I watched an interesting programme recently about the future of the mobile phone, and how the technology continues to grow at an unsustainable rate year on year. It discussed views and opinions on the direction mobile phone technology will take over the coming decades. Of those views presented there was a huge difference between them, from experts predicting that the technology will become obsolete, to others thinking it will become the hub for all multimedia used within our daily lives.
Whilst the future of the mobile will inevitably be debated about for a long time to come, I started looking around at various concept phones to see what we can expect to become available in the more immediate future.
The Brix concept is one such idea I came across that pushed the idea of current mobile integration. It consists of flat touch screen that covers the entire surface of the mobile, with features accessible through an IPod like display. The integration of the phone with other units is the trump card. Users can combine the Brix mobile in limitless fashion building bigger screens with desired aspect ratios, much in the way of Lego bricks. Personally I think this is quite impractical, as you are either relying on either owning several handsets, or friends having the same phone, to get the most out of Brix compatibility. A nice idea though.
Other interesting models that I unearthed focused around altering the conventional shape of mobiles as we know them. The BenQSiemens Snake Phone is built to wrap around the users wrist, taking on a cool snake like presence. This idea or morphing shape is developed further by the NEC Tag concept phone. Manufactured out of flexible material, the phone is able to change shape according to the mode it is in.
Lastly there are the phones that see data storage transfer and as the way forward, with offerings from Nokia focused around providing mobiles with the ability to store a range of different media, and the technology to quickly and easily share large amount of data wirelessly.
The Nokia Archive is a dual-touch screen phone that is designed to let users do exactly that. The phones will consequently being marketed around the wireless conferencing and remote presentation services it is capable of providing.
Some common trends identified in the development of data transfer, shape and mobile handset integration. I guess only time will tell which concepts mature into products available on shop floors.
