Think bamboo, and the mind instantly conjures up images of furniture, bamboo shoots (hey, I like Chinese food), panda food, and other such generic objects. What you don’t associate bamboo is with smartphones, but all that has changed, thanks to one 23-year-old British student.
Kieron Scott-Woodhouse, from Shepherds Bush in London has designed a smartphone that has been constructed out of bamboo (the mind boggles, doesn’t it?), which has started making waves in the techsphere. The smartphone has been named ‘ADzero’ and the choice of operating system is Google’s Android (we are already excited). Fortunately, the ‘ADzero’ is just not Woodhouse’s figment of imagination or a far-fetched concept, as it is expected to launch later this year.
The ADzero was first spotted at the London Design Week and garnered much interest and was also dubbed “the world’s first bamboo smartphone.” So why bamboo? According to Woodhouse, not only bamboo is durable, but it is also extremely lightweight. So expect the ADzero to be as big as the iPhone, but weighing only half as much.
Says the designer:
“Bamboo may seem like a strange material to use for a phone, but it’s actually extremely strong and very durable, perfect qualities for this kind of application.”
For now, not many details are available, but we do know that the screen will rival the iPhone 4 (don’t they all?) and it will run on Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Photography enthusiasts are in for a treat, since the smartphone will have a circular flash around the camera, which will improve the quality of the images, especially in low-light situations.
Cynics may dismiss the use of bamboo as just a gimmick, but credit should be given to Woodhouse for attempting something new. In this age of plastic, glass, and aluminum, using something as unique as bamboo is pure genius, especially from a design point of view, as it provides a much needed respite from this digital ennui we seem to be facing. However, will organically grown bamboo be as indestructible as the more traditional materials, is the million dollar question? Only time will answer that question, so our UK readers, should keep their eyes peeled for the ADzero smartphone in design retail shops, later this year.
