One would have thought after the invention of speed dial that we had pretty much made dialing the phone as easy as possible. However, a quick look at the T-Phone will make you think otherwise. The idea is that you have a few small discs with pictures on them stored inside the phone. When you want to make a call, just open it up, select a disc based on the picture and place it on the large dial button.
The T-Phone is aimed at the elderly, as they tend to have trouble seeing the numbers to dial, or even remembering the number to dial. Unfortunately this is only a concept for now. However, it’s a great idea, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar being sold in the future.
A few days ago at 3GSM in Barcelona, Iqua (in partnership with Suntrica) showed off their solar-powered bluetooth headsets. Modeled on their existing Vogue headset (pictured above), I assume it’ll have some solar panels on the outside, which can be used to charge the internal battery. The only hard numbers available say it’ll weigh 14 grams (no details about talk time, charge time, or battery life), and if it’s got the same specs as the Vogue, it’ll be a pretty typical headset otherwise. From the press release:
Imagine sailing with friends – most of them have mobile phones, digital cameras, MP3 players and laptops on the boat. When there is an opportunity to charge the batteries, everyone rushes to get their device plugged. With the new elegant Iqua headset, you can just relax, sunbathe and let its battery charge. With the BHS-603 SUN, you not only look stylish, but save energy at the same time.
Yeah, my friends and I go sailing (?) with our laptops (??) all the time. What concerns me most, though, is the serious dilemma that this will pose for techno-hippies everywhere: you can have either long hair, or solar power. Not both.
Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG, and Nokia, which together comprise some 85% of the GSM hardware market, have all agreed to standardize their cell phone chargers to Micro-USB. This is great news for consumers, but why are companies making the change when it cuts in to their accessories market? According to Nokia, “with the reduction of cables needed for mobile data connectivity, we can further enhance user experiences in our devices while reducing the burden to the environment.” Forgive me, Nokia, if I don’t believe that you and your buddies are doing this just to be nice to us and the planet. What they might actually be referring to is that in the EU, manufacturers have to pay for part of the cost of recycling electronics that they manufacture, and a common standard might cut down on the number of useless chargers floating around. But I guess whatever the motivation, it’s a good thing.
Back in January, the Pico Projector seemed borderline too good to be true. Then, Motorola signed up for the hardware, and finally we get a look at a bright, svelte, preproduction version stuffed into something about the size of a cellphone. According to Sean Captain from Popular Science, “seeing really is believing with this tech. Point the Pico at any even vaguely flat surface–a wall, someone’s back, the palm of your hand–and it’s movie time.” The version in the video below is a prototype that uses red, green, and blue lasers and a digital micromirror array (ultraminiaturized DLP technology, basically) to pump out a bright picture. The production version will probably rely on LEDs which are cheaper, cooler (in the thermal sense), and more efficient, but most likely a bit dimmer.
You should see this in some sort of production cellphone sometime next year, believe it or not. Take that, iPhone.
Maybe it’s not actually edible, but the Lobster multimedia concept is still quite tasty, as far as I’m concerned. It’s called Lobster because of its segmented design (resembling a lobster tail, I guess), which is the heart of the functionality of this device: each segment is a quasi-independent module, and by clipping them together the Lobster can take on whatever configuration you desire. The core of the device is a base module (the big bit with the screen) containing a cell phone. Other modules clip onto the base module, and could include an MP3 player, a GPS, a digital camera, and even a cardiometer. Another obvious module might be an extended battery, or a bluetooth module. And according to the designer, each module can also be used completely independently. Of course, it’s easy to say all sorts of things since it’s a concept, but I don’t care, I’m hooked anyway. The renderings do have a teeny little LG logo, but it’s too much to hope that there’s an actual prototype on the way. More pics after the jump.
Maybe your cell phone plays music. Maybe it plays videos. Maybe it lets you surf the web. And maybe it even lets you make the occasional phone call. But can it check your blood sugar? That’s right, the hot new cellphone feature is now a built-in glucose meter. GlucoPhone is a module that attaches to some Verizon cell phones that uses small blood samples and test strips to check your blood sugar levels.
You can also download software into your phone that tracks and records your glucose levels, and then sends them to your doctor (or anyone else who might be concerned about those extra donuts). Currently it’s only compatible with the Verizon LG5200 phone, but more models should be forthcoming.
The “Actface” concept phone from KDDI au (the second largest mobile operator in Japan, if you’ve never heard of them) is pimpin’ three full sized touch sensitive LCDs. It looks like it’s got a camera on the one (ugly and boring) surface with no screen, but other than that, there don’t seem to be any more details besides this video that shows off two thirds of the screens:
Apparently, when you press the keys, the screens react in sync with flowing graphics and stuff. Although it’s a concept, it does physically exist, and au has a pretty reliable history of commercializing sweet concept phones. But you have to wonder, why not go all the way with four screens? Even if it’s not any more useful, how cool would it be to have a phone that is entirely covered in screens? Then, you could use some custom wallpapers to make it look like an iPhone…
Apple may very well be getting sued over the fact that the iPhone’s battery is not user-serviceable, but until the class-action suit is settled and the company kicked and beaten into blubbering submission, you still have to fork over a good $86 to Apple if your incessant chattering has rendered your battery useless. For that princely sum, they’ll gladly replace it for you.
Unless of course you purchase this dandy iPhone battery replacement kit from Brando. It’s $20, which beats $86 anytime. Of course, you may void your warranty… and you may also actually break the device. But there are those among us who like to live life on the edge. It comes with a non-official 1400mAh, 3.7VDC iPhone battery, tools (a screwdriver?) and instructions.
Seeing who’s #1 on your girlfriend’s speed dial is about to become slightly more difficult: you’ll be needing one of her eyeballs. Oki Japan is introducing iris recognition software that’s compatible with any phone with at least a 1mp camera. It’s even available as an add-on for existing phones running Symbian or Windows Mobile. According to Oki, the chance of a false positive is a mere 0.00001% (1 in 100,000) with a 2mp camera, but I’m just as concerned about false negatives. How reliably does the phone unlock itself when you need it to? What about if it’s 3am and I’ve been binge drinking in a smoky nightclub and my eyes are all bloodshot? Will the phone recognize me so that I can drunk dial my ex-girlfriends? Clearly, extensive testing will be necessary before this program is ready for the market. Except it already is. In Japan, anyway.
Related Tags: Cellphones, Concept
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