Weird and wacky mobile phone designs….

On this site, I’ve looked at the history of mobile phone design, the most expensive phones in the world and today I’d like to show you some totally outrageous phone designs.  These designs range from the arbitrary to the ludicrous but most will make you wonder, “What were they thinking?!” (Or if they were thinking at all.) But as the competition for market share heats up, the designers need to get creative …

The Natural Year Phone by Je-Hyun Kim

All-righty-then… this “green” phone was created to encourage recycling.  The body is made of hay (yea, right, some call it ‘hay’) and it disintegrates within 2 years.  The hideous design makes it look like a cow-pattie and of course, if you can’t get signal, you can always smoke it…..

Like Dude, can you smoke it?

The Pantech phone is interesting because it looks like a regular phone, right? Well it has one difference. This phone makes “ultrasonic” noises to repel mosquitoes.  Unlike a silent dog whistle, this noise can be heard by humans and tends to get very annoying – so you might end up repelling friends as well as mozzies.

Irritating boyfriend, be gone!

Windows phone – with a difference – by Seunghan Song

This phone gets its name from the fact that it literally looks like a little window, and not due to its operating system.  If you’ve always wanted a transparent phone, then this is the gadget for you.  It’s most popular feature? Giving you a realistic weather forecast…. Including droplets on the screen when it is raining outside.

Another transparent phone is the Radia – a circular phone by Michael Laut.  Going for a completely new look, this design throws the baby out with the bathwater, and delivers a completely useless form factor.

Talking in circles....

The next two phones get their inspiration from old scrolls.  The first is the Chinese Scroll by Yun Liang.  The buttons are on the outside of the scroll and the display can be rolled out and back in again. I could imagine stringing some chain between two of these and using them as Nunchucks – Ka Pow! Self defense feature!

Scloll phone linging!

The second scroll-like phone takes security conscious to a whole new level! The Cryptex Mobile phone is so complex that it takes a person more than four minutes just to dial a phone number!  The phone uses ciphers (mathematical algorithms) as security features and each number has its own unique code. So if you want to dial an 8-digit telephone number, you literally have to type in 8 different codes.  Not the solution you’d choose in case of an emergency.

All that security and no caller ID?

Do you have games ON YOUR PHONE? The Easy Tiles Phone by Tzu-Fu Wang gives new meaning to “adding games or applications” to your phone.  Each application or game is a tile that you slide in and around your phone.  You can select the components you want and “create” your ideal phone with only the features and applications that you want.  Interesting……

If Rubix could see me now!

I’ve heard of phones for geeks but this one takes the cake! How about this little scientist’s delight – the molecule phone?

Wearable technology has been a popular topic of conversation.  From paranoia about barcodes tattooed on your forehead, to chips under the skin, to what pouch you can hitch on your belt – there are opinions aplenty!  Here are some rather interesting designs for “wearable” mobile phones.

The bracelet phone by Tao Ma is an interesting design.  Apparently if you have two, you can hook them together to make handcuffs. I think you’d look quite silly plugging your wrist into a wall socket to charge your bracelet, but I’m sure it appeals to some….

Well you are allowed "one phone call"...

The Finger touching idea by Sunman Kwon uses an infrared keypad displayed on your hand to operate the phone which is also secured around your wrist.

What was the number? Pinky, pinky, pointy, thumb...

The hand phone uses the standard hand signal for phoning (thumb and pinky) to hold the mike and speaker up to your head while you use the phone that is secured around your hand.  I think it is ugly and both of these options don’t offer anything spectacularly more convenient than I’d get by holding my phone in my hand.

The Nokia 888 is a bendable phone that you could wrap around your wrist like a bracelet, around your head like an Alice band or clip onto your clothes.  It works through touch and voice recognition and folds open flat like a ruler.

Talk about a Swiss Army knife phone! When someone said, “Hey why don’t we add a video camera to the phone?” they were taken literally! The Telson TWC is as James Bondy as you can get. The phone is worn as a watch and has a built in camera.

It also has a power saw attachment and nail clipper

Mobile phones were once called “bricks” and said to be useful only for “self-defense” well this Nokia gun phone doozie (or should I say Uzi) is in a class (make that caliber) of its own.  I suppose it would need a holster shaped pouch. Don’t press the wrong button when you answer…..

The Glove phone is connected to a Bluetooth headset.  I could imagine it being used by motorcyclists, in extreme weather conditions or by rescue workers.  There is also an emergency button.

Our final phone in the “wearable” class is the Hyundai MP-280.  This phone is not worn as an accessory like the previous phones but its unique claim to fame is that the little butterfly button is used to spray perfume on the owner. Hmmm…. I’d hate to see that liquid damage if it sprung a leak…

Eu de fone?

Looks delicious!

Ronald McDonald may have inspired these little gadgets.  The hamburger phone (a land line phone) was seen in the movie “Juno” and is probably one of the top selling teenage must-haves in America.

Hope you like em crunchy!

In case you’d like to go for the “whole meal”, why not add a little fries with that?

You ordered extra crispy?

If you don’t feel like a burger, you can always opt for the sandwich phone.

Ham, cheese and Motorola!

For those who are a little more health-conscious, why not go for a bright red apple?

Some bad habit designs are those that exploit other vices.  Take for example these two – our final in the weird design post.  While this one is quite cute, the matchbox phone seems very impractical, unlike its partner in crime, the cigarette box phone.

What will they think of next?….