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What Comes After iPhone? Mobiles Made of Wood and Stormtroopers.

by Tom Samiljan on October 7, 2009 at 09:02 PM


The iPhone may be a failure in Japan, but the country sure loves its clamshell-style, flip phones, among other non-smartphone-styles, which is why the annual CEATEC show in Tokyo is often a treasure trove of innovative, stylish, and sometimes just plain way-out mobiles. Some are finished products that have just come to market, while others remain concepts that will eventually turn into a finished product.

Unfortunately, most of these distinctive handsets will never get to the U.S. -- they're just too quirky for the mass production needed in the world's largest domestic market -- but take a look at some of our favorites from this year's show anyway. From the Star-Wars-meets-Space-1999 'Prismoid' by renowned designer Naoto Fukasawa (whose donut-like plusminuszero humidifier is in the Museum of Modern Art), or the 'Touch Wood' concept made of surplus cypress wood (a joint project between NTT Docomo, Olympus, and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto's 'more trees' reforestation initiative), phones like these will make you long for the days before touchscreen iPhones became the norm (and maybe hope for a dumb-but-sexy-phone future). Take a look at the above video for a closer look.



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Tags: ceatec, ceatec2009, design, features, futuretech, naotofukasawa, prismoid, style, switchedvideo, top, touchwood, weird, wood

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