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Nokia Unveils Shape Changing Nano-phone Concept

Posted by samzenpus on from the can-you-bend-it-now dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept developed by Nokia Research Center and the University of Cambridge, has gone on display as part of the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. The concept demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform the gadget into radically different shapes. Nokia said that elements of Morph might be integrated into handheld devices within seven years, though initially only at the high end."

32 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Ugh by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What's with this constant focus on e-toys? This is news for nerds, stuff that matters, not what $800 gadget will make you look like a networked, tech-minded businessman.

    1. Re:Ugh by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You mean like those blue-tooth headsets people insist on wearing all the time even when they're not talking on them? Ugggggh

    2. Re:Ugh by Mongoose+Disciple · · Score: 5, Funny

      I assume the Slashdot editors are just doing their part to remain vigilant against a resurgence of sidetalking.

      It's a serious matter and everyone must do their part!

    3. Re:Ugh by merreborn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You mean like those blue-tooth headsets people insist on wearing all the time even when they're not talking on them? Ugggggh
      It's not hands free if you have to dig into your pocket, find the thing, and shove it in your ear.

      If you have a reasonable expectation that you'll receive a call, say, during your drive home, then the safest thing you can do is leave the thing on, even if it makes you look like an extra from a bad sci fi movie.

      Now, if you're in a theater, your phone is off, and you're still wearing the earpiece, then yeah, you're a tool.
    4. Re:Ugh by prog-guru · · Score: 4, Funny

      Now, if you're in a theater, your phone is off, and you're still wearing the earpiece, then yeah, you're a tool. Especially if it has a blue LED. That blinks.
      --

      chris@xanadu:~$ whatis /.
      /.: nothing appropriate.

    5. Re:Ugh by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you have a reasonable expectation that you'll receive a call, say, during your drive home, then the safest thing you can do is leave the thing on, even if it makes you look like an extra from a bad sci fi movie.

      No, the safest thing is to let it go to voicemail

      --
      Monstar L
    6. Re:Ugh by mapkinase · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "It's not hands free if you have to dig into your pocket, find the thing, and shove it in your ear."

      That does not make any sense unless you shower, sleep, etc. with that blue bug stuffed into your ear.

      Some people ware it even in the mosque, some people put it right before turning their ignition on and take it off right after turning the ignition off, or more generally, right before they need their hands to be constantly busy with something else.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    7. Re:Ugh by Darinbob · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, the tool was the guy who loudly said "Can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of a movie".

    8. Re:Ugh by Samizdata · · Score: 2, Funny

      My LED is white. That's okay, right?

      --
      It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage. - Colonel Henry Walton Jones, Jr., Ph.D.
    9. Re:Ugh by 2names · · Score: 4, Funny

      You know those big red Xs that you sometimes see on trees when you walk through the woods? Those Xs tell the lumberjack that the trees bearing them need to be culled.

      The Bluetooth Headset is the human equivalent.

      --
      "I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
    10. Re:Ugh by Your.Master · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Makes perfect sense. You leave it on at those times when you feel you might take calls, and take it off when you have no intention of doing so. I don't keep a phone in my bedroom precisely because if it rings while I'm sleeping, I don't give a shit. Same as when I'm showering.

      When driving it's best not to talk on the phone at all, but failing that, far better they keep it in their ear than fumble around with a phone.

    11. Re:Ugh by amRadioHed · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, the safest thing is to sell your car.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    12. Re:Ugh by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 2, Insightful

      especially when its a really steep banking on the seats so my foot is almost level with his head when I'm sat behind him.

      --
      What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
    13. Re:Ugh by Simon+Brooke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Wow, for a moment there I thought this was a geek site.

      Nonononononononono...

      This was a geek site. Like, ten years ago, maybe eight, even.

      Now it's a site for wannabes, soi disant k3wl kidz and Microsoft astroturfers.

      (Yes, I am getting old. So are you. So what?)

      --
      I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
  2. In unrelated news... by brennanw · · Score: 4, Funny

    In unrelated news, the inventor of Silly Putty sued Nokia for violating it's patent "re-transmission of news and other media via the transfer of newsprint by chemically-induced process."

    --
    Eviscerati.Org: All Hail the Eviscerati
  3. Better pictures by amyhughes · · Score: 4, Informative

    Better pictures can be found here.

    1. Re:Better pictures by Dtyst · · Score: 2, Informative

      YouTube Nokia Morph concept video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX-gTobCJHs

  4. My Dream of a Shoe Phone May be Viable! by filesiteguy · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've always wanted to have a real-life shoe phone. I can just see the next staff meeting -

    <ring>
    "Kai, I think your phone is ringing."
    <ring>
    "Oh, sorry. I'll get it."

    --
    The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
  5. Next up... by San-LC · · Score: 5, Funny

    From Motorola, we have the MOTOHOLE, which is a miniscule phone that can be inserted up the rectum of the next weird-ass gadget lover. Comes standard with Bluetooth 2.2 (since most people using Bluetooth talk out of their ass anyway) and auto-answer with butt clenching.


    P.S. Don't ask about Caller ID or Voicemail. It's a prototype.

    1. Re:Next up... by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 3, Funny

      At least you won't be surprised when the contract you sign to use the phone bends you over and make you call them daddy.

  6. Is it a functioning "concept" by Webcommando · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Wasn't clear in the (brief) write-up whether this is a functioning concept.

    Cool design is...well cool.. but if this included flexible circuits, displays, etc. to make it function (even if fragile or only in the most basic way) I'd be very interested in reading more on the underlying tech.

    There's a long way between design concept and all the technical risks being retired.

    --
    I love the sound of distortion in the morning -- webcommando
    1. Re:Is it a functioning "concept" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      The idea of having flexible components constructed with nano-technology right next to my ear isn't exactly...good.

      Pay no attention to the tentacle extending itself into your ear canal in order to take over your brain, it's just there to improve reception.

  7. I'd like to announce, by Nomen+Publicus · · Score: 5, Funny

    my concept of "solid air". This is a new idea that will allow us to build houses and other building from room temperature solidified air. These houses will be eco-friendly and cheap.

    I expect the technology required to create "solid air" will be invented by someone, somewhere, by 2016, or perhaps later.

  8. Damage Resistant? by AbsoluteXyro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't really know how many people are going to want to play with their gadgets as though they were silly putty, but this strikes me as something that would greatly enhance a device's resistance to wear, tear, drops, and falls. I could see this having applications in particularly rough environments, if nothing else.

    1. Re:Damage Resistant? by blindd0t · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't really know how many people are going to want to play with their gadgets as though they were silly putty

      Well, if they bend, stretch, and vibrate, I'd say a pretty good number of people will play with their gadgets (though not quite like silly putty). What really matters at that point is whether or not it's water proof. =P

      On a more serious note though, I can really appreciate the additional durability one would expect with this, as parent mentioned. I've actually broken a few phones just from leaving the phone on my pocket and rolling over the wrong way while working on my car. Though I've learned to take my phone out of my pocket before I start work like that, it'll be nice if that's one less worry. On that note, it'd also be nice if it was water proof (and possibly heat resistant) as well in case it gets left in the pant pockets and run through the washer and dryer.

  9. Big deal. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've had a stretchable hand-held all my life. I'm sure it provides more enjoyment than a cell phone ever will. Now if I could just figure out how to set it on "vibrate"...

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:Big deal. by rishistar · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does it also have an in-ear attachment?

      --
      Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
  10. Airport security headache by Sciros · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Soon you'll have to demonstrate that your phone can't be molded into a knife or shuriken before you're allowed through. Nor a nunchaku or brass knuckles, knowing airport security...

    --
    I like basketball!!1!
    1. Re:Airport security headache by WilyCoder · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And you'll have to prove that the putty-like device with circuitry is not a bomb. Should be fun to travel when this thing comes out.

  11. there are other benefits too by commodoresloat · · Score: 4, Funny

    For example, you can see that the person wearing it is a complete tool without having to wait for them to open their mouth and say something idiotic. These are really time-saving gadgets when you think about it.

  12. In seven years? by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 5, Informative

    What we see on the photos is at best a mockup made out of plexiglas and at most likely a render.

    Lets see, a completly transparent screen. Because as well know nanotech makes things transparent. Apparently in a mere seven years we will have a material that looks a nice uniform light transparant green but can be used as pixels, wires, battery, antenna, electronics, it can be be reshaped at will without deforming at random.

    In seven years?

    Come on, this isn't a concept, it is just wishfull thinking with absolutly no bases in reality.

    If you can shape a screen, how do you stop it from deforming when you don't want it to? Do you enjoy reading leaflets outside where the wind flaps them about?

    I am just getting to old for this non-sense. I don't mind concept products where designers and engineers wonder "what if". But please at least use tech that MIGHT BE. After all if we are randomly speculating I can come up with far more intresting stuff. How about a mobile phone that sits on your eye like a contact lense and is controlled by thought? In seven years? I can even show you how one might look, someone got a place to host a picture of a contact lense?

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  13. Youtube Video by prxp · · Score: 4, Informative

    The video is more enlightening:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX-gTobCJHs