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I remember the time when cell phones where only used for their mobile telephony features and mostly used to look like this: That was a looooooooong time ago.

Then, cell phone manufacturers who were all struggling on this highly competitive industry, started to brainstorm on this issue and came-up with a great idea: they’d equip their new generation mobile devices with cool features such as digital camera, built-in radio, video games, etc. to make them more attractive to consumers! and it worked quite well (I can still remember the competitions of Nokia’s “snake game”) ! But that was not enough, and we experienced a new trend. Some crazy engineers and marketers, probably high or at least euphoric, started to transform objects of our everyday’s life into mobile phones…

yesterday: Mobile phone as a gaming platgorm[singlepic id=35 w=320 h=240 float=center]

Nokia was he first to launch the N-Gage, in a quixotic attempt to fuse phone and handheld gaming platform. That was in October 2003.

today: Mobile phone as a camera[singlepic id=22 w=320 h=240 float=center] The Samsung Memoir T929 just looks like any regular mid-level digital camera you can find at RadioShack or Best Buy. Its 8-megapixel delivers top-notch photo quality, but that’s almost all.

today: Mobile phone as a navigation system[singlepic id=24 w=320 h=240 float=center] Garmin is already famous for its navigation systems. And there was only one step to do, to move from a meer GPS to a GPS with embedded communication features. This Nuviphone G60 is the offspring of a partnership between Garmin and Asus. “Pretty slow when reorienting itself or entering certain applications, and, as feared, there seems a general lack of depth to the functionality of the actual “smartphone” features like calendar or contacts, but the location-based services — in the car and out — really do bring a lot to the table” according to Engadget.

tomorrow: Mobile phone as a weather forecast device. Introducing the “Window Phone” concept [singlepic id=26 w=320 h=240 float=center] Weather often rules the day. Most modern mobile phones offer built in weather forecasts widgets which can also be downloaded from the Internet. But the information they deliver frustrates me most of the time: lack of accuracy, lack of information, but most of all, lack of design in the delivery of information! So why wouldn’t there be a mobile phone dedicated to weather forecasts? [nggallery id=5] The Window Phone is a concept mobile phone by designer Seunghan Song, that is able to transform its appearance like a window as per the weather. The phone is designed as a thin, clear and transparent plastic sheet, which remains clear during a sunny day, displays virtual rain drops on a rainy day and takes a dump outlook during a snowy day. The user can write text messages or draw pictures on the phone in different weather conditions which will later transform and show as SMS characters. The screen features sensitive interaction with the user and comprises the state of a window in different weather conditions.

And since our world of tomorrow will slightly be different (worse?) than our of today, the “Window Phone” will turn into the must-have device which will be able to warn us against acid rains, air pollution, storms and much more.

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* A frog is, generally, well known for its ability to forecast weather…