One of the winning designs, named “Ovi Keys”, is a 2mm-thin credit-card-sized phone that doubles as a bank card, Internet browser and digital camera.
It could even be used with other “Ovi Keys” and pieced together like a mosaic to create a larger screen (pictured). The brainchild of Lou Ke, at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, “Ovi Keys” defies every expectation you have of a phone both in terms of form factor and convergence. Yet this exciting competition kicked up plenty of similarly innovative visions, including ‚ÄúThe First Mobile Phone for the Blind‚Äù by Yang Wen Bo (Tongji University).
David Tang, Vice President of Sales at Nokia Greater China said:
“As we are entering an era of mobile and Internet convergence, we felt it was critical for the design competition to reflect our company’s three focal points; pioneering in driving the convergence of mobility and Internet, enabling best consumer experiences, and innovative design. We were very happy to have built a platform for consumers, design students, and Nokia to exchange ideas, inspire each other, and we have seen many fantanstic ideas from the campaign.”
We’re going to be taking a closer look at the winning entries soon, the visions behind their conception, and the people responsible.