What does the future hold for mobile phones?

Without a doubt the most popular style ofphone at the moment is the touchscreen mobile phone, coming in all different colours, sizes and with features to suit everyones need. And though a thousand and one different people will tell you that they weren’t the first to do it, the current popularity can certainly be attributed in some part to Apple and their much lovediPhone. Go back a few years and a touchscreen mobile phone would have been nothing more than a pipe dream, now touchscreen phones account for around 20% of all mobile phones on the market. So what futuristic feature could we look at now that could become the norm in the near future? What will be the touchscreen technology of 2010?

Motion Sensitive phones

There are already a wealth of mobile phones that use an accelerometer which will rotate the screen to suit how the phone is being held; hold the phone its side and the screen will switch to landscape with varying levels of speed depending on the phone (theNokia 5800 and Apple iPhone are the current best in class - screen rotation is almost instant). Recent launches have also seen phones with limited motion sensitivity used in games (Sony Ericsson F305,LG KC780) and to control certain applications (Shake control on theSony Ericsson W910). But what about a fully motion sensitive phone? A phone that does away with buttons and any interaction with the screen, is this possible and could it work well enough to replace current input and navigation methods? We have seen how the Nintendo Wii has revolutionised Console gaming with motion snsitive controls, could we see the same in the mobile world?

Nokia Morph concept

Find your current phone too rigid and uncompromising? Wish your phone was more flexible…literally? Well say hello to the NokiaMorph concept phone. Launched alongside The Museum of Modern Art “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibition, the Morph concept promises to deliver flexible materials with levels of transparency. So basically a see through bendy phone. Though maybe this is being a bit dismissive, the idea of being able to “morph”, change shape and adapt to the task at hand sounds quite promising. You have the morph on your wrist as a watch. The phone rings. You take it off, straighten it out and answer the call. Tell me that isn’t cool! Meanwhile, the transparency promises to deliver an all new aesthetic. And the best bit? The Morph concept phone uses nano technology to create self cleaning surfaces. Put simply - the phone cleans itself. The days of fingerprint-riddled screens could soon be coming to an end.

Samsung Projector Phone

Ever had a picture or video on your phone that you wished you could share with a wider audience? Well you’re not alone, it seems someone at Samsung had the very same wish that now looks set to become a reality. The projector phone is fairly self explanatory, On the top of the phone we find a projector which projects whatever is on the mobile screen on to a nearby surface. Perfect if you want to show off a video or picture but don’t want to have to squint at a (relatively) small mobile screen. Best of all, the phone that this concept was running on at the recent CES show was little bigger than an iPhone and featured an equally impressive touchscreen interface. The bad news? The Samsung projector phone is only set to be available in Korea. But before you throw a tantrum, it’s worth bearing in mind alot of technologies that debut in the asian mobile markets do eventually find their way over to Europe. So Projector phones are definitely one to look out for in the future!

Pantech Sky Wind

Bored of Buttons? Tired of touchscreens? Can’t even muster the energy for motion sensitivity? Perhaps Korean manufacturer Pantech have the answer. The Pantech Sky Wind phone responds to air blown at the microphone. Using what Pantech refer to as a “Blow Engine”, simply blow in to the mic and the phone will react accordingly. Change wallpaper with a puff of air, activate the camera with your breath and even blow out an on screen candle to adjust the screen brightness. Quite how the “Blow Engine” can interpret different actions for different tasks remains a mystery. Once again though, we can look to Nintendo who have succesfully incorporated blowing into the DS Lite as a feature for various games. Proof that it can be done.

So there you have it, just a glimpse of what might be round the corner for mobile phones. Who knows, your phone next year might be a motion sensitive, bendy-projector phone with a built in Blow engine! Until then, we’ll just have to make do with 8.0 Megapixel, GPS andHSDPA mobile broadband phones.