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Nokia/BMW Concept Phone, Brand Crossovers Done Right

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (384)

This is the kind of phone that you would want to see coming from Nokia when they finally decide to throw their ring into the cut-throat 8 megapixel market.

The slick lines of this concept phone crossover with BMW designed by Ukraine’s Evgen Designers would definitely give that ‘wow’ factor they desperately need to wrestle supremacy back from the Samsung i8510 and the forthcoming KC910 from LG.

The pushbutton mechanism would turn the entire screen through 90 degrees, becoming the display for the videocamera uniquely placed at the base of the phone.

Coolest feature? The BMW logo becoming the ‘zoom’ jog dial… It definitely nails that luxury phone look, hopefully Nokia will make it a reality before someone else does!

Source: CellPhoneBeat

Bluetooth Brolly

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (384)

Want to make an important phonecall, but it’s raining and your hands are already occupied with an umbrella? Well, here’s the Bluetooth Umbrella! It allows for handsfree calls with your phone, a fancy touch screen for options, and manages to include the unique function of shielding the user from precipitation if and when it occurs. An “umbrella,” if you will.

Bless those industrious boffins, or just Mikhail Stawsky. It was his idea, after all.

Yes, it involves talking into the handle of an umbrella whilst walking around, but that makes me look a bit more sane. Better than looking like one of the Borg with a regular Bluetooth headset, too. Make it so.

Source : Yanko Design

Vive La Phone!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (384)

Concept images for an impressive handset to commemorate French Independence Day has been doing the rounds, and as crazy as it looks, it might just work…

The FL (French Luxury) handset, designed by MobiFrance has the fairly obvious inspiration of the Eiffel Tower contributing to its design, with the 4 inch curved OLED touchscreen being the focal point. Add in the 7.2 megapixel camera and the free-standing nature of the handset, the speakers on the sides make it a nice multimedia phone which could actually work in real life!

Once again, it’s a phone which can easily sell if they just went ahead and put it into production…not to say we would enjoy a phone so difficult to transport on one’s person, but it is definitely one worth taking off the drawing board.

C’est magnifique!

Another pic follows…

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Sony Ericsson’s Latest Concept Handset

By Kate CrowleycloseAuthor: Kate Crowley Name: Kate Crowley
Email: talk@omio.com
Site: http://www.omio.com
About: Kate's interest in mobile phones began when she realised she was supernaturally adept at Snake 2. She was less good at Battleships and, frankly, we shouldn't even mention Pipes.See Authors Posts (206)

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve beaten a wall with my fists/face whilst shouting, “WHY?! Why won’t you make this beautiful concept phone a reality?!†Why do I have to look at things like this (no offence, Nokia 1650) when designers are creating things like this?:

That’s Ammunition’s concept handset for Samsung. They’re the company who are rumoured to be designing the Gphone.

Sony Ericsson have just released this image of their concept Walkman handset, called the W1000. It has a full HD OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) touchscreen display, 16GB of memory, 5-megapixel camera, 3.5mm jack and Walkman v.4. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: make me this phone, bitches.

Source: Toys and Gadgets

Google Phone Rumours Gathering Ammunition

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (384)

A huge rumour regarding Google’s entry to the mobile phone market has been resurrected, igniting interest in the future plans of the search company.

Their open source Android operating system has been developed as a low-cost alternative for manufacturers, allowing them to offer iPhone-esque bespoke functionality for their handsets without a protracted development time and costs. Due to be released on a number of devices by the end of the year, the unveiling of Android as a product Google was not keeping to themselves quashed speculation of them making a phone for the market.

However, a press conference held by Google’s co-founders this week has rekindled the fires of suspicion regarding a ‘gPhone’ to counter Apple’s new dominance in the smartphone sector. An apparent misquote in an article from Dan Cox of the Hollywood Reporter got the community revved again about the possibility of the phone’s development, rumours quickly debunked by Google themselves.

TechCrunch still won’t let this rumour lie though, with word that San Francisco product design firm Ammunition are working hard on designing the new handset for Google. A quick peek at their site proves the pedigree of the former Pentagram employees, with a number of concept designs for heavyweights such as Dell, Microsoft, Logitech and mobile phone company Sprint. These certainly look like the go-to guys for designing something like the gPhone.

Oh, and Ammunition’s founder? One Robert Brunner, Director of Industrial Design at Apple Inc. until 1997. Yes, he was succeeded by the amazing Jonathon Ive who went on to design everything Apple is now famous for, but he Brunner wasn’t shabby himself, designing the original Powerbook.

Silicon Valley Insider has a great piece on exactly why Google shouldn’t make a phone, especially now. Going for the masses with a software based solution is far more likely to prove successful than attempting to break off a piece of an already fractured market with hardware.

It could all just be conjecture and speculation, but TechCrunch spies often turn out to be right on the money. Time will tell as Google moves towards releasing the Android platform, as they will have to disclose their own plans to other manufacturers. Exciting times ahead, with Nokia’s Symbian architecture soon to be the choice for most mobile makers and the iPhone’s supremacy being cemented with 3G, Android will have to prove to be something special.

What’s In A Mobile Phone Name?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (384)

Whilst we were sure that Nokia’s steam-powered Differential Engine was on the blink when it spewed forth classic numbers like the 7210 and 6650 for the second time, apparently there is an elaborate science as opposed to a tombola for naming new phones.

Thanks in large part to the awesome resource for research that Wikipedia is, the Gadget Blog has shone light on the algorithms that go into choosing a number. The conventions that Sony Ericsson and Nokia utilise to stratify their mobile phones are looked at in detail, showing the difference between minutiae like a W850a and a W850i.

How interesting the article gets after the jump depends on how far down the rabbit hole you are prepared to go…

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The ShapeShifter Concept Phone

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (384)

Usually, concept phone images look like the product of a designer’s worst fever dream, but this one is very different.

ShapeShifter is a gorgeous idea from the mind of designer Rune Larson. The concept behind it is that the phone will consist of two layers of plastic, one being fluid whilst the other is solid, yet filled with (an as yet undisclosed) liquid. As such, when the liquid is pushed between the layers, different shapes are created on the handset’s surface.

This results in an insanely awesome phone, which could manipulate its entire form according to the function required. A simple touch of the screen creating both physical and visual changes is a brilliant idea, and one that would change things in an already tumultuous market.

Despite the prevalent Nokia branding, it is important that we reiterate it is a concept, and some ways off from reality. Also, would the market leader ever make such a bold change from their original handsets? We can’t remember the last Nokia that couldn’t be recognised as such from space. This outlandish Matrix inspired effort is beautiful, but practical or even feasible with today’s technology? Not so much.

Love it? Loathe it? Let it out in the handset section of the forums.

Sexy fantasy phone pics follow…

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