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HTC gets fancy with designer Tattoo covers

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 13th 2009 @ 8:14AM

We knew the Tattoo would be just a little funkier than the rest of the devices in HTC's Android line (though you've got to admit that the pink Hero is pretty freakin' funky), and that vision's now coming to fruition under a whole line of designer covers. Under the clever-but-obvious "Tattoo My HTC" and "Tattoo You" catchphrases, the company is now offering a selection of 15 replacement covers to spice up your sidearm for €11.99 (about $18) each -- and if you're not feeling any of them, you can design your own right from the comfort of HTC's site for €14.99 (about $22). That might seem outrageous for a battery cover, but the good news is that these aren't just pretty rear ends -- the covers replace both the front and back of the Tattoo for a whole-body makeover that's sure to impress your fashion-conscious friends.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Fujitsu cellphone design contest yields mind-blowing results: hands-on

by Darren Murph posted Oct 6th 2009 @ 5:01AM

Fujitsu has been wowing us with cellphone concepts for quite some time, but this year's round at CEATEC is undoubtedly a show-stopping bunch. Some of the hottest ideas to come from the outfit's most recent mobile phone design contest were on display here in Japan, and we went end to end capturing the lot. The clear pebble mock-up (shown above) was easily the crown jewel (in our mind, anyway), with a small black blob able to morph into different screens (media panels, a keypad, web browser, etc.) depending on which corner you drag said blob into. There was also a design reminiscent of paper mache, not to mention one with a circular vibe that just has to be a long lost cousin to Motorola's AURA. Have a gander at the masterpieces in the gallery below, but don't bet on these hitting your ~~favorite~~ carrier anytime soon.

Gallery: Fujitsu cellphone design contest yields mind-blowing results: hands-on

LG KG376's most fascinating feature is its color

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 31st 2009 @ 4:49PM

Style is commonly considered a luxury; form follows function, as they say. The commoditization of phones over the past fifteen years has done weird things to economics, though, which leads directly to phones like LG's KG376. You won't find a single item on the flip's spec sheet that even begins to interest you (unless you're really, really into 128 x 128 displays), but it seems that LG intends to market the phone directly at women with an eye for style on account of its purple case with pink accents. It's got an integrated FM radio and an external light (where you'd normally expect a secondary display to be) that'll go all blinky on you to indicate messages and the like, but don't get too excited -- it seems pricing and availability are still on the downlow.

Nokia interface patent fits like an AR-enhancing glove

by Ross Miller posted Jul 11th 2009 @ 10:37AM

Okay, you know the drill by now: just because it's in a patent doesn't mean it's happening anytime soon, if ever. With that said, we'd love to see what Nokia had in mind when they concocted this one. As Unwired View recently unearthed, the Finnish phone maker has drawn up a design doc / patent application for comfortable, stretchable material that fits over your skin and is used for device interaction. Gestures and stretches are computed and signaled into nearby computers, phones, or interestingly enough "near-eye displays" -- sounds like we're getting into a bit of virtual / augmented reality territory here -- and they are also tailored to provide feedback via vibration. Again, don't hold your breath on seeing this come to fruition any point in the near (or even long) future, but still, we know what you're thinking: Nokia's gonna have to think of a ton of kooky color descriptions to accentuate any future lineup of input wristbands / fingerbands.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Palm Pre designers sit down to talk, reminisce and revel

by Darren Murph posted Jun 5th 2009 @ 9:21AM

By now, you know precisely what the Palm Pre is capable of. You know the ins and outs of the user experience, and you've probably got a solid idea of whether or not you'll be lined up come June 6th to claim one as your own. But here's a side you probably haven't heard: the voice of the design team. At long last, the masterminds behind Palm's comeback phone have finally sat down to talk about the build process and what drove them to create both the Pre and webOS. Not surprisingly, most of it came from the desire to truly revolutionize the mobile experience, one that's been generally poor for far too long. In separate (but equally awesome) interviews, Michelle Koh and a gaggle of design engineers (including Matias Duarte, Mike Bell, Peter Skillman and Michael Abbott) have opened up to spill their soul on rejuvenating the company with a single product. We won't issue any spoilers here, but we'd argue that the read links below are required reading if you're even remotely interested in this handset.

Read - Michelle Koh interview
Read - Design team interview

Conduit mobile phone concept is about 40 years early

by Darren Murph posted Feb 22nd 2009 @ 1:25AM

As much as we adore this concept, we're not even remotely hopeful something like this will become a reality within the next score or so. That said, we'd love to be proven wrong, as the Conduit is quite possibly the most fantastic phone design to ever be conceived. With a hint of steampunk, a dash of Star Trek and a splash of ergonomic appreciation, this here mobile can be collapsed into a pocket-friendly form or expanded into a bona fide video phone. Hit up the read link for a few more looks, and feel free to give these designers a chunk of capital to make our dreams come true.

[Via kanYeWestBlog]

Worn out pants collection to show mobile progression

by Darren Murph posted Aug 18th 2008 @ 8:17PM

Just as wallets leave impressions in rear pockets, cellphones can do the same for pockets in the front. One Aram Bartholl has decided to start a collection of battle-tested jeans that "show traces of mobile tech development in society." We've no idea if he's planning to tackle the whole thing on his own, but we'd suggest buying up old pants from around the globe in order to amass a sizable collection ~~before death~~ sooner. The image you see above shows what happens if you walk around for three solid years pocketing an original Nokia 6600. Anyone got any impressions (SFW, please) they'd like to share in comments below?

[Via textually]

Folding Plica concept phone makes our eyes widen

by Darren Murph posted Aug 3rd 2008 @ 8:39AM

Mmm, touchscreens. Expansive, gorgeous touchscreens. That pretty much sums up our initial impressions after taking one hard look at James Piatt's Plica concept. As you can tell, this foldable cellie opens up to reveal a pair of touchscreens just begging to be used for web browsing, texting and photo viewing. There's also a mini-USB port and a headphone jack, though we'd certainly be interested to see how he plans on slipping a battery in there that lasts more than a hour or two. Can we get a major handset manufacturer to look in this direction -- pretty please?

[Via gadgetell]

Conceptual baton phone does the twist

by Darren Murph posted Jul 22nd 2008 @ 8:36AM

The tried-and-true Hamburger phone is still our fav (what, there a problem with that?), but Marc Schömann's baton-styled concept phone is very worthy of a look. Laden with LEDs and ready to be turned, users can dial up friends and family in painstakingly long procedures that involve all sorts of inefficient rotating maneuvers. Still, we can't help but adore the hat tip to yesteryear's rotary phones, though we have no doubts that this will never, ever see a retail shelf. Please, someone, prove us wrong.

[Via PhoneMag]

Video: Provoke's cellphone concepts make us squirm

by Thomas Ricker posted May 19th 2008 @ 6:48AM

Ew. We're not sure what it is about watching a video of Provoke's Touch concept that creeps us out. Nevertheless, we're not feeling the "deep communication" the phones are meant to create between lovers. Instead, we're drawn to images of a bandaged, reptilian baby pustulating to the songs of a heavy-cheeked woman singing from inside of our radiator. You too? Decidedly less-freaky Express concept also video'd after the break.

Continue reading Video: Provoke's cellphone concepts make us squirm

Love To Talk Jawbone headsets make your other ear jealous

by Darren Murph posted Feb 29th 2008 @ 9:06PM

Quite frankly, the traditional Jawbone headset is pretty stylish as is. Nevertheless, Yves Behar has somehow managed to make it even sexier with the creation of the Love To Talk family. This trio, which will reportedly be made available "in a very limited quantity," consists of a gold Sweet Talk version, black Dirty Talk edition and white Trash Talk model. No word on a price nor where to actually find one outside of the totally shady black market, but feel free to take a closer look at each in the read link below.

Report from bizarro world: Centro, i760 best designed phones

by Darren Murph posted Dec 6th 2007 @ 8:13PM

Although "innovative" isn't exactly the word we chose to use when summing up Palm's Centro, apparently the public at large sees things a little differently -- or, so says this report, anyway. According to a buyer behavior writeup from Strategy Analytics, the Centro "attracted the most attention from nearly half of the tested US consumers who are intending to purchase a new mobile device" in Q4, and it even ranked ahead of the second-place Samsung i760 in the "appealing" department. Both of the aforementioned handsets were hailed as the top choices (saywha?) for folks "seeking a multifunction, fully integrated device," while the Nokia Prism and LG Rumor also got a few props along the way. Of course, it's always best to take these "studies" with a healthy serving of salt, but if you wanted something to debate about, you've found it.

[Via MobileWhack]

Samsung and Giorgio Armani team up on mobile phones, LCD TVs

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 23rd 2007 @ 4:14PM

In an exciting peanut-butter-in-my-chocolate development, Samsung has announced its plans to manufacture new products jointly designed with famed fashion magnate Giorgio Armani (of course, we knew this was coming). According to reports, Giorgio and the company are teaming up for the development of a "luxury" mobile phone, as well as a "luxury" LCD television, both of which are rumored to be extremely "luxurious." The phone (which we first heard about in July) will make its first "official" appearance at an Armani fashion show in Milan, Italy, while the television will rear its gorgeous head sometime in January. "This powerful partnership will match great design with leading technology to ensure performance is as impressive as appearance," said Yun Jong-Yong, vice chairman of Samsung. Could this be the company's answer to LG's Prada mash-up? We think yes.

Jabra's Cara Gold JX10 Bluetooth headset

by Darren Murph posted Jul 11th 2007 @ 7:30PM

The gilded touch hasn't evaded the mobile realm entirely, but it has been a tick since we've seen anything (well, anything worthwhile) come through that was Midas-approved. Bucking that trend is none other than Jabra, who is apparently readying a Cara Gold JX10 headset designed by Jacob Jensen. Reportedly, the device will be limited in production, will weigh less than ten grams, and will tout DSP technology to reduce background noise whilst chatting. Additionally, it should last through about six hours of talking before needing a recharge, and while we aren't much on wearing a BT earpiece around in public anyway, we'd be extra cautious with a $300 iteration. Check out a closeup after the jump.

[Via Slashphone]

Continue reading Jabra's Cara Gold JX10 Bluetooth headset

Students design socially-activated phones

by Darren Murph posted May 15th 2007 @ 6:25PM

While the Smellophone will certainly get you one step closer to joining the social via your mobile, students at the University of Dundee are taking social activation to new heights with its lineup of prototype phones. Similar to sensor-laden gear that sends out a variety of feedbacks when a specified event occurs nearby, the six phones that were created by second year students from the College of Art, Science and Engineering's product design course actually supported "intimacy and sensuality" along with collaborative music making. Two particularly moving devices were the Aware (pictured), which reportedly "sends a tingle down your back if a friend is nearby," and the Boom Tube, which "allows people to make music together." Who knew customized ringtones would lead us to this?