ADzero brings student's bamboo phone concept to life
Beautiful and green, the ADzero bamboo phone is. See how this concept phone from a Middlesex University student came to be a reality.
(Credit:
ADZero)
There are times when the tech world can be so, so cruel, teasing us with amazing concepts that will probably never see the light of day (at least, not in our lifetime). Fortunately, this isn't one of those kinds of tales.
A company called ADzero is set to release a bamboo smartphone based on a concept devised by Middlesex University student Kieron-Scott Woodhouse. Woodhouse, who is in his final year studying product design at the university, originally created the phone after becoming frustrated with the lack of variety in handset designs.
After posting the concept online, Woodhouse was contacted a technology entrepreneur interested in making the phone a reality, and thus ADzero was born.
The ADzero smartphone is made from 4-year-old organically grown bamboo. Woodhouse and team explored using other materials but settled on bamboo since it could be locally sourced from China, where the phone is being manufactured, and also grows fast and is sustainable. In addition, the company was able to find a way to treat the wood to be as durable as plastic.
Sporting a unibody design, the ADzero is half the weight of the iPhone, has a larger screen, and runs on Android, though specifics about display size and which version of Android were not given at this time. The smartphone also has a camera with a flash that encompasses the lens for even illumination and shadow reduction.
The ADzero bamboo smartphone will launch in London first and then open up to other markets. The company plans to make them available at design-focused retailers and boutiques, but there's no word on pricing and release date just yet.
(Via Engadget)
