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Cellphones Power Technology

Kyocera's OLED Phone Concept Charges As You Flex It 101

Posted by timothy from the other-products-to-flex-on-the-way dept.
Mike writes "Kyocera recently unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone with a flexible OLED display that can be folded up like a wallet. Dubbed the EOS phone, the display unfolds to reveal a wide screen, and shape memory allows the phone's keys to pop up when in use and blend in with the surface during downtime. Best of all, the phone's soft, semi-rigid polymer skin is embedded with an array of tiny piezoelectric generators — the more you use the phone, the more it charges!" So far, it's just a design idea — but a cool one.
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Kyocera's OLED Phone Concept Charges As You Flex It More

Kyocera's OLED Phone Concept Charges As You Flex It

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  • Charges as your flex it? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    What?

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      First you must have a flex it. Then when you use your flex it, it charges.

      • meh.. not iphone... (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        But iphone does not do that. So, this is a complete useless technology. If Apple has not thought about it, it's not worth the money.

        Nothing beats iphone.

        Can we move on now, please?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Flimzy ( 657419 )
      I want a cell phone that's powered by typos. Then, given the habits of most texters... and some Slashdot posters, the more you text/post... the faster your battery charges!

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Are you charging the flexible cell phone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

  • I've solved the energy crisis, (Score:5, Funny)

    by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:14PM (#27599631)

    "...semi-rigid polymer skin is embedded with an array of tiny piezoelectric generators"

    Can you imagine condoms made of this stuff? The porn industry alone could power half of California. Energy crisis solved.

    Cue Trojan, Inc. patent in 3..2...1

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Chris Burke ( 6130 )

      God, I'm so sick of these companies with their Trojan patents...

  • Drop-resistence? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MrEricSir ( 398214 ) on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:14PM (#27599635) Homepage

    Would a "floppy phone" be more resistant to drops? Clumsy minds want to know.

  • It's nice if it folds up... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mdm-adph ( 1030332 ) on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:14PM (#27599637)

    ...but if it can't withstand being in my back pocket with my fat arse sitting on it repeatedly, then what's the point.

  • No they Didn't (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sexconker ( 1179573 ) on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:14PM (#27599643)

    "Kyocera recently unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone with a flexible OLED display that can be folded up like a wallet."

    Uh, no.
    They unveiled a concept.

    Nothing to see here folks, move along.

  • Now my battery won't die... (Score:5, Funny)

    by revjtanton ( 1179893 ) on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:17PM (#27599683) Homepage Journal
    With the kinetic energy powering the device having my phone die during lengthy phone sex calls is a thing of the past! Yaaaay!

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by SGDarkKnight ( 253157 )

      With the kinetic energy powering the device having my phone die during lengthy phone sex calls is a thing of the past! Yaaaay!

      Yeah, but in order for it to charge you would have to use the friction / bending action from the phone being wrapped around your........ *ewww*

  • Wow! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    So, if it comes with straps to strap it to your wrist while you're, uh... "surfing the 'net for interesting pictures and videos", then the average slashdotter would never need to plug this phone in!

  • Umm... what?!?!?! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Kyocera's OLED Phone Concept Charges As Your Flex It

    It charges as my flex it?

    What the fsck does that mean? I don't have a "flex", and even if I did, it wouldn't "it" (whatever "it"ting is).

  • Too good to be true?

  • Heat energy (Score:5, Funny)

    by mc1138 ( 718275 ) on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:26PM (#27599775) Homepage
    I'm holding out for devices that can be charged by the heat of being in my pocket. I have a few candy bars that have found out just how hot it can be in there...
  • Why is it important to have it near grass? It just seems odd. Is it supposed to be a wide screen tv for ants?
    • A cell phone for ants? Now there is an idea!

      Get out of my way, I need to get back to my workbench!
    • It's still too small. The phone has to be at least... three times bigger than this!
    • It's not on the ground - look closer. It appears to be in a glass case with a white wall behind it. You can see the phone's reflection in the glass.
      • Yeah, you're right. The grass threw me off. So ... they spent some money to make it just look like it was on the ground, instead of just putting it on the ground. Classy.

  • Charges? Okay, but only if it's under $0.20/flex (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This is no way to fix the economy...

  • its called the VaporFon

  • Can it really be charged that much?? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by elashish14 ( 1302231 ) <`profcalc4' `at' `gmail.com'> on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:32PM (#27599859)
    Exactly how much kinetic energy is absorbed by a flexible phone in your hand/pocket? And not only that, I'm not familiar with efficiency of modern piezoelectric devices. I don't see how the numbers are remotely feasible....

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Assuming the best possible scenario, with 90% efficient piezoelectric conversion....
      You'd have to stamp on it for hours to slightly charge a battery.

    • Obviously this is a case where they had two separate engineering departments linked by a marketing department:
      The marketing department declared that the phone uses 3x less energy than what one engineering department reported, and the marketing department claimed that the flexing generates 3x more energy than what the other engineering department reported.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by c_fel ( 927677 )
      It surely can't. Moreover, they plan to use memory shape alloys to pop out the keys, which is a very bad idea since these alloys are very energy hungry. In fact, I'd avoid putting any memory shape alloy on a small battery-powered device because it would eat the battery in seconds. I bet this device won't happen in years with those specs.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by HEbGb ( 6544 )

      Almost none. This is a non-story and BS news. The concept is stupid and completely unworkable. Even a tiny amount of analysis would show that the recovered energy is so minuscule as to be worthless.

  • But its a...Kyocera. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cythrawl ( 941686 ) on Thursday April 16, 2009 @12:43PM (#27599999)
    Kyocera make shit phones, period.... This will be just as shit as the rest of their lineup. I have been repairing Cellphones for 4 years now and EVERY Kyocera phone I see is utter garbage.. The OS they use is crap. The Signal/RF capabilities of the phones is crap. The issues they produce are equally baffling. Internal memory gets corrupted and you cant even set a normal ring tone shit like that.

    When a REAL cellphone manufacturer starts to make one I'll be interested, as it stands if it's made by Kyocera I wouldnt even use it to wipe a cows ass.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by CompMD ( 522020 )

      Back in the day they made some really great phones. I had a few Kyocera 6035s, and only stopped using them when Sprint refused to activate one for me (jerks). I had a 7135 (I think that is the model) which is what came after the 6035. Color screen, Palm OS 3.5, SD card slot, clamshell, it was awesome.

      • I worked (past tense should be noted) for a Sprint call center and we still activate Nextel Lingos... you know the original direct connect brick. Ya, if I had been you I would have called customer care again or just requested a supervisor because the rep you were talking to had no f****ing clue what they were talking about.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by CompMD ( 522020 )

          Yeah, I know customer care was hit or miss. Now I walk into the employee store at the Overland Park headquarters and pretend like I work for Sprint and they take care of everything. :)

      • the 7135 was around before I took the job I'm in now, and yes I have to agree that (to an extent) was an awesome phone for a Kyocera unit. But even when I got to play with with it I got this nagging feeling that it could be done better by a different company. It was I admit ahead of its time tho, it was around long before RIM's Crackberry and the like.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by kc8jhs ( 746030 )

        Agreed, Kyocera made what was at the time, a major advancement, a flip phone, that was a full palm pilot, and could run whatever palm apps you could find to put on it.

        I still miss my 7135, 4 years later, and have never seen another phone that rivals its features and reliability. I'm thinking of trying an iPhone soon, but even that isn't the same somehow, given the state of paid/signed apps.

        Also when my third Motorola v710 gave up and I got sick of replacing them, I dug out my first phone, a Kyocera 2135, th

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by CompMD ( 522020 )

          Don't get an iphone. Seriously. An HTC Apache that is 4 years old is a better phone overall. And if you're posting on slashdot, you're smart enough to be able to play with the phone in ways it wasn't necessarily meant to be played with. For example, my Apache can run Android (though its ugly) and I can watch divx movies on it easily. I'm a huge open source fan, but in the ultimate twist, the Windows Mobile phones really are the most open devices out there.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dublin ( 31215 )

        I agree, Kyocera's made some absolutely awesome stuff. The 6035 was big, but probably the single best-thought-out phone from a user perspective I've *ever* seen, and that definitely includes the vaunted iPhone! It was also rugged as a tank, and had a battery that lasted long enough that you didn't even need to take the charger with you unless you were going to be gone all week, and planned on talking a lot.

        It looks like the new Pre may be the first thing we've seen in years that has as much thinking in it

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Taibhsear ( 1286214 )

      as it stands if it's made by Kyocera I wouldnt even use it to wipe a cows ass.

      Although I do agree with your feelings on Kyocera phones, I do have to wonder what you would use to wipe a cow's ass. And if it was a good phone why would you wipe a cow's ass with it? Inquiring minds would like to know.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by uhmmmm ( 512629 )

      Maybe the ones they release here are crap (I don't know, never used one), but I've got no complaints with the Kyocera A5521K I had in Japan a couple years back.

    • Maybe Kyocera realizes that it sells crap phones, and it is trying a new business model--selling phone concepts. All they need to do is sell this design concept to some other big player and their shareholders will see nice cash flows year to year.

    • I dunno. I had a Kyocera, and it got reception in places no one else I knew could, it never froze up, unlike my current and past phones, and it was fairly durable. Except for when I dropped it and the case split a tiny bit on the seam, so the pinhole charger wouldn't stay in place properly. Lasted 3 years, all told, and would have been longer if I hadn't dropped it.

  • The alternate universe 80s version of me would totally buy that. But then a competitor will start rumors about it slapping closed and lopping off someone's ear.

  • could this not be integrated into today's existing flip phones? It could charge when you open/close it and your battery would last longer. just think how many times some people open/close their phones to view or send a text message - that's a lot of juice that could be collected

    • That's how I was thinking of it. Of course you wouldn't want to run your phone off it completely, but it'd make a way to extend battery life, and if you were really in a bind, you'd be able to work up a really tiny bit of charge to make a quick call.

      The fact that this wouldn't be integrated on to phones for years makes this kinda of a non-story though. =\

  • Wow, all those cool features, this sounds absolutely... oh wait, "just a design idea"? Some guy has cobbled together a wish-list of features which are in no way possible to create with current technology? That's really impressive. Thanks for wasting my time.

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