The coolest cell phones you may never see

CHIBA, Japan--If the concepts on display at Ceatec are any indication, completely deconstructing the traditional form factor of the mobile phone is one of the next major phases of design and development research.

Fujitsu concept phone

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)

Japan has one of the most robust mobile phone cultures anywhere, and it shows here on the second day of the show. Sharp, Fujitsu, NTT DoCoMo, and KDDI each had intriguing takes on the next form factor for devices used not just for mobile communication, but watching videos, playing games, and performing mobile navigation.

Take the necklace on the right. It alerts the wearer when there's a call or a message incoming. It's made by Fujitsu and, while it isn't an actual product, is indicative of how cell phones are thought of here: not just communication devices, but accessories made to fit neatly and inconspicuously into the daily routine.

Then there were a host of phones whose screens and keyboards pull apart to be used separately. The Fujitsu version shown below uses magnets to connect the two pieces in the desired configuration. NTT DoCoMo was demonstrating a similar concept.

But as far as futuristic, elegant design goes, KDDI was far and away the winner. The wireless company showed off beautiful designs, which are nowhere close to being reality, but show the aspirations it has for the cell phone. The Ply was part of its yearly Design Project. (Here's a picture of last year's version.)

Designed by Hideo Kambara, the Ply imagines the phone as a device with a series of layers. One layer is a pop-up projector, another is a slide-out keyboard, and another is a printer, a game controller, and so on. The ones on display here and shown further down the page are just papercraft renderings.

The Fujitsu phone can be configured in any way and stuck together magnetically.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)

KDDI's Ply, showing the projector "layer" of its concept design.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)

KDDI and Yamaha's drumstick phone concept.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)

NTT DoCoMo's pull-apart concept phone.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)

Click here for more stories on Ceatec 2008.

[AlanHub]

yes japan is raving over our iphone. we are better at globalization, don't deny reality CNET. Buy american.

[demner]

iPhone = American?!!??!!???!!!! LOL!!!!!

[skurewu]

Sure it's manufactured in Taiwan, but the important issue is that it was designed in America by Engineers in Cupertino.

[joushu]

Actually, the iPhone was pretty much ignored here in Japan... their cell phone industry and technology absolutely dwarves America's. If anything, it might sell as a budget phone if it's cheap enough, because it has so few features compared to current Japanese cell phones.

[umbrae]

The iPhone was completely unoriginal other than adding a phone to a PDA. PDA have been around forever and have had many of the features of the iPhone. The only thing it added was gestures, which existed but was not widely used.

[baggyguy1218]

I will agree with joushu that the iPhone is not a new concept in Japan by any stretch of the idea. I lived in Japan for several years in the late 90's to 2001. I had a cellphone by Docomo that was free with activation and was so far ahead of cell technology that when I was in the states people could not believe it was a real cellphone. In fact, it is still better than the T-Mobile flip I use today. The iPhone is a good product if you need it, but not new by any standard. Also, the US cellphone companies do not look at usability, but how much they can charge for a sub-par cellphone/PDA hybrid.

[colorlover]

how much are these hot cell phones??