Nokia hasn’t really ever had the coolest phones on the market. They are generally just those reserved for construction workers and project managers; the type of phone that is simply used to stay in touch and get the job done. However, Nokia’s most recent concept, though it’s not exactly breaking news anymore, still has the entire smartphone industry buzzing and has smartphone enthusiasts dropping their jaws.
After Nokia’s concept for the Nokia Kinetic made its way on to the Internet excitement began to grow considerably. The most exciting feature about the phone is that it is actually bendable. No more worrying about the phone being shattered if sat on. No more rigid covers. The phone can literally sit in your jeans pockets and will move with the curvature of your body.
In addition to a bendable structure, the phone has an OLED display and has all the regular computer parts of a traditional smartphone – they just all bend. However, the bending feature isn’t just for flexibility sake; it actually serves a higher purpose and grants users greater control over their phone. By bending the phone inwards or outwards, users are able to zoom in or out on photos and are also able to use the feature to flip through their music.
The user interface is also something to be impressed by – if the fact that the phone is bendable isn’t enough. The Kinetic’s UI is highly sensitive, and allows users to quickly scroll across the screen. Phone manufacturers are in a high stakes race right now to provide customers with the most responsive phones on the market, ones utilizing the most cutting edge smart sensors and even sound transducers and mini load cells such as the kind outlined at Transducertechniques.com.
With this phone, a simple touching of corners can allow users to quickly hop through pictures or whatever they are interested in while tinkering on their smartphone. However, the incredibly responsive UI is also pretty good about self-monitoring itself so that a quick slide into the back pocket doesn’t have it calling all of your contacts.
Unfortunately it is still too early to say whether or not the Kinetic will make it to the sale floor. Currently, it is only in its prototype phase. Regardless, this is definitely a solid indication that form and specifications of smartphones are not fixed–they can and probably will adapt to consumer demands.
Article contributed by Jenna Smith