Flexible displays and devices seem to be the holy grail of mobile technology, as you can have the power and connections we all expect but have the ability to warp the shape into anything that’s most convenient. While we’ve seen flexible displays before, the prototypes Nokia was showing at its Nokia World 2011 conference were pretty freaking mind blowing.
The company was showing off multiple Nokia Kinetic devices, working portable electronics that can be bent and twisted but still work. One device looked like a large touchscreen slate phone but you could bend it to scroll through music and photos. This is definitely a prototype device but one could easily see phone capabilities being thrown into there one day.
The other Nokia Kinetic device could take pictures and display them in its elongated teardrop shape. The plastic sturdiness of its casing meant that you could drop it on the ground or bend it and it would still work. A representative even said you could wash it under the tap and it wouldn’t hinder the device’s usability.
When will this actually hit the market? “Hopefully soon,” was the only coy response we got but I wouldn’t hold my breath for this type of stuff to land in retail stores within the next five years or so, as it’s just too complex to get this form factor to work and deliver all the other goods we need and want from mobile devices. Still, it’s a very interesting look at the not-too-distant future.