The designers of mobile phones have become fixated on the black rectangle, with almost identical handsets emerging at every trade show and product launch. This may be about to change, however, as a number of designers attempt to create devices that can bend, fold and change — “morph” — or be customised by changing or adding different modules.
In June, Chinese technology group Lenovo gave a taste of the future with the unveiling of two prototype devices: CPlus, a bendable phone that wraps around the wrist, and Folio, a tablet with a screen that folds in half to become the size of a smartphone. Both are still some way away from going on sale.
“We expect that we’ll need to further refine and enhance the technology before these concept devices are ready for market,” says Daryl Cromer, Lenovo’s vice-president of research and technology.