Design of the year 2012

The Alphasphere doesn't just improve the synthesiser, it completely reinvents it as a futuristic 3D space-bongo. Read more

Take the simple beauty of Windows Phone 7, blow it to desktop proportions, and voila: the most exciting design move in operating systems for a decade. Read more

Thinner and more colourful than the iPad, with expandable memory, a kickstand and a type-friendly cover, is the Surface the new benchmark in tablet design? Read more

A metal sphere broken by a line of pulsing LEDs that separates the volume control from the main body: probably the best-looking music streamer ever devised. Read more

A handcrafted turntable and tube amp for the old-school, wireless streaming for the new, and all built into a stunning, speaker-and-sub toting walnut cabinet. We want. Read more

Sleeker, more powerful and more articulated than an iMac, the A720 will even fold down flat so you can finally live out those touchscreen tabletop dreams. Read more

To our eyes this looks like an alien hypercubian entity, poised to unfold and consume the planet. Which, in a world full of me-too AirPlay speaker docks, is refreshing. Read more

Combine the dinky Index with the Scamp amp, then whack it in this aluminium case and you’ve got one helluva pretty music streaming system. Read more

It lacks mod-cons (even doors are optional), but this electric quadricycle is go-kart style fun. Forget the eco benefits and embrace the crazy concept-made-real look. Read more

Carved from a bright hunk of solid polycarbonate, with a none-more-black screen, the debut Lumia is the newest smartphone icon. Read more