get. No additional tools or any specific training is necessary. The process takes a few minutes. First, using a motorized mover the trailer can be positioned using a remote control, without even the tow vehicle. When in place, the stabilizer legs are lowered and the roof can be lifted up using a gas strut-assisted crank and the fabric side-walled camp is ready to live.

However, before you start living, you can access the camper via single rear entry and layout the furniture and furnishing inside (which folds down when the camper is packed for the road). The interior has the kitchen setup at the entrance complete with an induction hob, kettle, air fryer, and microwave, and then is the seating lounge facing outward, toward the camp entry. The seat also accommodates a 12L fridge underneath. The lounge – depending on the berth configuration you have picked – is either one seat or two. the seats flatten down into a single or double bed at night. The sides are provided with large windows covered with mesh, which light up the interior.

Wheelhome provides the ECT series with ample storage cabinets and compartments under the seat(s). The trailer features a 3-kWh lithium battery, 200-watt rooftop solar panel connected to a 3,000 W inverter. Dashaway ECTS is available for a starting price of £19,750 (roughly $26,000), and the ECT2 is priced at £26,225 (about $35,000).

The post This Expandable Popup Micro Camper Turns Your EV Into a Fully Equipped Tiny Home for Off-Grid Escapes first appeared on Yanko Design.

The split air conditioner is one of the least loved objects in any home, which is a strange thing to say about something most people couldn’t live without. It works, technically, but it tends to make its presence known in all the wrong ways. The air is too direct, the noise is a constant background irritant, and the plastic box on the wall rarely belongs in any thoughtfully designed interior.

From that frustration comes WellFlow, a concept that reframes what air conditioning is supposed to do for the people living around it. Rather than engineering a better cooling box, the designers built something closer to a wellness device. It’s a concept that received validation through the iF Design Award in 2026 and was first revealed at IFA Berlin 2025.

Designer: Merve Nur Sökmen, Zehra Sarıarslan

The most immediate shift is in how air actually moves. Conventional units push output in one direction, landing directly on whoever is in the room. WellFlow uses four-way diffusion to spread conditioned air from all sides without targeting anyone in particular. Sensors also monitor occupancy and steer airflow accordingly, so the unit quietly adapts to the room rather than expecting the room to tolerate it.

Beyond airflow, the system also handles humidity, air purity, ambient lighting, and sound. A built-in humidifier balances moisture levels rather than leaving the air artificially dry, which is one of the most common complaints about running a conventional unit through the night. Circadian lighting and integrated speakers complete the picture, creating conditions that support sleeping, concentrating, or quietly winding down, depending on what the moment calls for.

All of this adjusts automatically. The system continuously monitors temperature, humidity, and air quality, then fine-tunes its output without any manual input. A baby’s room needs different conditions than a home office or a gym corner, and WellFlow is designed to recognize those differences. Its behavior was shaped through user research spanning new parents, older adults, and people with respiratory sensitivities, groups that conventional air conditioners routinely fail to address.

The physical form is just as deliberate as the behavior. Most air conditioners are conspicuously technical, with plastic housings that fight against any interior aesthetic. WellFlow uses a woven textile front panel with rounded corners and a matte finish, giving it a material quality far more associated with furniture than appliances. An ambient light halo behind the unit softly signals its presence on the wall without demanding any attention.

A pull-out front filter makes maintenance visible and intuitive, addressing something the design team identified as a recurring trust issue with conventional units. People often aren’t sure when or how to clean their filters, and that uncertainty quietly chips away at confidence in the device. WellFlow removes that ambiguity. For a machine designed around human comfort, even that seemingly small detail ends up mattering quite a lot.

The post This AC Does 5 Jobs at Once and Looks Like Furniture on Your Wall first appeared on Yanko Design.

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You know what’s ‘vertical integration’? Starbucks building its own cooler box for its own beverages. Meet the Yeti-alternative that’s designed not for your Budweisers, but for your venti iced lattes. It’s called the Starbucks Ice Box, and while it looks perfect from top to bottom, it has one problem: it’s only available in South Korea.

The design is deceptively simple but gets every detail right. Four individual cup slots keep drinks stable and separated, eliminating the float-and-tip chaos that happens when you throw tall cups into a standard cooler. A dedicated ice compartment sits at the bottom, isolated from the drinks themselves so you’re not fishing cups out of melted ice water an hour later. The domed lid has ventilation slots that allow air circulation without sacrificing insulation, and those side latches look substantial enough to actually keep everything secure when you hit a pothole. It’s wrapped in Starbucks’ forest green colorway, compact enough to fit behind a car seat or in a trunk corner, and clearly designed by people who have done the group coffee run enough times to know exactly where the pain points are. The proportions feel right in a way that general-purpose coolers never quite nail when you’re dealing with tall, narrow vessels.

Design: Starbucks Korea

This isn’t Starbucks’ first merch attempt. They’ve consistently pushed out loads of accessories over the years, mostly in eastern markets (like these TWS earbuds in collaboration with Samsung, and these $28 retro cameras that they debuted in China) although this one feels way more purposeful than any of their other launches. It’s something people will buy and use for years, rather than becoming just another collectible, and you know that if someone’s buying a Starbucks cooler, they’re a customer for life. Vertical integration for the win!

The design is as simple as it gets. The insulated walls keep the insides whatever temperature you want. Although built for iced drinks, you can put your hot beverages in too and have them piping even after hours. For iced drinks, you can also add ice packs into the cooler to chill them down further – just be careful they don’t drip or the cups could get soggy. A lift-out tray holds four venti drinks, because if you’re the kind to drink regulars, you probably wouldn’t be keeping them for hours. The clamp-lid ensures everything is locked in tight, and a Starbucks-branded handle sits flush against the top, giving the entire thing a gorgeously monolithic design.

The only place you can grab this right now is on obscure sites online. A Japanese website has it listed for ¥26,530 or $169 USD, not including shipping. If anyone in Starbucks’ global team is reading this, consider it your sign to manufacture this for the American and European audiences too, trust me, your annual turnover will thank you!

The post Starbucks built a Yeti cooler for your Venti Iced Lattes, but you can’t buy one yet first appeared on Yanko Design.

Setting up an iPad for a child costs $350 and about forty-five minutes of your life. You disable iCloud so your camera roll stays off their screen, lock down the App Store so in-app purchases don’t silently drain your card, configure Screen Time, and then spend the next six months re-configuring it every time an iOS update quietly resets something. Apple makes extraordinary tablets, but the parental infrastructure is clearly designed for adults who already know where to look. HONOR looked at that friction and built a tablet where none of that setup exists, because the kids-first architecture is the factory state, not a layer you construct yourself.

The Pad X8b Kids Edition starts at $193, landing it well under the entry iPad, and arrives with a dedicated Honor Kids OS environment, SGS 5-star drop resistance, a built-in kickstand handle, an integrated stylus silo, and a 10,100mAh battery that makes weekly charging a realistic schedule rather than an aspiration. The value proposition assembles itself pretty quickly.

Designer: HONOR

The blue silicone case with its lime-green handle does double duty as a carry grip and kickstand, which maps directly to how children actually use tablets: they’re either holding it or propping it against something. No separate folding stand, no accessory that gets left in a drawer. The handle is the stand. The Doodle Pen slots into a silo built into the case back so it travels with the device rather than disappearing within 48 hours of unboxing. FDA food-grade silicone throughout, SGS 5-star drop and crush resistance certification, and a construction that has clearly been tested against the kind of physical punishment children deliver with remarkable consistency and zero remorse.

The 11-inch panel runs at 1920×1200 with a 90Hz refresh rate, 500 nits of brightness, and carries TÜV Rheinland certifications for both low blue light and flicker-free performance. On a kids device those certifications carry more weight than on an adult one, given how close children hold screens and how many hours they log. The eye protection goes further than badges, though. Distance alerts, posture monitoring, brightness adjustments, and bumpy road detection that nudges kids away from reading in a moving car all run continuously without a parent needing to remember to enable anything.

The Honor Kids OS runs as a fully separate environment rather than a locked launcher sitting on top of the standard interface. The home screen uses cartoon island-style icons for Camera, Recorder, Kids Painting, and Multimedia, and parents manage the whole thing remotely through the HONOR Parental Assistant app, setting time slots and reviewing activity through visual charts. One tap activates Kids Mode, and getting back out requires authentication. None of this requires a Saturday afternoon in Settings.

The 10,100mAh battery is the unsung hero of the package. Twenty-two hours of continuous video playback means roughly eleven days of two-hour screen time sessions before a charge becomes urgent, and the 97-day standby figure means a tablet left on a shelf over a school break actually comes back to life when you pick it up. For a device category where battery anxiety is a genuine daily friction point, those numbers change the ownership experience in a way that a spec sheet undersells.

At $193, the Pad X8b Kids Edition sits in a position where competing options either underdeliver on hardware or ask parents to retrofit a general-purpose tablet for child use on their own time. HONOR made the child-safe design brief the starting point, and the result is a device that earns its price before you’ve even opened the box.

The post Honor launched a $193 Kid-focused iPad Alternative with 22 Hours of Battery and Parental Controls Already Set Up first appeared on Yanko Design.