This year, the number of smartphones shipped globally is expected to outpace the number of feature phones shipped. Smartphone shipments now account for two-thirds of the mobile phone market.
The Nokia N9, unveiled last week, is a beautiful device with an exceedingly difficult job: improve upon the iPhone's UI without totally admitting that it has become a universal standard for touch phones. At its best, the N9 succeeds at diverging from some of the sillier interactions that we take for granted with Apple and Google phones -- proving that even those two companies could learn some things about UI design.
The electrical energy from the vibrations caused by a human voice can be harvested--and one day could be used to charge your cell phone. The catch? For this to work well, you have to shout.