The Woood Smart Phone, envisioned by UK designer Gernot Oberfell, is a notable mention of the 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition. It seeks to provide a greener alternative to today’s mostly-plastic cell phones.

Just like the Chute Smartphone, Woood is made of, well, wood. Actually, it’s a wood composite containing up to 80% natural fibers. Components like the buttons and endcaps are made from biodegradable plastic, to ensure that most of the phone can be recycled.

The phone would be very friendly to touch and feel, just like real wood. It would also age over time, changing its appearance for the better.

With so many cell phones being disposed of every year, Earth-friendly phones would be a welcome addition. Provided its good looks and green nature, the Woood would definitely be a hit. More images after the jump. Read more »

Designer Mac Funamizu has created a gadget showing what he thinks the future holds for mobile devices. The “near” future, he claims. It includes a touch screen, built-in camera, scanner, WiFi, Google Maps and Google search support, and even an image search, all in a tiny and beautiful package.

Although the concept is pretty far out for today’s technology, it might indeed be possible sometime in the future, and it would probably be one of the most useful gadgets we own.

The device would be able to give you all sorts of information about what you are looking at through its screen. Simply touch the thing you want to know about – be it a word in a book, a floor on a building, a car, or even some food – and the definition pops up right next to it on the screen.

We love the idea and can only hope that technology will some day allow it to become a reality. This gadget could be tech equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife, especially if someone can build a cell phone into it as well. More pictures after the jump. Read more »

Following on the heels of their ‘Advanced Multitouch’ patent application, Apple has filed a patent detailing a multi-touch device that would support a large number of gestures including typing, scrolling, pointing, and handwriting. The device would combine these gestures into a single mode-less ergonomic design.

From the filing:
“It should therefore appear modeless to the user in the sense that the user should not need to provide explicit mode switch signals such as buttonpresses, arm relocations, or stylus pickups before switching from one input activity to another. Epidemiological studies suggest that repetition and force multiply in causing repetitive strain injuries. Awkward postures, device activation force, wasted motion, and repetition should be minimized to improve ergonomics.”

The system would be able to detect a number of different hand configurations, allowing it to figure out what part of the users hand was interacting with it and reacting accordingly.

We think this advanced multi-touch system is really quite amazing. Devices like the iPhone and the Microsoft Surface have incredible possibilities for user interaction, and those devices only use a relatively simple form of multi-touch. This Apple patent gives light to a device with a much deeper level of gesturing than we have ever seen before, and we can’t wait to see what it looks like and how it works. Hurry up Apple, we want to get rid of our keyboards!

The Chute isn’t just a regular cell phone. It’s natural. It’s organic. It’s made out of… bamboo?

That’s right, designer Michael Laut has created this concept smartphone to convey a more relaxed and natural feeling. He believes that people would be much happier interacting with a more natural-looking phone, hence his choice of materials, ergonomic proportions, and even the on-screen display.

All of this while also using less plastic and more of a renewable resource. We say thumbs up and hope some phone manufacturer will pick up this design. Another picture after the jump. Read more »

Designer Nicholas Notara decided to solve the problem of storing an awkward, long surfboard in a tiny car or apartment, and the Collapsible Surfboard is what he came up with.

The board is made of carbon fiber and has been carefully designed to maintain the balance and weight of its traditional counterpart. The similarities end there though, as with the help of a quick release lever the board can split in two for easy storage and transportation.

The Collapsible Surfboard also boasts a hot-swappable fin system to help you tweak the feel to your liking.

The board looks stylish and takes up little space. We are only left wondering if the physics of the whole thing are possible. If they are though, they better get to manufacturing it soon seeing as they’d probably fly off the shelves. Another picture, with a whole lot of little parts required to assemble the board, after the jump. Read more »

Nokia has unveiled the “Remade” concept phone, made entirely of recycled materials, at MWC.

Although just a prototype and non-operational at the moment, the message this phone sends is very good, and very green.

The case and touch-sensitive keypad are made from old cans, hence their metallic finish. Even the electrical components can be created from recycled materials.

“It really shows what can be done with materials,” said Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. “It is only a concept now – I cannot make a phone call – but it gives you an insight into how we think we can break new ground.”

It’s great to see Nokia thinking green while trying to stay classy. The phone looks good, and certainly would do more good than harm were it ever produced.

[Via Engadget, guardian.co.uk]

Designer Reuben Png brings us the D:Scribe, a digital fountain pen that can email and SMS anything that you write on paper. All that’s required is a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone.

The D:Scribe is just a concept, but it has a lot of potential (assuming, that is, that we have the technology to make one of these). It can record anything you scribble on paper, including drawings, and send them or save them for viewing later. Once a message is sent, the D:Scribe displays its status on the built-in OLED screen.

The design is loosely based on a quill and inkwell – the quill is the pen and the inkwell is an electromagnetic induction charger to juice up the pen when needed.

D:Scribe looks and sounds great, but unfortunately it’s not real. At least, for now.

This glove, designed by Du Tran Nguyen at Monash University, turns the back of your hand into a GPS receiver created to allow you to track your position at all times on its e-paper display.

It is designed for athletes, mainly runners, to be able to plan out routes and track their speed and other relevant information. Feedback from the glove on the display or from a vibrating alert can let them know if they are going too slow or too fast, or if there is a turn coming up. The system is fully customizable.

The glove can also communicate with other Vies via Bluetooth as well as send out an SOS in case of an emergency.

Although it certainly looks cool, we doubt many people have a necessity for a glove like the Vie. However, some rich runners could definitely benefit from a gadget like this.