Tag Archives: industrialdesign

Adaptive form factor concept

Nokia concept video demonstrating adaptive form factors. Also a nice example of lo-fi video concepting.

(for those on the RSS, click the link for the video)
Link: YouTube – Nokia 888 Design (youtube.com)

Rokr E8, touchscreen with haptics and tactile targets

At last, the kind of touchscreen I’ve been waiting for – a full screen touch UI with haptic response and tactile finger targets. This is the kind of touchscreen device you could use with one hand. Look forward to seeing more developments in this direction.

Link: First Video of Moto ROKR E8’s 100% Buttonless Touch Interface [...]

Chinese cigarette phone

I couldn’t resist sharing this little gem. MP3, 1.3 megapixel camera, and seven cigarettes.

Update: just found a review and video of the phone in action at Superlocal
Link: PCOnline (pconline.com.cn)

Nokia and emerging markets

Nokia’s design director, Antti Kujala, talks about design and emerging markets.
“In India, there’s a lot of aspiration in a purchase. It’s about looks, style, and projecting the right image. [A phone is] not just a status symbol but about people trying to acquire things to move to the next level…It has to be the right [...]

The story of Helio’s Ocean

Technology Review tells the story of Helio’s new Ocean handset.
“The Ocean’s designers also sought the easiest possible way to let users reach other people or search the Web. Typing a few letters will bring up your list of contacts: hitting P takes you to “Paul Smith,” “Joe Parker,” and so forth. Nothing novel there. But [...]

Q hits and misses

Adam Richardson writes about how Motorola’s Q marries great industrial design with less than great software.
“It’s a beautiful product, but one that is saddled with a clunky interface. I haven’t thought this well enough through yet to know if it’s a universal law, but it seems like experience design is like a chain, it’s only [...]

Emporia simple phone

The simple phone meme rolls on…

“For the rest of us, the great news is that an obscure Austrian company has come to its senses and called a halt to miniaturisation and complex-isation…And it’s sold 50,000 of them in a couple of months. Emporia’s phone has no digital camera, no internet access and no instant messaging [...]

Text input, upside down

A design for texting with the device orientation inverted. This is just a patent application, and not a real product. It’s an interesting idea, though, because it doesn’t ask people to learn new input systems but rather just change the orientation of the device.
“Typing text messages in this manner is awkward, as the mobile is [...]

Pros and cons of non-mechanical buttons

Design Sojourn talks about the advantages and disadvantages of non-mechanical buttons.
““Static” buttons on the other hand have issues with feedback. Nothing moves, so there is no action and thus no reaction. Therefore designers that use “static” buttons need to employ a host of other feedback elements, like beeping sounds or lights. This is a very [...]

Small devices, big screens

Tasos Calantzis writes about small devices with big, enveloping screens.
“Instead of BenQ’s mobile phone-type idea, what we’re looking at, folks, is the next generation of mobile device. The one that will change literally everything for quite a lot of people. Every tech editor and gadget fan has been preoccupied for the last year with products [...]

Groundbreaking game controller designs

Summary of the 11 game controller that have taken gameplay to new levels. Along with the most annoying interstitial ads I’ve ever seen.

“The Zapper shipped with the original Nintendo Entertainment System, bundled with seminal light-gun game Duck Hunt as its early companion. But it was games such as Hogan’s Alley, Gumshoe, and Operation Wolf that [...]

Experience design at Nokia

An interesting interview with the Head of Brand Visual and Sensorial Experiences (nice one!) at Nokia.
“Even today my work is still very much involved in understanding and recognising trends and the way people or societies are changing. One of the important things is to realise the difference between long-term societal trends and short-term lifestyle trends, [...]

Limited interaction possibilities

Nicolas Nova comments on a column by Erik Holmquist on mobile interactions.
“Those who still worry about the limited interaction possibilities of mobile devices should note that all the applications mentioned above could be used on a standard mobile phone today (with small modifications). Yet at the same time they drastically expand the interaction parameters of [...]