Tactile iPhone case concept for the visually impaired

This Silicon Touch iPhone case is used with an app store application designed for the Blind and the Visually Impaired to allow special accessibility functions like text-to-speech features and a moon type tactile alphabet keyboard.

This simple silicon case, covers all the Apple iPhone device, and with the help of the engraved bas-relief icons, keyboard and multi-touch scrolls, it gives fully access to the interface beneath.

Designer: Bruno Fosi

[via Yanko Design]

iPhone Nano

Spotted by Techradar, an iPhone Nano in China.

Two glass phone concepts

Spotted on Yanko Design, two glass phone concepts by Designer Mac Funamizu.

Pomegranate Phone makes Coffee

A fresh cup of coffee for your smart phone is actually a clever ad campaign for Nova Scotia, promoting tourism to “a place that has everything”.

[via Laughing Squid]

Nokia futuristic

Spotted on Yankodesign, a futuristic mobile phone designed by Heikki Juvonen for Nokia.

The ‘Quickphone’ Kiosk

Spotted on Trendhunter, The ‘Quickphone’ Kiosk, one of the 42 amazing vending machine featured in their gallery.

The idea is to provide a ‘Quickphone’ for travelers or phone users who know what they want and don’t need the boring patter of a sales person counting out endless features.

Also featured: "The used underwear vending machine", "the bicycle vending machinE", "the boyfriend vending machine", "the innovative idea vending machine", "vending by mood"...

Links to Other cell phone vending machines.

A Finger Phone by Zinc Chin

Spotted on Core77, from the Coroflot portfolio of : Zinc Chan (London, United Kingdom).

In his own words: "I have based my design on the iconic hand gesture people use to represent the telephone. The handset is divided into two parts, earphone and microphone. This invites the user to use the iconic gesture when using the phone. When the user dials the numbers, an animated path is shown on the touch screen. Therefore, people start to remember the person by their unique pattern rather than the numbers. This, together with the two-piece handset creates a more emotional interaction between the phone and the user."

A Phone That’s Not Afraid to Mess with Water

Spotted on Yanko Design, a Nokia concept phone by designer Rune Larsen:

"Among the grievous wrongs done by touchscreen technology, the worst is its disregard for tactile feedback. Without the pleasant sensation of a button being pressed, we are woefully incapable of using any gadget without complete visual attention.

This Nokia concept tries to right this wrong by using a small pump to fill a substrate beneath the screen that gives our fingers something to feel and press. Maybe now I can finally type out these posts while driving to work without having to put my coffee in the cup holder."

LAVENDER DESIGN Phone & fragrance dispenser concept

The LAVENDER DESIGN phone conept by Andrew Seunghyun Kim has a built-in perfume dispenser of you guessed it, lavender.

If that were not enticing enough, the LAVENDER DESIGN also features a built-in “LAVENDER LIGHT” that coats your phone in a bath of bacteria killing UV lights while charging.

[via Yanko Design]

Neck Braces for Mobile Phones

Designer Francesca Lanzavecchia's functional neck braces:

LEFT: The aid-object grows to accommodate the user’s lifestyle and modern dependencies. This PU foam neck brace offers to cradle our communication prosthesis.

RIGHT: Functionally exhibitionistic. This neck brace stores life’s necessities beneath a stretchable semi-transparent rubber skin.

Stuffed Teddy Bear Concept Phone

Spotted on Trends in Japan, a concept phone in the shape of a stuffed teddy bear -that holds a SIM card and enables you to make and receive calls.

It was shown off at the Good Design Expo by mobile provider Willcom.

VOIP with Style

The award winning Tatung VOIP, is one classy phone with aims to making internet phones user friendly, writes Yanko Design.

By Nova Design, it’s currently on exhibition but hopefully it will go into mass production.

KDDI's Concept Phone with Tabs

Spotted on Yanko Design, a concept phone with tabs. Designed by Hideo Kambara.

"KDDI's PLY mobile phone concept is inspired by sandwiched plywood. Each section is tabbed to core functions like a dialpad, keyboard".

Intel Mobile Mood Rings

Intel has a new vision for the future, and one of them is a mobile mood ring concept that is able to recognize a person from the heartbeat, speech pattern, movements and appearance, helping keep your private information by blocking it from others who it does not recognize. Ubergizmo reports.

"This same device could see use at hotel desks int he future, where checking in will allow this mobile mood ring to run a scan through you, automatically sending your personal preference in room temperature, TV channels and special requests to your suite before you even go up the lift.

In addition, this ring is able to track your mood as well as the moods of others, warning you if somebody you don't like is in the area."

au Design Project x Yamaha merges music with mobile in new ways

The au Design Project x Yamaha from KDDI show a series of phones that double as musical instruments. Designed by a foreign and Japanese team of young innovators, these handsets are original, creative, and (the best part) actually able to make music, writes Trends in Japan.

In My Pocket, below, is unique in that it comes with multiple accessories to create different instruments from the harmonica to the trumpet. Sounds are “hummed” into the handset (much like with Yamaha’s EZ TP Trumpet) with the rest controlled by the fingers.

The Iron Phone

Spotted on Hulger, the Iron Phone concept.

By UK based designer Vladimir Rachev.

FuChat Concept Phone Detects Then Displays your Emotional State

The FuChat is a cordless phone for the home that can make both Internet calls and regular calls. The FuChat is also an interactive tool that allows users to increase their emotional self-awareness.

... When the FuChat detects a change in the user’s tone of voice or body temperature, it will change the display, text, sound, lights, and color on the phone. Emotional self-awareness can help with business calls, personal calls, general awareness, or people with specific needs like anger management.

Designed to hang on door handles, walls or stand on desks.

[Tuvie.com via Gizmodo]

Cryptex Mobile Phone Concept: Feel the code

Spotted on Yanko Design, a baton style mobile phone concept by designer Marc Schömann, using haptic technology to provide physical feedback for making a call.

To turn it on…twist a section, to dial a number…twist a bunch of sections, to make an international call…break your wrist!

[via Ubergizmo]

Eiffel Tower shaped cell phone for Bastille Day

Coolest Gadgets via Tuvie reports on a new cell phone designed to commemorate France’s Independence Day (July 14) by bearing a strong resemblance to the Eiffel Tower.

"MobiFrance has recently partnered up with Sony Ericsson to develop a concept cell called the French Luxury (FL).

The phone can stand on its end to resemble the Eiffel Tower, and is equipped with a full touchscreen."

Taking a call under your bluetooth umbrella

Spotted on Yanko Design, an umbrella with a bluetooth enabled handle so you can use your cell phone hands free. By designer Mikhail Stawsky.

Related, sort of:

-- an umbrella that connects to the web via a wireless connection

-- Bluetooth Umbrella Networks

Another Wearable Cell Phone Concept

Spotted on Ubergizmo, a cell phone concept to wear on the back of your hand. By designer Massimo Marrazzo.

Small Cell Phone Concept

Spotted on Just Another Mobile Phone Blog, a small cell phone concept where the screen is neatly hidden and flips out when it is needed. It measures only 8x2.6x15 mm.

Mobile in Forest Exhibition

Japan's major cellular player AU KDDI recently launched an art meets innovation show in Harajuku called the Mobile Forest Exhibition. The exhibit showcases works by various artists offering their innovative ideas for new ways to look at cell phones.

[via DVICE]

Orange’s awsome hole phone

Designed by De Montfort University student Chi Shing Lo as part of Orange’s D&AD Student Awards, it replaces the cameraphone’s viewfinder with a simple hole, as well as using it to hang the phone on a peg charger when its low on juice, or needs to upload shots to a PC.

[via Electripig]

A Zune / X-Box 360 / mobile phone hybrid concept

A Microsoft Zune / X-Box 360 / mobile phone hybrid? Could this potentially be the greatest handheld gadget in the history of the world?

Tired of waiting for Microsoft to come up with the promised device, T3 couldn't wait any longer.

Their artist's impressions from the future tech feature in this month's T3 Magazine show the three gadgets brought together in revolutionary harmony.

[via Yanko Design]

The longest cell phone concept

The longest mobile phone concept seen so far. By designer Tamer Koseli.

[Yanko Design via Gizmodo]

Treo-iPhone concept

Spotted on Yanko Design a Treo-iPhone concept by RKS Design.

Old / New Phone

Spotted on Yanko Design, the “EMC” (easy mobile calling) phone by designer Matthias Pinkert. Because the baby boomer generation adults is about to become the largest group of elderly the world will ever see in its history.

"This phone features four keys for direct calling, one-touch calling, GPS tracking, for when grandma is too loopy to tell where she is, a built in speaker phone and even comes with a laniard to wrap around(choke) grandma’s neck to avoid misplacing it in the refrigerator, next to the pickles."

The Packet Concept Phone

Spotted on MobileWhack, a new concept phone called "The Packet" made from ecofriendly materials which won first place in the Istanbul Design Week 2007.

Hand Phone Concept

Gizmowatch, a Hand Phone concept.