John van den Nieuwenhuizen, born and raised in Sydney, and his former Motorola colleague, Vitor Santa Maria, have launched a new technology brand, Hidden. Their very first product is called the Hidden Radio - a portable Bluetooth speaker for mobile devices, which is apparently a hit before it's even rolled off the factory floor. Production - completely outsourced - begins in Hong Kong next week with a first run of "thousands" of units. The duo have raised almost $1 million via Kickstarter.
Like Apple gear, Hidden's success has been in its simplicity. Hearing van den Nieuwenhuizen speak about his design philosophy is like listening to Apple head designer Sir Jonathan Ive.
"A lot of people think to make a product more competitive you have to add more stuff but I think it's what you take away that makes a product truly great," he says. "Apple have proved that mantra it's not what they add it's what they take away and once you get rid of all the complexity the product is really simple."
Hidden Radio & BlueTooth Speaker from HiddenRadio on Vimeo.
The first lot of Hidden Radios to be manufactured will go to Kickstarter pledgers in September but everyone else can pre-order from the middle of next month.
There are no physical buttons or screens on the unit, and users control the volume by twisting the cap. Its round shape allows sound to be projected at all angles.
"Everything is so digital now and there's nothing you can literally interact with; I think there's something gratifying about physically controlling the volume."
Hidden Radio will retail for $189.
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