Ol' Art Lebedev is a favourite around here. The guy is a brilliant designer, even if his ideas usually seem to get sidetracked or delayed somehow. His studio just introduced its Luxofor prototype, a traffic light replacement that uses very bright diodes for increased visibility. The new square design makes more efficient use of the available space, and can display more detailed signals. Just a concept for now, but the Luxofor is pretty, practical, and logical, so it has just as much of a chance as any of Art's designs to become real. [Electronista]

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Art Lebedev has been teasing us with details about their upcoming Optimus Aux keypad (previously known as the Pultius) for some time now, but two pieces of evidence have us thinking that a production version will be on its way shortly. Exhibit #1: A final pre-production photo of the keypad in its aluminium case (Verbarius is in the background). Exhibit #2: The Aux has been priced at around $US650. [livejournal]

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From the haze of renders, name changes and unflatteringly exposed prototypes emerges the best evidence that a real-life Art Lebedev Optimus Aux keypad is nigh. The sexy, CNCed body doesn't look to have deviated at all from the proposed design, and the guts shouldn't pose any challenges that haven't already been overcome in the larger Optimus products. In other words, the Aux might be showing up on rich peoples' desks sooner rather than later. [Optimus Project]

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For those who don't need a whole keyboard full of OLED buttons, Nikkai is showing off standalone units at CEATEC. The buttons are bulkier than anything on an Art Lebedev product, and seem to have three input states: depressed, tilted left and tilted right (or up and down, depending on orientation) which makes makes for what amounts to a highly versatile and communicative switch. A second type of button is a simpler in/out configuration, albeit with a larger screen.

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Designer guru Art Lebedev--creator of cool keyboards, clocks and fridge magnets--says that this umbrella is saying "Fuck the Rain", but we know that his message is addressed to the New Evil Galactic Empire. [Art Lebedev]

When they're not designing $US1,500 OLED keyboards or hot WiMax phone concepts, it's good to know the guys over at Art Lebedev Studio like to keep the common folk in mind, sometimes. The common folk who will like to pin up printouts of Gizmodo posts to their fridge with these pixel-art mouse-pointer magnets. They're about 2.5-inches tall and will run you $US4 in the Art Lebedev store. [Art Lebedev via Pocket Lint]

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Earlier this month Russian carrier Scartel partnered with Samsung to bring a WiMax network to around 20 million potential customers in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They have big plans on expanding that network throughout the country, so it only made sense to turn to Russia's premier design team at Art Lebedev to develop a flagship headset to take advantage of their the WiMax rollout. What they have come up with is a hot looking WiMax, Wi-Fi and triple-band GSM capable handset with a 850 x 480 screen (most likely touch), dual cameras, a five-position joystick and a microSD slot. Again, this device is only in the design stage and there is no word on what OS it will run, but things are definitely looking good for Russian mobile users so far.

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We got our first look at the Folderix folder-shaped USB drive from Art Lebedev when it was in the concept phase. It took over a year to bring to market (that's Lebedev for you), but it appears that they took that time to subtly streamline the quirky little drive. You can pick up a 4GB now in yellow, blue or purple for US$55. [Art Lebedev via Electronista]

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It was only a matter of time. This image popped up on an Optimus Live Journal group, showing the sad results of a clumsy morning with a steaming mug and a US$1,600 Optimus Maximus keyboard, which is one place we didn't take our review--yet. Not much info on what happened or whether this was a planned test, but the poster says it survived the "first recorded coffee spill thanks to the construction of the upper tray." Phew. [Live Journal]

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There are a number of products out there that allow aspiring DJs to engage in mobile scratch sessions (like the recently released Mixmeister application for the iPhone), but Art Lebedev's new Plastinkus scratch pad claims to deliver a sound that is close to the real thing on a disk that you can fit comfortably in your wallet. Yeah, its a pretty frivolous thing to waste your money on--but at least it won't break the bank at around US$4 a pop. [Art Lebedev via Pocket-Lint]