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Nokia and University of Cambridge launch the Morph - a nanotechnology concept device
Posted by Newsman @ 09:12 am
Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK) - was launched today alongside the “Design and the Elastic Mind” exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Morph features in both the exhibition catalog and on MoMA’s official website.
Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. It demonstrates the ultimate functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. Dr. Bob Iannucci, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia, commented: “Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices; the Morph concept shows what might be possible“.
One of the major bottlenecks in the development of todays mobile phones, is the limitation of power technologies.
To have a conveniently portable handsets, the battery pack has to be rather small. But current Li-Ion batteries just can’t pack enough power to satisfy the power needs of all the chips, that fit into the latest smartphone.
Now Samsung has a neat idea, described in recent patent application, of how to remedy the problem at least a little bit.
Use the front surface for a bigger display and some navigation buttons. Then make a battery pack into removable keypad, move the keypad to the backside of the device and add small screen for calling functions.
And it’s a win all around. You have a space for a bigger display, a place for a bigger, keypad sized battery. And you also can have a multiple keypad battery packs with different layouts.
Don’t like the traditional 3×4 key layout? Just slap another keypad battery pack onto a phone, with smaller 5×4 keys, and you are done.
Two way slider, allowing to have both, numeric keypad and QWERTY keyboard in a mobile phone is nothing new these days.
Sony Ericsson and Nokia tried to patent their take on it recently. Some rumors say that Sony Ericsson P5i may actually feature one, and Samsung already has a two way slider in an officially announced, if not yet shipping, Samsung F520.
Still, the idea looks great on paper, and everyone is trying to come up with a way for this set-up to work as great in a real life too. Here’s another take on imagining a perfect dual slider by Nokia:
In a patent application called “A layered mobile device”, Nokia is actually thinking about a triple slider, with the display and keyboard/keypad “sandwiched” on one another.
The new Land Rover LRX Concept will integrate the iPhone located dead center of the console. Owners can dock the iPhone and even use it as a key to start the vehicle. Located on either side of the power-adjusted speakers are iPod docking stations.
The Land Rover LRX Concept will debut at the Detroit Auto Show next month, and you can bet your ass I’m going to be all over it (yes, I will be attending the event).
At the cutting edge of innovation
We envision developing mobile technologies in new ways to help us all reduce our environmental footprint. To meet our future vision, the Nokia Research Center supported by Nokia designers conceived the Nokia Eco Sensor Concept. Our visionary design concept is a mobile phone and compatible sensing device that will help you stay connected to your friends and loved ones, as well as to your health and local environment. You can also share the environmental data your sensing device collects and view other users’ shared data, thereby increasing your global environmental awareness.
The concept
The concept consists of two parts – a wearable sensor unit which can sense and analyze your environment, health, and local weather conditions, and a dedicated mobile phone.
The sensor unit will be worn on a wrist or neck strap made from solar cells that provide power to the sensors. NFC (near field communication) technology will relay information by touch from the sensors to the phone or to or to other devices that support NFC technology.
Both the phone and the sensor unit will be as compact as possible to minimize material use, and those materials used in the design will be renewable and/or reclaimed. Technologies used inside the phone and sensor unit will also help save energy.
You know, industrial designers seem to love conceptualizing what future Sony Ericsson mobiles will look like. Designer Vincent Palicki is just one of many but his design actually looks like it could be made today and fit right in with the SE family.
It’s a slim candy bar style phone complete with a big screen, standard SE key layout but touched up with stainless steel buttons. Yes it’ll do music, movies, text, email, blah blah and blah so where’s the innovation here? It would be the full size USB port, perfect for any thumb drive. Of course it’s not meant to have a “sore thumb” sticking out at all times, but it’s a way to transfer files like music, videos, and pictures to and from without the need of a computer.
