What do we have here? The replacement for a PC, a tablet and a smartphone… This strange device is a dual side sliding unit, created by Lin Jian Feng and reminding us of an older Nokia model from back when the Finns were top notch phone makers.
This two-way slide netbook uses a multimedia shortcut key and its screen angle can be adjusted with ease. Its sliding parts make up a QWERTY keyboard and they also manage to integrate a rocker instead of a mouse. Shortcut keys are also placed on the keyboard, with multimedia functions involved. The total width of the device (when open) is 500mm, while the width is 122m and the thickness is 15mm.
With the sliding parts closed we guess that this concept becomes an elongated smartphone with at most a 5 inch touch display. Beautiful? Yes! Practical? Not quite, at least not yet.
How about a flexible tablet to brighten the CES-filled day? Andrew Nammiga from Orange County created the Flexible Modile, a mobile device that flexes and becomes a tablet. This touch sensitive gadget incorporates a flexible display and can fold out in order to be turned into a slate.
The external screen displays the background picked by the user and the unit is ruled by customizability, as its main aspect. There’s a videocall camera in there, plus the ability to turn the conceptual gadget into a photo frame or a media player. Also, considering that the display basically covers the entire device, you can change its looks in any way you want, as pointed out by the last pic below.
Android was chosen as the ideal OS for this concept!
Samsung wants to revolutionize the tablet segment, by launching a slate with a sliding keyboard, one that might look like the mockup below. This is the Samsung Gloria, a device that will become real in the near future and it might run Windows 7.
Samsung Gloria is supposed to feature a 10 inch touchscreen, a full QWERTY sliding keyboard and we should expect it on the market in March or April 2011. By the looks of it, the tablet concept comes with a front camera, possibly one at the back and a pretty cool nav pad.
Freescale’s mobile device shown in the following image and videos seems to be a very serious project that we hope to see it turned into a real product some day. The new type of device is basically a tablet, that’s very mobile and user-friendly, plus it relies on cloud solutions and social interaction.
Both business users and kids will love this product, as it can get gaming controls attached and it fits your every corporate need and service. The Freescale slate supports 3D graphics, audio calls via headset, video calls, Bluetooth, WiFi and it even acts as a remote for appliances in the house. Also, the unit is able to connect to your in-car system.
You can use the Freescale tablet in the gym, for health monitoring, you can download apps on it, sync the device with cloud/desktop PC, view media content, browse the web and much more! A 3 axis accelerometer will once again enhance the gaming features on the portable gizmo.
Eking is a company that doesn’t ring any bells, at least not to us, but apparently they’re preparing a new UMPC/MID, available as a render now. The concept MID relies on the Intel Atom platform and should pack a 5 inch 1024 x 600 multitouch display made by Sharp. WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and 3G support are also on board.
The device’s display is able to slide and tilt and underneath it you’ll find a full QWERTY keyboard. Also, the UMPC can be used when closed, thanks to its bezel controls. Expect this unit to run Windows 7, if it becomes real and we must mention there’s also a webcam included upfront.
Designer Frank Tobias created a brand new tablet concept, but he couldn’t decide on the branding of the device, yet. Also, he has a hard time choosing the UI and OS for the unit (Windows Phone 7, Android, Windows 7 etc). Any suggestions?
We have to mention that the tablet features a 3.5mm audio jack, 2 USB ports on the right side, a 10 megapixel camera with HD video recording and a triple LED flash. HTC would certainly fit this device, or maybe Motorola? How about Dell? Ideas?
At this point it doesn’t seem at all incredible to wear a PC around your wrist, specially with the current technology developments. However, Hiromi Kiriki created a concept that totally blew our mind, the Sony Nextep Computer, that can be worn on the wrist, detached and turned into a brilliant PC, as you can see in the following pictures.
This concept computer is based on a fleixble OLED touchscreen and there’s also a holographic projector in the mix, to replace the screen. Extra keyboard panels will pull out from the device and social networking is also among the features.
A wearable computer sounds a bit sci-fi, but think about Microsoft Surface and how it would have sounded like back in 90s… Thumbs up, to the designer of the Sony device!
Here’s a device that will have the DJs excited: a Freescale tablet concept, the one that gets pictured below. This design is all about multimedia and professional audio features and it comes with modular docking stations, useful for “specialised connectivity”.
The tablet provides HDMI, composite, VGA and component connections, plus Ethernet and USB. This is the “Home Bar” version we’re talking about, while the “Pro Custom Audio Bar” supports MIDI, XLR and S/PDIF connectivity, that allow it to interface with a synth, DJ system or turntable, as shown in the image below.
These connections are in the dock, so you can detach the tablet from it and use it like any other device of this kind, until you feel the need for some professional connectivity. Thumbs up for Freescale’s tablet design!
Designer Yang Yongchang had the brilliant idea of creating what we call these days a “smartbook”, a hybrid between a smartphone and a netbook. This concept smartphone features a 6.5 inch 16:9 capacitive touchscreen display, with support for multitouch and gravity sensing technology. Its physical keyboard can be folded into a bigger unit, as you can see in the following pics.
Basically, the iWeb 2.0 provides the same full QWERTY keyboard you can see on every laptop out there, by dual folding outside of the main device. You can notice that the concept includes status indicators (a row at the bottom of the keyboard) and 3 quick operation buttons: zoom, WEB attributes, HOME button and more.
The maximum angle for the screen is 115 degrees and we have to mention that the keypad includes a touchpad, shortcut keys, soft material keys and decorative pieces. The iWeb 2.0 certainly looks like a gaming machine and a powerful portable PC, but we’ll probably never see it turned into a real laptop, which is a real pity.
While Android looks like a pretty cool platform for a tablet, we’re willing to give Windows Phone 7 a chance of reaching the same devices. For now, this only happens on concepts, like the one below, created by designer Umang Dokey. This Windows Phone 7 tablet features an 8 inch touchscreen display and two web cams with 3D video calling support.
There’s also a built-in stand on board of the tablet concept, doubling as a keyboard and two analogue joysticks can be found at the back of the device, with gaming purposes. The less appealing part of this idea might even be the OS, that for now doesn’t support copy and paste, a crucial function on a portable PC.
Don’t forget to check out the video below, to see the kickstand acting like a keyboard:
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