Concept

There is now word that Google might be launching a phone. This reported by the Google Blog on CNET. According to a venture capitalist with “insider” information, this rumor is on its way to being a reality. Codenamed, “Switch”, this phone is said to be a partnership between Google and Samsung.

Google and Samsungs partnership was announced in January when they mentioned bundle mobile versions of Google Search, Google Maps and Gmail on certain Samsung phones. Now with word of a Google phone, this changes the landscape doesn’t it?

[Via CNET NEWS]

Remember the LG Prada that stole the headlines for five minutes a couple of weeks back? It took those headlines because it was a direct competitor to the iPhone, following a similar touchscreen method and, of course, the unbelievable similarity in design to Apple’s iPhone.

Well it looks like the concept of the iPhone is about to bite Apple in the ass, as LG Electronics are accusing Apple of stealing the iPhone concept/idea from them. According to LG, they consider Apple to have “copycat the Prada phone after the design was unveiled when it was presented in the IF Design Award and won the prize in September 2006”.

Could this turn into another lawsuit for Apple? More here if and when it happens.

[Via MacNN]

That’s right, yours truly just contradicted an Australian website called Smarthouse, because they believe a new range mobile phone from BenQ will be potential iPhone killers (nice that already the industry is comparing products to Apple).

The designs are, to say the least, extraordinary and a little over-kill. They’re the sort of phones fancy pants would buy, you know, a $3,500 mobile phone that is virtually entirely plated 24-carat gold and features enough Diamonds to make James Bond cringe.

In fact, whilst the snake-shaped mobile phone BenQ have on offer is appealing, it’s the sort of thing you’d see in a Sci-Fi movie, not on your local high street - I seriously doubt this will be knocking Apple’s iPhone off the apparent throne just yet. Still, check out their designs and see what you think.

That’s according to Dean Bubley at DisruptiveWireless who suggests that the iPhone’s motion sensor technology, as seen on other phones such as the Nokia 5500 Sport Phone (yuk!), could be used as so much more than what it currently offers on the iPhone.

At present the iPhone’s motion sensor technology is used to turn the screen light on and off when the phone is drawn close to the human face - basically to conserve battery life - as well as being used to determine the orientation of the screen. However, Dean Bubley reckons that in years to come the motion sensor technology could be used to prevent criminals from using your phone. The idea, and that is all it is at this point, is that the phones motion sensor gets used to how its sole user walks, the moment that pattern changes (i.e, when someone has stolen the phone and runs away with it) the phone can only be used by entering a password - something a criminal wouldn’t know unless you’ve been stupid enough to write the… more...

Remember, back in the day, when all we could do was dream about an Apple phone? It seems like years ago! But a world without an iPhone did encourage people to wonder…and to create. The web is filled with concept sketches of the Apple phone. Some were just blatant, visual mashups of RAZRs and Nanos. But some people possessed the great blend of industrial design and photoshop skills with a solid understanding of Apple’s history of innovation.

These people should not be forgotten. There are a bunch of sites all across the web that have galleries of Apple phone concepts. Sites like this and this and this.