Two years ago, Samsung made a big splash with the release of their concept video for a thin, transparent, AMOLED display tablet. Having showed a great deal of promise, thanks to the combination of paper thin technology and the Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode display, they had to admit a fully transparent device was still many years away.
And in that respect, they were hardly alone. After the Consumer Electronics Show of 2010 and 2011, it seemed that every major company had their own concept for a transparent device, still many years in the making. Well, as it turns out they all may have spoken a little too soon!
In a recent story, a Taiwanese group named polytron introduced their concept for a transparent smartphone and USB stick. As purveyors of smart glass – glass with built-in LED displays, “privacy” glass, holographic glass, touchscreen glass, etc – this latest invention effectively combines what they do best with the world of computing and communications and has jump started efforts to create to completely transparent devices.
As you can see from the pics and video below, the phone has a thin frame, a slot for a SIM card, speakers mounted in the top, and is powered by two button cell batteries. It also boasts and LED screen, and is clearly still very much in the research and development phase. In the future, the company plans to mount a case across the bottom to hide the electronics, and an operating system will come as standard.
Much the same is true of their transparent USB stick. Combining an internal chip, a transparent case, and an embedded LED light to let you know when it’s plugged in, this device is likely to become the next generation of USB drives. And according to official rumors, the glass USB stick will also be made available with storage capacities of 4, 8, 16, and 32 gigabytes. No telling when it will be commercially available as of yet, but in all likelihood, sooner than the transparent phone.
Be sure to check out these videos by Mobile Geeks, and follow the links at the bottom of the page to learn more about polytron’s smart glass products. I assure you, its really quite inspired!
Source: designboom.com, polyvision.com
But why? I like the ultra modern look of glass. But after having a glass computer desk, I discovered it is impossible to keep clean and nice looking. You are trying to wipe off fingerprints and hand prints every 10 minutes. It drives me crazy. I think transparent devices like that will end up driving me over the edge.
But why what?
clear glass. It would be a pain to keep clean.
Ah, well there are nanofabricated types that’ll be easier to keep clean very soon. Did you ever watch that Nokia concept video about the Morph phone?