IT Mobile communications

Wrap up your mobile

Israeli mobile phone designers Modu have launched the world’s lightest mobile at just 41g. Modu is essentially a core mobile phone that you add ‘jackets’ to, giving it the functionality you want. The phone itself sits at the heart of tons of different devices.

So if you never take photos, but download loads of video, you can get the extra-wide screen jacket. If games are more your thing, you can make it a portable console. It comes with 1GB of storage, not great when you compare it to the iPhone or Nokia N95 8GB, but you can buy more.

It may sound like an odd concept, but if it works, your phone will never go out of date as Modu are already working in conjunction with several other companies to create jackets that are everything from tablet PCs to clock radios – and given that it was designed by the man who invented the USB memory stick, it’s a safe bet he knows what he’s talking about! It’s out early 2009 and will cost about £180.

LG’s Dark Little Secret

First they gave us Chocolate, then they added Shine, now their new phone is a Secret! The latest offering from LG is, as ever, very fashion conscious and ultra-slim, perfect for those skinny jeans you’re wearing out tonight. But underneath its size-zero exterior is some serious mobile meat.

It’s got a touchscreen, iPhone style for skimming through the pics you took on its 5mb camera or cropping using its very clever face-sensing photo editor. But when you need to speed-text, unlike the iPhone you can just slide up and use real buttons, like normal people instead of that daft stylus! Not quite so exciting, but just as cool, it’s been made of ultra fancy materials so, according to the boffins at LG, it’ll always “look as new as the day of purchase”. I hope that means it doesn’t come covered in scratches!

Aka-Aki

German students have turned Facebook on its head and created an amazing new way to meet people you don’t know, using your mobile! Unlike Facebook, instead of logging on to search for friends, Aka-Aki uses Bluetooth technology in your phone to scan for other users in your immediate locality. From there you can have instant access to their profile and even opt to start a conversation with them.

The idea, piloted in Berlin, is intended to break down barriers between people and to allow more strangers to meet each other by letting you discover if you share the same interests or have something in common to break the ice.

More than 3,000 young Germans are subscribed already and are finding it useful for more than just dating – imagine you’re at a business meeting, surrounded by new potential contacts, but you have no idea who they are – Aka-Aki users would instantly see who else is logged on and what they do, speeding up the process hugely. Could this be the future of dating, or the ultimate end of privacy? It might just be a bit of fun, but either way it’s coming to the UK very soon.