Nokia and the University of Cambridge Show Off the Morph

By Shane McGlaun 

The thing I love about concept devices is that they show the type of phones that we could be using in a few years. Nokia and the University of Cambridge teamed up to release a very cool concept phone called the Morph at the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.  

The Morph is described as a nanotechnology concept device that is stretchable and flexible. It sounds a bit like a cross between an iPhone and translucent silly putty to me. The Morph concept is able to be stretched and flexed by the user into different shapes and styles for different uses. The attached image with this story is the Morph in what Nokia calls phone mode.  

Other images have the Morph in a tablet computer style mode, presumably for texting. Nokia Chief Technology Officer Dr. Bob Iannucci said in a statement, “Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices; the Morph concept shows what might be possible.”  

Nokia says that the Morph is intended to show how nanotechnology might be capable of providing cell phone users with flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. Concept devices are all fine and good for the aesthetic appeal, but will this technology ever actually make it to market? According to Nokia elements of the morph are expected to be available on products we can buy in the next seven years. Heck, I’d like that self-cleaning feature on my car, bring on the nanotechnology!