The Mobile Fun Blog

Sadly, style and functionality rarely go hand in hand.

The iPhone’s interface, for example, might look fantastic, but few would argue the touch-screen keyboard is easier to use than one with physical keys.

Billy May (a designer/editor) has been working with Mozilla Labs to come up with ideas for a Mozilla Phone. His first concept, based on a Blackberry 7130, certainly caught our eyes, and anyone who’s drooled over the Optimus Maximus keyboard will recognise those OLED keys.

Mozilla concept phone – side angleWhile OLED keys on a desktop keyboard such as the Optimus Maximus might look nice, they don’t add much to everyday ease of use – besides, few people are unhappy with how their standard desktop keyboard operates.

However, on a device with limited space such as a mobile phone, they make perfect sense. Each key could change its function depending on what you’re doing, and the OLED screens would update accordingly.

Mozilla concept phone – frontAs this mock-up indicates, predictive text could also be taken a step further, with the keyboard highlighting those keys it thinks you’re likely to want, and the main screen wouldn’t need to be cluttered with the likes of navigation buttons. Plus, of course, it would quite probably be the most stylish thing ever to have been invented.

There is, however, one major stumbling block: the phone would most likely be hideously expensive. That said, if it were a choice of getting a second mortgage or this phone, we know which we’d choose.

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• Rumor: Motorola to launch two new Android phones with OLED displays
• Bracelet Concept Doubles as USB Connector
• Great video of the Super-AMOLED Samsung Wave phone outdoors