Archive for the ‘Cool concepts’ Category
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012




(24 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5)
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The web has been abuzz today with the image below, supposedly showing a mockup of the first BlackBerry 10 phone, the rumored BlackBerry London. I’ve heard about this phone before and it was nowhere nearly as cool as the one on in this picture. We’re dealing with an ultraslim device (somewhere around 8mm I guess), with a front camera and an OS that also provides support for ported Android apps.

The inside source claiming to be in the know about the BlackBerry London says that RIM is thinking about either the TI OMAP5 or the Qualcomm processor in this phone, both in the 1.5GHz flavor. I also expect here an 8 megapixel camera, a 4.3 inch display, business features, 16GB of internal memory, 1GB of RAM and maybe even LTE. I wonder what’s the deal with the UI shown here, that’s very clean and simplistic, something that let’s face it BlackBerry OS never was.
What would a prefect BlackBerry look and sound like to you?
[via mashable]
Posted in Cool concepts | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012




(22 votes, average: 3.59 out of 5)
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Designer Jsus recently sent me an email regarding an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich concept phone made by “free”, a French phone operator. Not sure if this carrier exists, so if you live in France you may confirm. As far as the device goes, it looks very much like a Samsung unit for me, combined a bit with the rectangular edges of the iPhone 4.

The handset runs Android 4.0 and uses the classic button layout for ICS with something that looks like a loading area at the bottom. If I were to guess, I’d say this is a 1.5GHz dual core handset, with a 4.1 inch display, 16GB of internal memory, 1GB of RAM and an 8 megapixel camera. LTE, NFC, a front camera, a 1700 mAh battery and a microSD card slot would make nice additions, but as long as Jsus doesn’t reveal anything else, I can only speculate.
Considering the name of the phone’s maker is “free”, should I expect it to be available for free on contract?
[Thanks Jsus]
Posted in Cool concepts | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 23rd, 2012




(42 votes, average: 4.62 out of 5)
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The folks of Crackberry.com started an interesting collection of BlackBerry concepts and the first one that impressed them was the one created by
John Anastasiadis. Meet the 2012 BlackBerry concept with a wraparound display and asymmetrical design, that looks stunning. I tell you, the iPhone 4S and Nokia N9 don’t have anything on this beauty…

The designer of this device is both a BlackBerry fan and industrial design passionate with an MBA, so he put his skills to good work. As I said, this BlackBerry design includes a wrap around display, that incorporates the soft keys on the underside for gaming, navigation and other purposes. Being an asymmetrical device, this unit lets you know which side is the best to hold without looking at the phone. There’s a hard button incorporated, one that’s used to lock the screen, take pictures and more.
An interesting aspect is the artificial intelligence on this model, that predicts the user’s intention for a command. I can see that Chrome is also on board, as well as Facebook and a multitasking system that reminds me of QNX OS. The front and back cameras are hidden behind the display, that will also serve as the flash by illuminating. How cool is that? This has got to be the best BlackBerry design I’ve seen in years…
[via Crackberry]
Posted in Cool concepts | 1 Comment »
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012




(16 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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I’ve seen my share of
transparent phones or tablets till now, but each new one still surprises me. An example is the slate created by
Thomas Laenner, who imagined a futuristic tablet with a transparent display and augmented reality features. Mind you that we had no description to go with these images, so I had to interpret them and draw the conclusions.

For one thing there’s no famous OS in action here, although the simplistic nature of the interface used on the transparent tablet makes me think of Nokia and MeeGo somehow… This looks like a business tablet, one that’s ideal to use on a construction site, when an engineer is up on top on a hill and watching where the future building will be built, using augmented reality tech. Seeing that these images show me that the display is simply a sheet of glass, I Imagine that components such as memory, CPU and camera and integrated into the metallic frames keeping the glass in place.
I’m sure that gesture control is involved here, aside from the big touchscreen that’s available. A nifty aspect is that you can take apart the screen part and the two metal frames and store them separately, so you can carry the device more easily when you travel. I guess that you can also attach those metallic parts to other gadgets and the glass display as well… Simplistic design and minimalism are the key factors here, in building a futuristic tablet.





[via Behance]
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Saturday, January 21st, 2012




(19 votes, average: 4.37 out of 5)
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Meet the Floating Phone, a piece of work that exploits the idea of a 3D cellphone in the real sense of the word. Many designers were involved in this idea and they include the following names: Messizon Li, Yang Fan, Linghan Liu, Li Ke, Pengcheng An, Yunlong Zhu & Zhangxia Ruan. This is not longer just a touchphone, as it uses both E-Ink and the brand new Screenfloat tech to offer an unique experience.

The handset can generate shapes on its surface that will aid blind users to interact with the interface and it can even morph into some gaming controls if needed. As far as customization goes, you can personalize everything you want in the UI of the handset and use that circular sensor to make interaction more interesting. The idea here is to feel a floating screen above the normal display, involving a panel that’s made of plastic polymer and contains silicon, carbon, oxygen and metals.
At first glance a floating display on top of another one may sound like a dream, but the idea here is that under the ultraviolet ray the surface of the new display will start to float. This design won’t be a dream anymore in 2015 an Microsoft is already working on something like that, according to the creators of the Floating Phone. E-Ink is predicted to reach 16 bit colors in the following years, says MIT, so we’ll also get the best out of that technology. The same floating screen provides friction force and normal response to fingers. And most of all… it’s NOT just a hologram!





[via Yanko Design]
Posted in Cool concepts | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 20th, 2012




(19 votes, average: 3.11 out of 5)
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How about switching from traditional materials for making handsets to nanoparticles? An example is the Smartphone Booklet, a disposable phone thin as a cardboard and imagined by Ilshat Garipov. The designer envisions a handset that you can throw after using and that’s able to unfold like a pamphlet with each side being used for a specific application or function.

Manufacturers will be able to cut the device to any size and if you get tired of the Booklet or if it wears out you can recycle it. No problems with storage here, since everything is based on cloud technology and there are no worries about the battery, since the sun will provided the need energy, absorbed by nanoparticles. The only problem with this cardboard/paper/nanoparticle phone is that it looks pretty fragile, as if it’ll break apart or tear any minute now.
I have to admit that the touchscreen here looks great, so it’s hard for me to believe that’s actually no OLED involved here and good old technology. The other day you saw a handset that could become a tablet and change shape with the aid of small tiles and now tiny particles shape up another morphing smartphone. Does the future belong to flexible chameleon-like handsets?





[via Yanko Design]
Posted in Cool concepts | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 19th, 2012




(8 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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Modular devices seem to be getting more and more trendy, just like the Mobikoma concept phone, created by Kamil Izrailov. This handset is actually made out of small squares of pure technology, small little gadgets that are fastened to each other through micro locks. Each module has its own battery and processor and gathered they all generate a big computing device and big power source.

You can use Mobikoma collectively as a phone, or even a mini tablet, by adding a few extra modules. Two specific little gadgets are dedicated to the SIM storage, phone memory and microphone. You also get programmed buttons on some of the key pieces of this technologic puzzle. On the side surfaces of the modules in the middle there are apertures and the locks of these elements come apart after pushing a pin into an aperture. The maximum size of all these modules gathered together can be 1.5 x 2 m, which is huge, to be honest.
With 54 elements you create a tablet, while 2 elements make a very tiny cellphone (22mm x 44mm x6mm) and 18 elements make a decent smartphone. You can shape the ideal gear like an U, like an O, like a cross or whatever your heart desires. As the images show, this is a Windows device, so it gives you access to all the famous formats and codecs when it comes to media playback. No mention of the camera though…





[via Yanko Design]
Posted in Cool concepts | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 12th, 2012




(8 votes, average: 2.63 out of 5)
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If you’ve been following the smartphone-related news recently, you must know that Research in Motion, the creator of Blackberry devices hasn’t been doing so well lately. They lack original models, they have image problems, the lost the trademark to the BBX OS and much, much more. Now, it appears that at some point there was a BlackBerry concept that could have saved them called Urraco.

BlackBerry Urraco was created by ChauhanStudio back in 2009, that was appointed by RIM to deliver the next best thing for the Canadian company. The result is a very slim and elegant cellphone, that keeps the trademark BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard. The back of this phone reminds me of an automobile rather than a phone and maybe a bit of the Microsoft Kin failure. ChauhanStudio is a London-based design agency, hired to create such concept designs. It took then 12 weeks of work to come up the physical mockups of the BlackBerry Urraco shown here.
The device is named after a Lamborghini, so that’s why I said it looks like a car, thanks to that angular design. Imagine if this phone was launched 3 years ago, with enough RAM, a powerful CPU and maybe even a touchscreen. RIM could be in an entirely different situation right now and not facing recent rumors about a possible buyout from Microsoft, with the aid of Nokia. This handset is still doable, provided that RIM wants to return to that design…



[via fastcodesign]
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Sunday, January 8th, 2012




(22 votes, average: 4.59 out of 5)
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Designer Jsus showed us another concept, the Icon One phone, that seems to be a very slim device that looks like Sony Ericsson or Samsung material to me. As you can see, the lower and upper side of the handset are symmetrical and they look exactly the same, although at the top I can spot a front facing camera. If I were to estimate I’d say that this phone is 6-7mm thick…

The Icon One is available with an all black elegant case and it features a 4 inch HD flexible OLED display, a 5 megapixel front camera and 12 megapixel camera at the back. There’s also a HDMI port stuffed somewhere on the sides of this phone and a 3.5mm audio jack for audio output. Jsus promises to deliver a couple of real life photos of the device next time. I’d see this unit as a potential Galaxy S III wannabe, or maybe a very slim LG Optimus unit.
What do you think? Which company would make such an interesting handset?
[Thanks Jsus]
Posted in Cool concepts | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012




(26 votes, average: 4.46 out of 5)
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Designer Julius Tarng brings back to our attention a niche of handsets that seemed forgotten: the modular phones. Meet the Modai, a modular handset that aims at turning your smartphone into your best friend. This companion device is inspired by human behavious and designed to keep you attached to it both physically and emotionally.

Modai has a social side called Fundai and work side called Prodai, both being paradigms that help the user fit both work and play in their schedule. These paradigms sort incoming content into special screens and stay true to their purpose, so it’s all about work, scheduling, meetings and projects in Prodai and all about Facebook, weather, birthdays, dates and texting with Fundai. Modai also has a special avatar that represents your mood and it can also recommend you stuff to do when you’re in a certain area of the town.
For example, it may suggest you a bus schedule, lunch specials, nearby friends on the map and more. The Modai phone keeps being your friend and greets you in the morning, while keeping silent at night and only showing you the weather widget of special basic UI traits, like the sleep cycle and special alarm. The handset is also able to adapt, so if it senses you overslept, it will create a faster route to work using its GPS. Of course, the modular side is also present here, courtesy of upgradable hardware, including batteries, camera, RAM, CPU and more, all of them inserted into a special Peelstand case with muscle wire, that moves on its own. Catchy, right?




[via Yanko Design]
Posted in Cool concepts | 1 Comment »
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