Nokia Kinetic Display: Phones of tomorrow will be bendy

Nokia World demo impresses

• Nokia has demoed a new technology at Nokia World that shows how the phones and tablets of the future could be bendy.

Exploring whether we need another input method beyond touch and voice, Nokia has developed what it calls the “Nokia Kinetic Device”.
Currently only available as a prototype, the new display technology can be bended to control movement on the screen. Bending forward with two hands zooms out of whatever is on screen for example, while twisting the top left hand corner away from you allows you to click to the next menu item.
The prototype device, which Nokia refused to say when we would see in a commercial product, is currently being used to control music and photos but it is easy to see how the technology could be used in other devices like mobile phones or tablets to control gaming, web browsing and other apps.
A quick play ourselves and it is amazing how simple and intuitive the technology is to use with the user interface reacting instantly to our twists, pulls, pushes and flexes.
The screen itself is pretty stunning too, happily flexing to our wants while all the time being crisp and sharp. Nokia hasn’t used an old screen technology here, or one that is sub par like e-ink.
Sadly, Nokia wouldn’t say when your next phone will be packing such bendy features, however it did tell Pocket-lint that with such technology you have to make it tougher than you would normally to compensate for users testing it to the limits.
Do you want a bendy phone? Let us know in the comments below

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October 2011  By Stuart Miles