Everyone in the flexible display pool- here comes Nokia

Posted by | 01/19/2010 | 3 Comments

Yesterday is was LG Display announcing its 19″ e-ink display, today is Nokia.nokia-patent

According to the post on Engadget, Nokia has published a patent:

Covering a “user interface, device and method for a physically flexible device,” the application details (among other things) how a flexible display might be used on a phone to do things other than make it more portable. Most interestingly, that includes bending the phone into a particular shape to perform a specific task — Nokia suggests rolling it into a can to search for a bar or pub, or bending it into a bowl to search for a restaurant.

With all of the new ideas Nokia discussed at their CES keynote, its anyone’s guess where this new technology will fit.  It could be something for their Nokia Life Tools applications, or it just could be the next evolution for their cell phone line.

What do you think a good use for this technology could be?

Category: Hardware

About the Author (Author Profile)

A 15-year veteran of the tech wars, Amy is a gadgetgrrl from way back. Amy is started with the her first PDA, a Palm Pilot III all the way through her current sidearm, a T-Mobile G1. She suffers technolust like any good gadgetgrrl, but its always tempers with whether it will match her shoes and handbag. She bounces from one device to another. She is an OS agnostic-- liking them all for different reasons. She has seen it all and wants to see more.
  • Chris Hickie

    Maybe it could be bent into a better antenna to improve reception?

  • http://www.quillaja.net Ben

    I’m all for new and interesting, and most importantly intuitive and functional, user interfaces, but this particular idea doesn’t interest me much. The idea of simply talking to my phone (or typing) to enter “pub” or “restaurant” is much more appealing than doing some origami every time i want to find a bar. (Though perhaps this will help prevent drunk dialing/texting?)

  • sbtablet

    I agree with Ben. Those UI things seem absurd and awkward. To me, flexibility is about resilience and mobility. In other words, I’d love something light and flexible to roll up and put in my bag without too much worry about damage. I don’t want to make a bowl to look for a restaurant. Cutesy, but dumb.

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