Award winning concept phone pioneers next-generation Nanotech devices

Nokia is one of the global leaders in mobility, propelling the transformation and growth of the Internet and communications industries. Utilising revolutionary nanotechnology, Nokia went ahead and conceptualised Morph, a visionary conceptual mobile communication device that assembles a collection of features for diverse target groups. The radical technology and interface used impressed the jury, and convinced them to honour Morph with a “red dot: best of the best” award in 2008.

red dot: Who is the target group for the Morph concept?
Jarkko Saunamaki, Senior Design Manager: As this is a visionary concept, we don't have a specified target group. It is more a collection of features for different target groups. The Morph animation shows how single nanotechnology features could be adapted to people for whom a certain feature is important.

red dot:What is innovative and different about Morph?
Jarkko Saunamaki: The Morph concept showcases some revolutionary leaps being explored by Nokia Research Center (NRC) in collaboration with the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre (United Kingdom) – nanoscale technologies that will potentially create a world of radically different devices that open up an entirely new spectrum of possibilities.

red dot: What was the inspiration behind your product?
Jarkko Saunamaki: People are our biggest source of inspiration; nanotechnology is just an enabler to create new and meaningful experiences.

red dot: What are the various feedbacks you have received about Morph, be it the press, magazines, customers, or such?
Fred Slezak, Communications Manager: There are over 500 articles and references by global media, including print, online and blogs. There was also significant coverage in The Guardian (UK), Il Sole 24 Ore, Engadget, Les Echoes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, BBC, and PC World.
Also, within the first four days of Morph’s concept being revealed, YouTube received 1.5 million views on the Morph animation with 817 comments, and a rating of 5 stars.

red dot: What is your design philosophy?
Jarkko Saunamaki: For Nokia, excellent mobile phone design is about more than just style. Nokia’s design philosophy is to deliver objects and services that are not only beautiful to look at, but also work just the way people want them to. Beauty of use is central to Nokia's design work and brand.

red dot: What are your plans for the future of the winning work, if any?
Tapani Ryhänen, Laboratory Director: Nokia is developing nanotechnologies with its university partners and various other collaborators. Technologies for energy solutions, flexible, stretchable electronics, sensors, and surface and structural materials are under development. Device prototypes based on these technologies have been constructed. Nanotechnologies are foreseen to provide a basis for several interesting device concepts in the future.

red dot: What challenges do you think designers are currently facing with the economic crisis looming perilously?

Jarkko Saunamaki: In an economic slowdown people tend to invest in cheaper and sometimes lower quality products, but a Finnish proverb says: "A poor person shouldn't buy cheap." Designers should remember their responsibility and the possibility to make a difference in designing more ecological and economically viable products: to do less but better. This is also a good time to innovate if the workload is lower.

Register now for the red dot award: design concept 2009!