Tired of cracking the glass on the smartphone screen?
Or carry the extra weight in your pocket with you?
A group of computer researchers believe these problems will soon become history, as your future phone will be as thin, light and flexible as a piece of paper.
At a computer conference next week, Roel Vertegaal, associate professor of computer science and director of the Human Media Laboratory at Queen's University, Ontario, Canada, will officially launch "paper phone ".
"Developed with the help of researchers at Arizona State University, the prototype of what researchers call a" flexible iPhone "is made by Superthin, ultra-
Movies that are light and curved but call, store books and play music.
"This is not a possibility.
"This is for sure," Vertegaal said . ".
"That's what your phone looks like.
Like Amazon's Kindle.
The Reader phone uses electronic ink to display the content.
But instead of using glass, PaperPhone relies on high
The technology flexable plastic material is developed in the Flexible Display Center of Asus.
Mobile phones in the future are as thin as credit cards (
But more flexible)Less than one-
Sixth, the weight of the iPhone 4 and the weight of the 3. 7-
Inch oblique screen.
This durable material is not only easy to save, but also better for the environment, Vertegaal said.
"It's very robust ---
"You can hit it with a hammer," he said . ".
And, "it uses less power.
Instead of pressing the button, Vertegaal says people can bend their phones for navigation-
Bend the sides of the phone to open an app, dog
Turn in the upper right corner to scroll forward.
He said the touch screen may still be the main way to interact with the phone, but that requires considerable improvement. Next iPhone?
Interactive flexible displays are still the challenge of research, and some work is needed for other smartphone functions, he added.
For example, when they have developed a flexible circuit board to implement curved gesture control and can use flexible batteries, the processor, currently, cables and other rigid electronics are only connected together as extra handles for the phone.
Then the price--
The current PaperPhone prototype costs $7,000.
He said he would make $10,000.
But Vertegaal stressed that the focus of the prototype is to show the possibilities and different ways of interacting with a smartphone or computer, not necessarily to make commercially viable products. . . yet.
Over the next five to 10 years, he said he believes that flexible interactive displays will move from the lab to the mainstream as small smartphones, computing devices and readers.
"It's definitely going to replace the iPhone, which is beyond doubt," he said . ".
"But this can only happen if Apple thinks it's profitable.
"Once someone has a high green light-
Vertegaal said he believes that the bulk manufacturing price of these devices may be from morethousand-
The price of the dollar is more appropriate for mainstream consumers.
While Vertegaal's paper phone may inspire imagination, industry watchers say it may not be easy to capture the market.
Greg Harper, president of technology consulting firm HarperVision, said that although no one has yet launched a flexible smartphone for mass consumption, the creator of paperPhone is not the first person to play interactive flexible digital ink display.
Mountain View, California, is also developing similar computing devices. -
Harper said the flexible display ebook reader based on Plastic Logic is ready but has not been released for competitive reasons. Researchers --
Public and private--
I may understand the challenges including display, touch, and assembly of components, but successful execution is another matter, he said.
Nevertheless, Harper added that the flexible device is indeed on the way, although be does not think it will necessarily reach the scale predicted by Vertegaal.
"I don't think this is the future [smartphones]
"But I think it will be a part of it," he said . "
"It will be there, but there is still work to be done.