One of our favorite segments is back, the “Wish They Were Phones” (WTWP), this time with one of Savant’s creations. This prototype is dubbed the Touch Remote and it’s a do-it-all kind of gadget, that embeds a fourth-gen iPod touch and the usual Savant iPad home control and automation functions.
This means that using this piece of gadgetry you’ll control the temperature inside your house, lighting, security, home cinema, stove and whatnot. Also, this is not quite far from a smartphone, since it does VoIP and FaceTime video calling. If this becomes a real gadget, it’ll be a must, specially for iPod touch owners who want to turn their media player into something else.
We know that this isn’t a phone design, but it’s equally cool, as the Interactive Pad is a concept device able to control multimedia access and Internet around you. This universal remote-like thingie was created by Marcial Ahsayane and it looks like Stargate material, if you ask me.
Imagine a tiny joystick of some sort, that can surf Facebook, YouTube, iTunes, your webcam, videogames, TV stations, music collections, downloads, apps, Android Marketplace and the Apple App Store. On top of that, it’ll probably control the brand new Google TV and Apple’s next-gen TV product. I’m betting on Sony to make this, in case it becomes real!
Don’t think we forgot the “Wish They Were Phones” series, once again available t hanks to the Philips Aurea remote control, very much resembling a mobile phone. This sliding remote even has all the number keys needed for a mobile call and even the green and red call/reject call buttons, if you really want to talk about phones.
When the device is closed, it resembles an iPod, but when you open it, it’ll look just like a stylish sliding cellphone. Aurea Remote has its power button at the top and the main function buttons placed in a circular pattern around the OK button, just like on many other remotes.
Only a display is lacking from this “handset”, in order to make it a real mobile phone, but till then, this device reaches our wish list…
If you haven’t heard about Mac Funamizu, be sure to check out his stunning works by clicking his name mentioned previously. The man is a visionary and a guru of future technology, or so think quite a bunch of tech enthusiasts. This time he created a very neat piece of work, the 3D Desktop Concept, based on holograms.
This technology could as well be used on phones or various portable gadgets, like laptops, that would become smaller, since their screens and maybe even keyboards will be replaced by projectors. In the case of Mac Funamizu’s concept, the user can pinch the projected image just like on the iPhone, in order to resize it.
There’s also the option of mimicking a typewriter’s paper, via a curled paper hologram, coming out of the keyboard, just for kicks. Also, we learn that all projected 3D objects are interactive and can be dragged, thrown or resized. Original and innovative, as usual!
I fell in love with this futuristic remote control concept the minute I saw it and I thought “why not turn it into a phone?”. Of course, it’s all in my imagination, as the remote control stays as it is right now, the project of a Dutch design student for B&O.
We’re dealing with a no-touch remote, controlled simply by moving your hand over and under it.
This works just fine, as far as volume is concerned, but what about more complex features? In order to change channels, you’ll have to flick a finger through the middle cavity of the device and make two fingers meet in the middle of the cavity to turn the TV off. Part the same fingers to turn the TV on.
The purpose of this gizmo is allowing the user to change channels and the volume of his television set, even if his hands are dirty. What do you say? Could you use a phone that features this control mechanism? It kind of reminds me of gesture control…
This is the third episode of our “Wish They Were Phones” series, that shows you the latest concept gadgets, that would look great as handsets. This time, we’re dealing with the Moonlight laptop concept, that features dual curved screens.
The bigger screen is a 16:9 one, while the smaller one is a 4:3 display, that reduces the eye stress by optimizing the distance from the eye to the laptop screen.
The lower side display is a touchscreen, that can be used as a mouse and it can run a mini operating system in the background, or just provide additional features to the main segment of the laptop. The frame of this device is controlled by sensors and it can light up in the dark, plus it incorporates a pair of accessories that lift the laptop for better viewing and typing.
I would see this phone as an Android device, a very thin one, modular maybe, so you’ll be able to detach/attach any needed component/module.
Let us introduce you to the D-roll concept, a laptop design that made it to our “Wish They Were Phones” section, you know, the place where gadgets that could also be handsets get shown. D-roll was created by designer Hao Hua and it’s based on a typical scroll, being able to roll up after usage.
The device’s straps are used to plug in all USB peripherals and accessories and the concept laptop also comes with a detachable camera, that can be worn on the user’s wrist.
Nobody said anything about OLED, but this concept reminds me of a PSP design that features the same scroll-style approach and a flexible OLED display. Could you imagine a D-roll phone? Or maybe add VoIP/3G/GSM support to the laptop pictured below?
My, my, my how time flies… I got so caught up in blogging about concept phones that I even forgot about the birthday of this website. On 5th February 2007, we posted a blog about the Sony Ericsson PSP Phone. It was the beginning of a journalistic/blogging adventure, with the sole purpose of showing the world the devices we’ll be using in the future.
Now, Concept-Phones.com is one year old and we’d like to thank each and every designer for their wonderful concepts and all the folks who sent us tips, critique and various designs via mail and of course, our readers. We couldn’t have done it without you guys!
Now, to celebrate the event, we want to launch a brand new section of our website, called “Wish They Were Phones” (WTWP).
Basically this section is all about the concept devices that are NOT phones, but we’d like them to be, or they only lack a minor feature to deserve being called handsets. Those will usually be remote controls, audio players, portable consoles, netbooks and whatnot… WTWP makes its debut with the great HP Thync universal remote control, designed by David Chacon.
The gadget can control basically anything in your house and it’s a handheld device that packs a pretty big touchscreen and maybe even voice recognition. Notice that there’s even a phone function among the features of the remote, so we’re not so crazy if we call this WTFP material.
Any other ideas for the “Wish They Were Phones” section?
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