WorldWideTech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.
British car maker Aston Martin is looking to leverage its luxury brand into the world of consumer electronics by teaming up with Canadian mobile phone manufacturer Mobiado to produce a line of high-end handsets to be launched in May of this year. Until then, the company has provided a tantalizing peek at possible future designs with the CPT002 Aston Martin Concept Phone that takes the 'slab of glass' design of many current smartphones to the next level. With a solid sapphire crystal capacitive touchscreen, the CPT002 is completely transparent.
To allow the screen of the CPT002 to be transparent, Mobiado has incorporated the battery, electronics and SIM card into the sides of the device, which are crafted from platinum. The only things blocking the view when looking through the phone when it's in standby are the Aston Martin and Mobiado logos, what appear to be battery and signal strength indicators along the top and a series of dots along the bottom that appear similar to the dots on the iPhone that let you know which screen you're on – although it's not 'clear' whether that's actually what they are.
A transparent touchscreen has already popped up on LG´s GD900 mobile phone, but only in the form of a touchpad that displays the phone's number pad. Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait a bit longer for a phone with a transparent full touchscreen display with Mobiado's upcoming range not sporting a phone with such a design. However, other features of the CPT002 Concept Phone that are designed to integrate with an Aston Martin vehicle are more of a possibility.
LG GD900 (2009)
Firstly, the phone would act as a key for your Aston Martin, automatically unlocking the doors as you approach and connecting directly to the car display without the need to pull it from your pocket. The phone also uses the vehicle's GPS to show your current location on FourSquare, with the car's display also showing the location of friends and venues of interest.
The social networking features continue with the ability to set cameras integrated into the vehicle to periodically take happy snaps and video that can be uploaded with information about passing cities and landmarks to Twitter and FaceBook – perfect for making your friends green with envy over the exotic locales you're visiting in your luxury automobile.
Mobiado also makes use of the CPT002's accelerometer in an innovative way. In the event of an accident, accelerometer information from the phone sitting in the driver's pocket is transmitted to the car to provide information about the driver's movement from within the car seat to allow for more effective deployment of safety features such as airbag sequence, timing and seatbelt stiffening.
Whether any of these features will appear in Mobiado's upcoming Aston Martin range or whether the collaboration will simply result in phones with the usual feature set with an Aston Martin logo emblazoned across them remains to be seen. All will be revealed in May when Mobiado launches its Aston Martin range.
Press Release:
MOBIADO CPT002 ASTON MARTIN CONCEPT PHONE: DESIGN IN MOBILITY
Basel, Switzerland – March 24th, 2011: The CPT002 exemplifies what a concept phone can be, combining existing technology and software with state-of-the-art advances in electronics to create a realistic vision of luxury mobile phones. The CTP002 will present this futuristic image at BaselWorld, the world watch and jewelry show in Switzerland (Hall 2.1, Booth A22).
The CPT002 is the key to your Aston Martin vehicle, automatically unlocking the doors as you approach, however this is just the beginning as the phone also connects directly to the car display while remaining in your pocket. The CPT002 software combines with the vehicle GPS providing a new level of social network experience:
FourSquare will show your current location as well as the location of your friends and nearby venues all integrated on a GPS map of the Aston Martin car display, to help you plan your night and organize parking locations.
Cameras integrated into the vehicle can be set to periodically update FaceBook and Twitter with pictures, video, and information of passing cities/landmarks during road trips, or can update your social sites in real time with your progress during race track days.
At the time of an accident, the vehicle Airbag will receive accelerometer information from the CPT002 in the driver’s pocket. These readings will give the car information of the driver’s acceleration movement from within the car seat, allowing for more responsive control over safety deployments such as airbag sequence, timing, and seatbelt stiffening.
Mobiado is consistently guided by a philosophy of doing things differently, and this principle has now given rise to the CPT002 Aston Martin Concept Phone. Staying on the cutting edge of design required the freedom to push the limits of what a luxury phone can be. The heart of the CPT002 is the solid sapphire crystal, see-through capacitive touch screen.
The sides of the CPT are crafted from platinum; they incorporate the battery, electronics, and SIM card allowing for the screen of the phone to be transparent giving the phone a simple modern look while maintaining a luxurious appearance.
The purpose of a concept is to push the boundaries of invention, allowing concept ideas to be identified for future production designs. Mobiado’s passion for the avant-garde is an essential element of its DNA and history, and the driving force of its R&D strategy.
To contact Mobiado, please email contact@mobiado.com.
