10 Cool Device Concepts

Among the umpteen innovative ideas put forth by industry geniuses, not every device concept makes it to the market....

Among the umpteen innovative ideas put forth by industry geniuses, not every device concept makes it to the market. Some of these concepts could be just too good to be true and implementing them would be improbable. While at the same time, it is dicey whether the few doable ones would be accepted by the mainstream market and people would be willing to spend their crisp green over these devices. Among the numerous interesting, fantasy concepts, we have picked 10 cool device concepts.   Lifebook Volumi Fold it into several devices (Image Credit: Designboom) Imagine a PC that can be transformed into a tablet, workstation, portable media player and gaming device and can be folded like an envelope measuring 23 x 10 cms. Sounds unimaginable yet exciting. Well, a designer named Dulyawat Wongnawa from Thailand has build such a concept and calls it the Lifebook Volumi. This concept device has several PCs integrated into one single device consisting of four ultra slim touchscreen units. The four touchscreen units are linked together with 360 degrees pivot hinge. The user just has to fold the four units as per his preference of usage. The image above shows the modes of usage of the device which is just the size of an envelope. iDesk Appleized desk (Image Credit: MacLife) A completely Appleized desk –  a device concept shown by MacLife that seems just larger than life. With most of the time spend behind desks, this device concept has just about everything that could make your digital life, or rather life, simpler. Though the illustration is just an imaginative idea, Apple loyalists would drool over if it materialises into reality. Picking a leaf from Microsoft’s Surface, the iDesk is a complete interactive, touch-sensitive surface that serves as a display running several simultaneous apps. Imagine your physical calendar and post-it notes being replaced by their digital counterparts. The desk could essentially sync with the Mac or just be built into it. Physical keyboards would be replaced with digital ones; a small section can be carved as the touch trackpad. All files could be swapped between your iDevices just by swiping these icons and transferring them using the desk and, of course, other iDesks.  Facebook phone Dedicated to blue (Image Source) Now, if you are a complete Facebook fiend, then here is a phone concept that seems just cool. It may look like an impractical design for the mainstream and something probably that could never hit the markets, but all this just couldn’t keep this "beaming with blue" phone off our list. The Facebook phone shows some cool apps and there is an instant Instagram button too. The saturated aluminium casing measures 17.5 cm x 5.5cm and looks like a wedge. The display has its size and aspect ratio optimised for the new Facebook core app OS. Some of the highlights of this Facebook phone concept are the "incoming message notification element" combined as a button to access the messaging centre and a physical "Like" button. The Part Nice being a part (Image Source) "Tablet" and "smartphone" are the buzz words in the tech world, and a designer trio has managed to craft an elegant looking device that has both. Yes, we mean a device that combines two separate devices – tablet and smartphone. The viewing experience on tablets is great with its larger screen, but smartphones have their own charm and comfort for making calls, sending texts and so on. The new concept shows a smartphone as a part of the tablet just like how styluses are embedded within the back of the tablet. The Fujitsu concept shows Xperia’s TimeScape interface and the icon dock at the bottom. The phone can be detached whenever required. This device will promise utmost portability if it ever turns into reality. One Pen Penned (Image Source) Imagine carrying a pen in your pocket and then pulling out a flexible display from within it. This Samsung concept does just that - a flexible screen which is actually your phone screen rolled inside a pen. Created by Yejin Jeon, the concept relies on cloud computing and the 6-inch bendable sheet of screen also has a camera embedded. To view the notifications, battery and other signals, a small screen is embedded on the side of the pen. At the edges of the pen, one will find a speaker and a lock. Moreover, you can just pull a part of the screen outwards and use it as a camera viewfinder. The concept is interesting and could attract buyers if it hits the market. However, we wonder if the pen would be sleek and slim. HumanForm Phone with feelings Creative wits at Nokia have been experimenting with flexible displays and we wouldn't be surprised if these displays become a part of the mainstream devices in the near future. One of the strikingly cool concept dished out by Nokia is the HumanForm phone that looks and feels like a Jellyfish. The phone features a super-flexible design to withstand any amount of twisting and bending. But what’s more exciting is that each of these gestures is assigned a task that the phone completes. For instance, twist the phone to browse and bend it to zoom. Sounds as exciting as it would be to use it in person, doesn’t it? The flexible design changes its shape to suit your ears and help deliver a better listening experience. It isn't named HumanForm for nothing as this completely touch sensitive phone has the ability to recognise its user’s mood. Fluid phone Wrap the phone as an accessory (Image Credit: Designbuzz) A bendable phone isn’t something new, but this Philips phone concept by Brazilian Dinard da Mata is a sleek bendable strip that can be transformed into an accessory. The OLED display is high-res and instantly curls up as a trendy accessory to be worn on the wrist. This bendable concept allows users to wear the device on their wrist as a bracelet. Its name ‘Fluid’ hints that the device offers utmost flexibility. The high-res bendable OLED display shows a neat and modern UI. It has a PlayStation-style control pad and a tiled menu. You wouldn’t get the usual large screen smartphone abilities but it could be one of the best accessories for a geek.  Lifebook 2013 The one that accommodates all (Image Source) This concept just wowed us as each complete, dedicated device is neatly embedded into a functional laptop. As you see in the image, there are compartments and slots for a phone, camera and a tablet built into a laptop. So, just pull out a device you need, use it and push it back into the compartment. This Fujitsu Lifebook 2013 concept with detachable gadgets doesn’t sport the usual keyboard; obviously, that space is taken up by the other detachable devices. But the tablet can double up as a keyboard with a 16-pin connector. On docking the tablet, it turns into a full size QWERTY. It wont be a lightweight device, but the concept is worth considering.  Upgradeable Tablet Upgrade your tablet Each time you think of a better PC, it can be done so by just upgrading the hardware and software that your machine supports. This may not imply to a tablet yet, as you will have to buy a new device to get the latest advancements. Navarre Bartz has put forth a cool upgradeable tablet concept – this would kill the portability aspect that one usually seeks with a tablet, but if there is a perfect blend of both aspects and one doesn’t crave for newer designs, then an upgradeable tablet could be next innovation for sure. For now, we just like the concept as it is. Imagine pulling out a tablet processor or RAM and fitting in newer one, adding newer software. The concept explains a tablet with its motherboard featuring two parts. A main board to feature input and output ports including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other components and the other part for CPU, memory and storage. This is just a protype with not much luck to make it to the market but worth mentioning.  Dual-screen laptop prototype Windows 8 at its best (Image Credit: Engadget) This prototype shown by Samsung made heads turn at the IFA this year. Samsung has tried to take maximum advantage of the both elements of the new Windows 8 UI. The prototype shows a laptop with two screens – one the usual inner screen and the other on the outer side of the lid. The inner screen shows the traditional UI and can be used as your usual laptop while the outer screen can serve as a tablet when the lid is shut. The outer screen sports the Modern UI and is accompanied by Samsung’s S Pen. The concept is great but the bulk that two screens would add could be massive. Though we would like to see this device hit the markets, the chances don’t seem to be much.  So, which one of these would you like to see in reality? There are several other device concepts, so please share with us the ones you think are really cool.