Hand Phone Concept

Gizmowatch, a Hand Phone concept.

Cuusoo mobile phone concept

Spotted on Just Another Mobile Phone Blog, a concept phone that separates the handset from the screen, so you can talk on the phone while watching mobile TV.

Mobile Phone Shaped Like And Egg, Sorta

Spotted on Yanko Design, a cell phone shaped like an egg. By designer Roman Tubl.

New Nokia Concepts

Nokia has recently introduced a trio of concept phones at its first ever "Design Event" in Central London that might roll out within 3 to 5 years' time:

1. A "People First" concept that comprises of a list of people you communicate with based on your last interaction with said person.

2. The "Zero Waste Charger" that aims to minimize power consumption, having the device communicate with the charger to activate only when it needs power.

3. "Wears in, not out" concept as explained in their press release:

"As more services become available on our mobile devices this concept explores how people could potentially upgrade their devices digitally rather than physically in the future, giving people an additional choice on how they use and update their mobile phones."

[via Uberphones]

Picture frame Phone

The concept FRAME TELE from Tao Ma is both a picture frame and a phone that shows pictures of your family or friends continuously on the screen.

When the phone rings, the frame can display a previously saved picture of whoever is calling or some pretty scenery instead. If you miss the call, the picture of the caller will show on the frame anyway and you can make a call just by touching the screen.

[Gizmowatch via TrendHunter]

DIY Phone Assembly

The entire shell is made of tiles - tiles you can customize and slide around for a one of a kind look. Replace and update them as often as you like.

Designer: Tzu-Fu Wang

[via Yanko Design]

"Tube": Nokia's iPhone-like handset

Nokia will be launching an iPhone like cellphone called "Tube" that will feature a touch interface.

[via engadget:mobile]

Extension Arm for Phone Holds the Receiver

Hands free blast from the past.

[via Modern Mechanix]

Studio Leung: Printable Offerings

Studio Leung's new project Printable Offerings re-interprets the Chinese tradition of burning paper gifts for family and friends who have passed away.

These gifts are made of paper and come in many product types which are purchased in selected Chinese shops and supermarkets worldwide.

Printable Offerings aims to preserve this Chinese tradition with an updated selection of gifts,ready to be downloaded as PDF files, assembled and offered to loved ones who have passed away.

The selection ranges from the aspirational iPhone to quintessentially Hong Kong objects such as Tempo pocket tissues and the Octopus travel card.

[via Core77]

Pantech Mobile Phone Concept Designs for 2010

Korean mobile phone manufacturer Pantech recently organized a contest in which students from Korean Universities were asked to create design concepts for cellphones that can be made available by 2010. And in its conclusion, five dazzling mobile phone concept designs were released.

Pictured here is the Cell Dot cellphone design, featuring a very minimalist overall look and feel, plus it’s seriously slim. Other designs (view here) include the Tower Lily, Wavy Stream, Waterfall Fish, and Simplice Section.

[Gadgetell via I4U News and Akihabara News]

Nokia’s N82 gets an artistic mascot - Stavros

Nokia has managed to create one of its own convincing counter-culture characters, all in the name of promoting the N82. Enter Stavros, the (presumably Greek) genius of what he has termed ‘position art’.

The idea is that Stavros is a pretentious artist who has managed to stumble upon an idea for a new kind of art that, though a little tongue in cheek, looks like lots of fun.

Basically he uses the GPS in his N82 to plot a routes through cities that make pictures. In his own words, the world is his canvass, and the N82 is his brush.

It’s an interesting publicity stunt, not least because in spite of the fact that Stavros and his ‘position art’ is a bare faced attempt to tap into web 2.0 subculture to promote a product (a path that many have failed at before), Stavros is genuinely quite funny.

[via Pocket Picks]

Transformer Phone Concept Molds To Accomplish Any Task

Spotted on Gearfuse, a Transformer concept phone.

"... It features a 3D scanning system which could store a 3D image of an object in the memory banks and project an exact image of the 3D model using holographic imaging."

Patent for iPhone flip phone?

engadget_mobile reports on a recent patent filing by Apple, indicating that it has at least considered the possibility of an iPhone flip phone of sorts, among other dual-screen possibilities."

Linc: The Lifecycle Concept Phone

LINK is a concept for a completely sustainable phone that doesn't sacrifice style or functionality. Its returned to the manufacturer as a part of a service, so all the parts can be properly reused, recycled, or disposed of.

LINC is a typical touch screen smart phone with all the connectivity and features you come to expect. Its got a cell phone, a media player, a web browser, GPS, downloadable content, Bluetooth, wifi, the latest 3G network. But here’s the catch. LINC is leased to the user as a service, not a product. The user holds on to the device for about a year, and when the next generation of hardware comes along, the user receives a new LINC in the mail. The LINCs inform the user of their hardware upgrade, wirelessly transfer the digital account, and before being shipped back to the manufacturer, LINC informs the user of the next part of its journey.

LINC is designed for automated disassembly. A directed radiant heat beam targets its internal memory metal latch, releasing the assembly. In one step, LINC automatically disassembles into its few simple components, glass, aluminum and its circuit flex.

Woood (2007) - Smart Phone Concept

Another entry from the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, the Wood Smart Phone by designer Gernot Oberfell.

To reduce the amount of plastic, this mobile phone uses an extruded wood composite, containing up to 80% of natural fibres. Components like buttons and caps are made of biodegradable plastic. The material can very easily be recycled and The materials are very suitable for today's livecycles of consumer electronics and very friendly to touch and feel, just like real wood.

GREEN CELL

GREEN CELL designed by Theo Richardson with Charles Brill & Alex Williams of RBW, came in 3rd place in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

Green Cell promises an eco-friendly end to the hassles of multiple batteries and chargers - by offering up a single standardized battery that can fit in every type of personal electronic device. [via inhabitat]

Tattoo Cell Phone Concept

The "Digital Tattoo Interface" imagined by Jim Mielke was entered the "Greener Gadgets Design Competition" initiated by Core77 and Greener Gadgets, and although it didn't win, it was featured among the most notable entries. [via Softpedia]

"The "Digital Tattoo Interface" wants to be a mobile phone / digital computer implanted in your arm and it should work with your own energy, i.e. your blood. It uses an e-ink display tattooed on your skin, a display that appears, disappears and changes itself according to what you need it to do. So it's a green concept that is actually more red and blue.

Jim Mielke's device is also Bluetooth enabled and can detect blood disorders, alerting the owner when a health problem is discovered."

The Soft Concept Phone

The Soft Phone concept by designer Qian Jiang takes what we know about electronic cellulose structures and squeezes every last ounce of performance out of it, literally!

[via Yanko Design]

Toaster Phone Concept

Spotted on Gizmodo, a toaster phone concept by Brazilian designer Renata Quintela.

The Edge Concept Phone by Chris Owens

Spotted on Ubergizmo, The Edge concept phone by Chris Owens.

The sliding keyboard made out of glowing glass is hidden right under the full touch screen display, summoned only when you need to type something.

[via Yanko Design]

Mobile Device with Advanced Search Function

Picture this, you have a mobile device that has the works- touchscreen, Internet capabilities, built in camera, scanner, WiFi, google map (with a bit of luck google earth), google search, image search, etc. now you hold this device up and suppose you see a building through it, and it will give you the image search result instantaneously.

Choose the building and touch a floor and it tells you more details of the building. It gives you info on that car you have been admiring or that insect in your backyard, heck it will even give you the lowdown on the food you ate last night in that Indian restaurant. It's a concept device designed by Mac Funamizu.

[via Newlaunches]

Read your cell phone screen outdoors?

I can't read my cell phone screen when outdoors. I'm hoping these will help. Spotted on Yanko Design.

"Where normally tinted UV blocking lenses would cut the glare of the sun, these “Reed Screen Sunglasses” by Sang Jang Lee use the ancient eastern practice of reed screens to block the sun’s blinding glare. "

SMS And Email Pen: Saves and Sends what you write

D:Scribe by designer Reuben Png is a digital fountain pen that allows users to send SMS and email messages from paper.

Just write out the message and circle the person’s name to send. This does away with a keypad and allows you to focus on communicating in a more personal way from anywhere as long as you have a bluetooth enabled phone and a surface to write on.

The design is loosely based on a quill and inkwell where by the quill is the writing apparatus and the inkwell is an electromagnetic induction charger.

Once a message is sent, the status is displayed on the built-in OLED screen.

[via Yanko Design]

Your Mobile Phone’s Best Friend

This industrious little cube is a wireless charger, bluetooth speaker, and information display. When you come home just place your mobile near the MCube. [via
Yanko Design]

"Using short range induction technology, your phone gets juiced up while all basic information like date/time, messages, and caller ID are transfered to the MCube’s built-in display.

What’s more, the touch controls on the MCube enable you to access your mobile’s music files and pumps it out thru built-in speakers via bluetooth. Who wants one?

Designer: Sohui Won, Seung-Hoon Kwak & Yeong-Kyu Yoo.

Mobile Design Competition

On the BBC, a slide show of a Mobile design competition, where Royal College of Art students were set the challenge of designing a mobile phone to "outperform, outsmart, and outmanoeuvre everything on the market".

P-Per mobile concept phone

Spotted on Yanko Design from the Chocolate Agency, the P-Per; a concept mobile phone to satisfy both environmentalists and tech nerds.

"The design consists of just 4 layers, a printed circuit board, extruded polycarbonate, recycled titanium, and a wrap around flexible haptic LED touchscreen. By minimizing materials, the design is highly sustainable.

The wrap around screen allows for endless user interface possibilities not to mention bezeless picture/movie taking and watching."

The CulArt concept phone

Spotted on Yanko Design The CulArt (pronounce Cool Art) concept phone designed Sby eungchan by Designer Seungchan.

Internally you have your typical smartphone design; touchscreen, camera, slim but the physical design differs greatly. First off you’ll notice the wood paneling, you know… to invoke the idea of trees. That’s the nature bit of the design.

The included bluetooth headset/remote uses a series of knobs to control the phone’s most basic functions. Clearly retro and clearly pre-80’s. Flip the phone around and you’ll find a rocky textured surface which prevents slippage and reminds you of how much you suck at rock climbing.

Mediated Social Serendipity

Mediated Social Serendipity is a report describing mobile-phone services and applications that enable users to “stumble into” friends despite being apart physically.

One of the most astonishing idea presented in the report is “Nudge”, a system that recognizes patterns of everyday life and detects if a user has not send news to a friend for a long time and acts on his/her behalf accordingly. For instance, Asa’s phone registers that she is far away from home. It gathers surrounding information and will generate a text message to a good friend of hers who she has not called in several months.

The automated message would be:

Hi! Right now I’m about 3142 kilometers south-west from where you are. Felicia, Per and I are walking along the beach in Tarifa, Spain. It’s 25°C and the sun shines. We hear seagulls and waves breaking. Speak to you soon! /Asa

As she walks down to the water to dip her toes in the ocean, her phone automatically sends a message to her friend.

More information on the report that also surveys existing systems:
Formo, J. (2007). Mediated Social Serendipity. Master thesis. The Institute of Industrial Design at Oslo School of Architecture and Design.

[via Archidectradure]

The Freedom Phone (concept)

Spotted on Yanko Design, the Freedom Phone, by designer Vadim Kibardin.

Freedom Phone is a small pre-paid phone that is unique in design and unique in out it works.

Upon arriving into the new country, you have the option of purchasing the Freedom Phone with 60, 100 or 200 minutes.

No SIM card needed-No Roaming charges and in 10 short minutes, the Freedom Phone is charged.

The phone number, important service and other information are located on the back of the Freedom Phone.

Polar Phone Concept For Winter Gloves and Fat Fingers

Spotted on Gizmodo, a cell phone concept for sub zero temperatures.

"The Polar mobile phone concept by designer Yuta Watanabe is intended for cold weather climates where thick gloves are obstacles to effective communication.

... The simple Polar mobile phone questions whether companies should go a step further and spend more time designing phones that are climatically or culturally specific."