Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

A Japan-based designer known as Marimo-san is thinking way out of the box with his latest cellphone concept design, featuring a mechanism that allows for a detachable screen. The screen in this cellphone concept design can be removed so the user can enjoy video calls on the go. And aside from that, the slot for the screen should also accept other add-ons such as a widescreen display and a dual screen video viewer, to name a few, turning the cellphone into a number of new devices at any given time.

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Microsoft’s track record with regards to innovation isn’t something you can call spotless, but a recent patent filing puts them on track to beating the rest of the world in a classic case of “Why didn’t I think of that?” Their patent couldn’t get simpler. It’s called the Wearable computer pointing device, and is supposed to be an easier way to operate a mouse by wearing it in your hand. With the Wiimote and iPhone promoting all kinds of high-tech sensors, a device such as this just had to be concepted. Right? 

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The future is interconnected, and that’s where the Papyrus e-book reader concept gets all its strength. Designed to be a low-cost and better alternative to current generation e-book readers, the Papyrus will be a student-oriented e-book reader that will take advantage of collaboration and connectivity. It’ll have a stylus-based touchscreen where contents on the current page can be tagged, to be gone back to at a later time or answered, just like discussion threads in a forum. The designers hope to put its price at lower than $100 in order to hit a far larger market than today’s e-readers can, and can last for up to 30 hours, which seems reasonable since most people can only really keep reading for a few hours a day. We’re convinced that the Papyrus certainly looks good on paper (pun intended), but the question is, who will have the will to realize such a concept? That’s right, unfortunately, this is only a concept. For now at least. I guess I’ll have to stick with my good old paperbacks, then.

Read [The Greener Grass] Via [Engadget]

Korean mobile phone manufacturer Pantech recently organized a contest in which students from Korean Universities were asked to create design concepts for cellphones that can be made available by 2010. And in its conclusion, five dazzling mobile phone concept designs were released. Pictured here is the Cell Dot cellphone design, featuring a very minimalist overall look and feel, plus it’s seriously slim. Other designs include the Tower Lily, Wavy Stream, Waterfall Fish, and Simplice Section.

With the way things are working right now, it’s a little hard to believe that phones just like this one will be available in just two short years. Well, although I’m certainly up for something like this, at this point in time I just don’t see where a device like this would be coming from. But then again, I could be wrong. Any student who took part in Pantech’s design contest could stand up and bring his/her concepts to life. You never know.

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The shiny new gadget pictured here is a design concept for a “transformer phone” that has many high-tech functions built-in alongside its conventional mobile phone functions. Aside from being an able mobile phone, possessing a camera capable of recording video and capturing stills, this phone will also provide 3D scanning and even a holographic projector. The flip-and-swivel mechanism serves the purpose of limiting the change in navigation interfaces by allocating them into separate fields. The phone and other fuctions come at the front where they keypad and other shortcut keys reside, while the 3D scanner, holographic projector, built-in camera and stereo speakers go at the back. And speaking of the keypad, by the way, notice that it has a very unique embedded metallic keypad design that looks as if it’s a touch-sensitive surface. Continue reading to view another shot of this amazing transformer phone concept…

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If all the buzz marketing about recycling stuff and conserving power isn’t enough to win you over, this new concept for a glowing household power outlet might. It’s basically an ordinary power outlet that has a hidden LED that glows red when a plug stays connected for a certain amount of time (read: too long). The red glow becomes brighter as more energy is used, prompting you to kindly unplug and turn your stuff off. Now I have to admit, this is a great idea, but I can’t help but wonder if the creators of this concept ever realized that for this thing to work, it is going to need power. So from what I can see, this glowing socket tries to remind users to stop wasting power, when it’s wasting the power itself by shining with that bright red glow. I hope they find another way to power this thing or else, it’s going to be nothing but an oxymoron—an electric power saver that runs on electric power itself.

Read [INewIdea] Via [DVice]

I don’t know where manufacturers got the idea that gadgets and exercise buffs would go good together, so I’m genuinely surprised every time I see a new “sports trainer phone”, “diet tracking device” or other similar gadget. These things, of course, more often than not die faster than a flame inside a hurricane, of course that shouldn’t stop new concepts from coming out of the woods now, should it? Especially not one that uses back-to-back OLED multi-touch screens, a compact hydrogen battery and dual-core processors.

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Siafu is a new kind of personal computer intended to provide computer access to those who have a vision impairment or similar handicap. Using a touch-sensitive surface filled with a magnetized liquid, which is called Magneclay, Siafu provides reading materials in the form of braille, and it even has the ability to render images in 3D relief.

The key to making this device work will be Magneclay, the morphing magnetized liquid that is supposed to be able to take the shape of anything, from braille text to the 3D rendering of web pages being accessed by the user. It comes with a 9-button braille keyboard that users can use to input text, and they can easily review what they’ve written just by sliding their hands over to the tablet’s transforming surface. It also has a built-in microphone that works with Siafu’s voice recognition software, intended as a great alternative to the already seemingly amazing touch interface.

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Like High Definition TV, GPS systems, and MySpace profiles, the Optimus Maximus keyboard is a fine example of something that we don’t really need, but we’re digging it anyway just because it’s possible, plus it makes our lives just a little bit fancier. True, there have been delays in the final product shipping, but very soon it’s going to hit mainstream and hopefully, land in every home with a personal computer. But what’s this? An Optimus Maximus style keyboard for laptops? Better bring in five extra battery packs, then! Yes, a keyboard such as this is sure to eat up more than its fair share of power. But why not, right? When one look at it is all it takes to know it’s what high technology is supposed to be all about?

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Mother Nature’s got enough problems already without having to deal with your old cellphone and cellphone battery. Cellphones, and the materials they are made of, in general, contain hazardous chemicals that can be harmful to us all especially when they’re piled up in huge volumes. This might not be affecting us now, but in due time, all the filth will eventually accumulate to haunt future generations. Clearly, action needs to be taken as soon as possible to fix this serious problem.

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