Nokia - The Morph Concept (300 - 500 Word Essay)

Nokia Research Centre have been working with the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre to create and invest into Nanoscience technologies.

The Morph Concept technologies could take the mobile phone and increase it's usability and functionality with various new ideas including flexible and transparent materials which will bend and shape enabling to wear your phone like a watch or wristband. Other technologies include the ability to self-clean, self preserve, and even charge the battery through absorbing solar power to charge smaller and long lasting batteries. The concept's technologies also hope to include various sensors which will tell us about the environment and enables us to make more informed decisions about our diets and what the weather is like for example.

All of these new technologies are going to let us communicate in more exciting ways, in a smaller space by enhancing the usability of such a small device. By stretching the phone, the user can create various shapes like having a more square design for a music player, rectangle for the phone or even bend then phone back on itself to wear as a wristband.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Morph Concept is it's ability to sense the surroundings, a good example could be taking an apple and eating it, but the phone will alert you that the fruit requires washing before consumption.

A similar project that Nokia are working on is the Aeon concept. These phones aren't as aspirational as the Morph Concept but I see it as bridging the gap between the two, and one day in the future, our phones will no doubt be just like the Morph Concept. Not much is known about the Aeon concept other than the phone is touch screen and possibly splittable into two parts. Nokia labs are experimenting with the technology and design so there's no definitive answer.

The impact these two concepts has on the industry, mobile or not, could be incredible. The ability for electronic devices, especially portable ones, to be able to guide us in our every day lives could prove essential in the future as we become a nation cautious about health and well being.

I believe the impact the phones will have on the market could be massive. The iPhone has rocketed in success and that only offers the ability to surf the Internet where ever you are and includes touch screen capabilities. The Morph Concept offers so much more than that, and if this is the way technology is going, over the next 10 years, we could have computers telling us who to be friends with by analysing our phone calls and face to face conversations, the possibilities are tremendous.

Sources:
Nokia: http://www.nokia.com/A4852062
YouTube: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IX-gTobCJHs
Ubergizmo: http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/05/nokia_aeon_concept_goes_live.html
Mobile Whack: http://www.mobilewhack.com/nokia-aeon-concept-phone/
Engadget Mobile: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/10/08/nokias-aeon-full-surface-screen-cellphone-concept/