Mobile hardware twists and tricks

The need to stand out from the pack has made mobile phone-makers resort to all sorts of hardware tricks that are morphing simple phones into twisting, turning, accelerometer-ating doohickeys.

The latest: a prototype phone from Samsung, which features an OLED screen that actually folds in half. That’s right, the screen has a hinge that disappears seamlessly to double its size. The technology, displayed this week at the FPD International 2008 trade show in Japan, would allow a device to have a feature phone–sized external screen but unfold to reveal a five-inch-wide screen better suited for multimedia viewing.

The mobile device industry has a long history of building twisty, turny devices — from flip phones to sliders and more. The latest trend, of course, is the combination of touch screen, accelerometer and position sensor, which started with the iPhone and is moving into other devices such as the Android G1 and the newer BlackBerrys.

These elements turn the phone into something not unlike a Wii game controller, with untold combinations of movements and gestures allowing users to manipulate and interact with their handsets in new ways. This also has enabled interesting new applications, such as console-style gaming, along with not-so-interesting apps, such as the ability to extinguish a mock match light by shaking the iPhone.

While some hardware tricks are just that — tricks — others go to the very heart of the device. The most closely watched example is Research In Motion’s new BlackBerry, the Storm, which aims to replicate the BlackBerry’s physical keyboard on a touch screen that lets users literally press down the screen. The device makes an audible clicking sound and depresses slightly to register the touch. So far, reviews of the quasi-physical keyboard have been mixed.

All of these hardware twists and tricks will likely splinter the mobile device market more than ever, resulting in as many disasters as triumphs. RIM’s gamble with the Storm is huge, if offset by the fact that it released the more traditional, albeit slicker, BlackBerry Bold in roughly the same time frame. Meanwhile, T-Mobile’s Android G1 has been applauded for its software flexibility, but it’s slide-out keyboard forces typers to work around a bulky protrusion. And all touch-screen phones, be they the new Storm or other contenders such as the HTC Touch or Samsung Incite, must compete with the extremely elegant design and functionality of the iPhone, the device to which all mobile hardware will likely be compared for some time to come.

We want to know what phones feel “just right” in your hands. Are you still sold on your traditional flip or candy bar phone? Is the BlackBerry the hardware design of your dreams? Or have you made the jump to the iPhone or one of its contenders and find yourself swiping and flipping your phone around in altogether new ways? Let us know in the comments section below.