IS YOURS a candy bar, a clamshell, a jack-knife or a taco—and is it about to disappear, or break into several pieces? We are talking, of course, about mobile phones. Just a few years ago, they resembled bricks, but they now come in a baffling variety of shapes, sizes, colours and designs. This sudden proliferation of new handset shapes has been caused by the convergence of two trends: the mobile phone's growing importance as a fashion item, and advances in handset technology. Where will it all end?
The variety of handset designs has dramatically expanded in the past couple of years in particular as phones with colour screens and built-in cameras have become more popular. Around 70% of the handsets sold this year will have colour screens, up from 38% last year, and 44% will have built-in cameras, up from 17% in 2003, according to UBS, an investment bank. The popularity of large colour screens has been driven by the growing adoption of data services such as web-browsing and downloading games and screen graphics. Furthermore, mobile phones can now be music players, photo albums and personal organisers too. The challenge of integrating all these new features into what was previously a voice-centric device has led to a flowering of innovative new designs.
One radical possibility is that the current “all in one” approach will give way to a more modular design, in which a basic handset is supplemented by add-ons connected via short-range “Bluetooth” wireless links. Owners of Bluetooth-capable phones can already make and receive calls with just a small headset or earpiece, while the handset sits in a nearby pocket, briefcase or handbag. The next step is to extend this approach to other devices. For example, a Bluetooth-equipped camera could send and receive pictures via a nearby handset, and a handheld gaming console could download new games and communicate with other players. The phone would act as a gateway between specialised local devices and the cellular network. The modular approach could make possible all kinds of radical designs, such as sunglasses or jewellery that also function as mobile headsets or display text messages.
There are already several examples of such techno-jewellery. The clip-shaped Xelibri 7 handset from Siemens, for example, is designed to be worn on the strap of a shoulder bag. “It looks familiar, but has a surprise built into it,” says Leif Huff of IDEO, the firm that designed the latest range of Xelibri phones. Nokia, meanwhile, has launched a Bluetooth-compatible pendant containing a small screen. But while wearing a wireless headset is starting to become more socially acceptable, wearing your phone is still considered geeky, Mr Huff observes.
What is clear is that the mobile handset is now much more than just a phone, and depending on what else you want to do with it, it may assume a very different shape altogether. It may even need a new name. Indeed, at Motorola, the second-biggest handset-maker, the term “cell phone” has now been banned. The handset is now turning into more of a “personal network device” says Tom Lynch, president of Motorola's handset business. “We are trying to think more broadly about it,” he says, “which is why we call it ‘the device formerly known as the cell phone'.”
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