Nokia Kinetic and Nokia E-Cu – 2 concept phones you should know about

Nokia Kinetic – a phone that gets up and Nokia E-Cu – a phone that charges itself.

Nokia Kinetic

Imagine you place your phone on the table. Someone calls and the phone gets up. If you want to receive the call then you can take it. If not, you can just jab it down and the call will end up in your missed call list. How intelligent? This concept phone from Nokia has a unique semi-circular base design to facilitate this.

Nokia Kinetic is a student client project to make a playful phone for 2012. A electromagnet in the base of the phone allows the weight of the phone to be shifted making the phone to stand up. The only problem I see with this phone is when you place your phone in you pocket and someone calls. Nokia might not have thought about it. The stand up feature is extremely beneficial for video calling which would make it completely hands free.

Speaking of video calling, video watching is quite an intensive process. The tablets which are being targeted for media consumption do not provide a convenient way to watch the videos using the tablet. Shouldn’t all the tablets be coming with this electromagnetic feature to make the device stand up? Or would that suck out too much of battery?

Nokia E-Cu

Charging a phone has always posed unique challenges. If it was the various charger interfaces used by various phone manufacturers on the one side then it is the various charger interfaces designed by the same phone manufacturers. That challenge still remains. Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson are notorious for their proprietary charger interfaces. Nokia is a little generous with its chargers across its own models. Apple continues to be Apple. But its iPod connector can be used for an iPhone and I assume it can be used for an iPad too.

There are talks about an universal charger being agreed upon by various phone manufacturers. That still looks like a distant dream. In the meantime though, Nokia has  a concept phone design which can be charged with the most universally charger of all and it might not even require electricity. It uses heat from human body to charge the phone. The phone itself is made with a copper bottom with sinks to trap the heat.

Nokia E-Cu is an extremely good looking phone. It’s sleek, slick and charges itself. The phone can be charged by heat generated from any surface, not just human body. An integrated thermogenerator converts heat from any source into electrical energy to charge the phone, whether while being carried in your pocket or placed on top of a radiator.

Nokia E-Cu, if comes out successfully, and if priced right would be a runaway hit in India. It might  be an elixir for India’s perennial power problems. Throw in a dual SIM feature to it and E-Cu will become the most successful Nokia phone after Nokia 1100.

Of the two phones, one has to be in the pocket and one might look awkward in a pocket.

[Sources : Kinetic, E-Cu]