Tag Archives: Concept Creator

Xiaomi tries building what Google and Motorola couldn’t – the modular smartphone

Posted on by

The modular smartphone still remains an elusive pipe dream, nearly a decade after the Phonebloks surfaced on the internet. Google tried it, Motorola managed to execute a strange version of it with the Moto Mods, and every company that considered it eventually abandoned it because it was a logistical nightmare with very little net positive benefit. It’s safe to say Xiaomi isn’t ‘every company’. The Chinese giant’s company’s name loosely translates to ‘little grain’, and it talks about a philosophy of building a lot from a little. This means they’re not averse to taking risks, and they’ve definitely surprised before, with their phones like the Mi MIX 2 that was designed by Philippe Starck, the Mi TV LUX, a transparent television, and even their latest bit of innovation in the Mi MIX Fold, with its liquid camera lens. According to LetsGoDigital, it seems like the company is also trying its hand out at designing the modular smartphone by splitting the device into four distinct parts – the screen, the camera, the battery+pcb, and the speakers.

LetsGoDigital uncovered the patent on the 26th of April, and partnered with Jermaine Smit (aka Concept Creator) to bring the patent drawings to life. The phone’s components attach to one another using sliding dovetail joinery, with contact points that allow for communication between modules. Finally, a primary screen snaps on the front, hiding the crease-lines and providing a large, bezel-less display. The three modules play a rather interesting role when combined together. The upper module houses the camera, but also contains the phone’s motherboard. The central module houses the battery, while the third contains the speaker along with the phone’s charging port. Conceptually, the modules would be interchangeable, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you had to switch the phone off prior to swapping parts.

Jermaine Smit’s camera modules give this conceptual Xiaomi smartphone a variety of features, including camera modules with different capabilities. The different modules have anywhere from a 3-4 lens setup, with one of the higher-end ones even coming with its own backward-facing display that’s emblematic of the Mi 11 Ultra that released earlier this year. Unlike the Ultra, which had a tiny display, this concept’s display is a respectable 2-inches diagonally. I’d assume it would be big enough to use as a viewfinder for selfies (given that the phone doesn’t have a front-facing camera) and even for notifications.

Although this concept, and Xiaomi’s patent, unlocks some pretty interesting possibilities, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Not many of these patents really make it to a public reveal or to a retail outlet, but instead, aim at protecting a company’s intellectual property and research. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Xiaomi just announced it as a one-off concept to show that their tech isn’t just a dream, it works in reality too. Until then, all we have are these (pretty intriguing) renders!

Designer: Jermaine Smit for LetsGoDigital

Image Credits: LetsGoDigital

BlackBerry is still alive… And its latest smartphone will have 5G and even a physical keyboard

Posted on by




It seems like BlackBerry still has some fight left in it! After being unceremoniously dumped by TCL following a failed 4-year license agreement, BlackBerry partnered with OnwardMobility, a mobile security company, to work on its upcoming line of smartphones. In August last year, OnwardMobility issued a press release highlighting that they would be launching a “5G BlackBerry Android smartphone with a physical keyboard in North America and Europe.” The company even stated that they would be partnering with Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile Limited to design and manufacture these smartphones. As we gradually approach the launch of these phones, Jermaine Smit (better known as his internet alias Concept Creator) has partnered with LetsGoDigital to envision what these phones will probably look like… and let’s just say, they’re about as long as a meatball sub.

Ask any Max-sized iPhone users what an annoyance it is to reach the back button on the top-left corner of a screen and you’ll probably figure out that smartphones are already pretty big to begin with. The Blackberry Key 3 concept adds a further 1.5 inches to the smartphone’s height with a dedicated, physical, touch-sensitive keyboard. Now I don’t mean to dunk on the Key 3, the physical keyboard has always been BlackBerry’s schtick… but maybe a slide-out keyboard would work better for a smartphone in today’s world. That aside, the Key 3 looks rather impressive.

The BlackBerry Key 3 concept comes with a profile that’s reminiscent of the Note 20 Ultra. It features a flat surface on the top and bottom, while cascading edges on the sides result in a phone that’s comfortable to hold, along with a waterfall display, there may be a chance of the phone registering accidental palm touches. The camera setup on the back features 3 lenses and a flash, looking quite similar to the one found on the OnePlus 8, and sitting right beneath that is the familiar BlackBerry logo. Flip the phone back over to the front and it kind of looks slightly meme-ish. It’s obscenely long, considering the screen’s already 20:9 to begin with. Adding to that is a slight forehead bezel (which features a single front-facing camera) and a massive chin, which houses a full QWERTY keyboard. The QWERTY keyboard, from what I can tell, is a part of the display, but it’s always there… even when you don’t need it. Sort of like the soft keys often found on Android phones, the keyboard is static in its position, and can easily be used when you need to type. This ideally means a keyboard never blocks or overlaps elements on the screen, so you’re always treated to a full-screen interface all the time. I’m not entirely sure if the keyboard’s layout is dynamic, i.e., whether it changes to reveal emojis or other languages, but if I were a betting man, that would honestly be a pretty remarkable feature. I could even imagine having app-specific controls, like playback controls for YouTube and Netflix, or gaming controls while you play games (reminds me of the LG Wing if I’m being honest). There are a few undeniable perks to owning a BlackBerry phone, and I’d say the Key 3’s no different. Aside from the keyboard, BlackBerry phones are known to have a much higher security standard than your regular Android or iOS device. If you can somehow look past the length of this phone, the Key 3 could actually be a compelling device to a certain subset of people. Besides, look to the base and you’ll even notice a 3.5mm headphone jack!!

Designer: Concept Creator (Jermain Smit) for LetsGoDigital

A closer look at the camera module, which looks heavily borrowed from the OnePlus 8. There’s no reason to believe that the original BlackBerry phone will sport the same camera module, so we can write this one off as Concept Creator’s own personal touch. That being said, if the BlackBerry did have a camera that was as good as the OnePlus 8, it would still be leaps and bounds ahead of what they’ve currently got.

From the looks of it, the phone sports a brushed metal back, which would probably mean no wireless charging. There is, however, a Type-C port on the base… and I may be sounding like a broken record here, but I’m still pretty impressed by the fact that flagship phones in 2021 can still have 3.5mm jacks!

There’s no indication of what this concept’s dimensions are, although it’s worth remembering that the BlackBerry Key 3 is just a fan-made concept phone. OnwardMobility announced that BlackBerry would launch its 2021 smartphone sometime in the first half of the year, so if things are still going according to schedule, the phone should ideally be announced in the next 2 months or so!

Image Credits – LetsGoDigital

Apple is expected to release the new 2021 iMac with 5 color options, just like the iPad Air

Posted on by

It’s been two years since Apple’s high-end computing department really saw a new release (we’re talking about the polarizing ‘cheesegrater’ Mac Pro from 2019). Reliable leaker Jon Prosser, however, has some news on this front. While Apple hasn’t really announced any March event, Prosser believes the company will launch a smaller Mac Pro, and will upgrade the 24-inch iMac series… with color options.

The colored iMacs are really a hat-tip to the candy-colored iMac G3 series from back in 2008. According to Prosser, who collaborated with Concept Creator over the following images, the 2021 iMacs are likely to come in 5 colors – black, white, green, blue, and rose gold… just like the 2020 iPad Air. The colors will be much more subtle than the iMac G3’s, but they provide an interesting dynamic to the aluminum-clad all-in-one computers.

When viewed from the front, the new iMacs tend to resemble the iPad too, with the bezel treatment. Unlike previous iMacs that came with a massive chin under the screen that sported the Apple logo, the new iMacs will have much more uniform bezels. It isn’t really apparent if they’ll also come with FaceID — although given they’ll be used indoors, in settings where masks aren’t really required, Apple could just as easily integrate the FaceID modules right into the design. Speculators also say that these new iMacs could be powered by Apple Silicon, making them not just a visual upgrade, but a performance upgrade as well!

Designers: Jon Prosser & Concept Creator

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is a Moto Razr-style foldable clamshell phone… without the nostalgia

Posted on by

It almost feels like the guys at Samsung finally realized where they went wrong with the Galaxy Fold. I don’t fault them though. It’s in the tech world’s blood to make mistakes with their first release, and then fix them over time. Take absolutely any software update, which always ends up requiring a secondary security patch just to fix the problems the original update created… or the Galaxy Fold, which did take the world by storm, but fizzled almost immediately after a series of bad reviews from the tech-glitterati. Samsung’s due to announce the Fold’s successor, which people are speculating will be either called the Galaxy Fold 2, or the Galaxy Bloom. Second in Samsung’s foldable phone line, the Galaxy Bloom’s objective is to right all the wrongs done by its predecessor… and to flood the market with flexible displays so Samsung can monetize on its AMOLED business.

The Galaxy Bloom, the way I see it, is practically the same as the 2019 Moto Razr, except without that sweet nostalgic factor. It folds just like a clamshell, giving you a longer screen rather than a squarish one, and like the Moto Razr, it can still be used with a single hand. As per this visualization by Concept Creator for LetsGoDigital, the Galaxy Bloom also does away with the secondary touchscreen on the outside, replacing it with a tiny notification and clock display right beside the dual-lens camera. This move would do wonders for Samsung by A. bringing the cost of the phone down, B. doing wonders for its battery life, and C. encourage people to open their phones to use them rather than just interacting with the external display (as is the situation with the original Galaxy Fold).

Another noteworthy feature is the Galaxy Bloom’s lack of a discernible notch, which is more than welcoming. The phone does have a slightly thick bezel running along the edge, but a hole-punch camera allows Samsung to push the flexible screen as close to the edge as possible. While these are all speculations based off of leaks found online, it’d be nice to see if Samsung announces the Galaxy Bloom at its February 11 event, Galaxy Unpacked. Who knows, maybe they won’t even call it the Galaxy Bloom.

Designer: Samsung
Image Credits: Concept Creator for LetsGoDigital

Three concept designers visualize what the 2019 iPhone will look like

Posted on by

iphone_2019_concepts_10

Leaks have become a very common part of Apple’s launch process. When you’re as big as Apple is, it’s difficult to keep everyone quiet. Somewhere in some part of the world, a factory worker clicks a picture of the iPhone Gorilla Glass being prototyped, or the aluminum frame being machined, and the rumors spread like wildfire. Helping bring some sort of depth to these rumors are concept phone designers, who quickly put together renders that, after a couple of rumors, end up looking exactly like the new phone. Apple’s made peace with this, because not only is it inevitable, but it also helps their end-users get accustomed to the design long before the release, creating a wave of hype that builds up to the phone launch.

On the other hand you’ve also got concept designers who don’t just simply follow trends. They add a bit of their own expectations to these concepts, creating designs that may seem outlandish, but are well received for their imagination and creativity. It’s perhaps because of these designers we’re still anticipating things like transparent smartphones, or smartphones that wrap around your wrist (Lenovo went and even built one!)

In this article, we’ll take a look at a mix of both the approaches. Two realistic ones that base themselves entirely on reliable leaks, and one that turns things up a notch, no pun intended!

Right below is a visualization by Concept Creator, who’s given the iPhone back its 2011-style aluminum side-frame and signature chamfered edge (like the iPhone 4). Also on board the concept 2019 iPhone is a staggering 5 cameras. 3 on the back, arranged in a linear style, and two on the front, with a double punch design that sort of forms a successor to the notch. The centralized camera system allows you to have portrait-mode shots with your front facing camera too, and could even carry FaceID if the technology supported it. Its location isn’t desirable, but it’s much better than the notch, and the side-hole-punch we’re seeing in the upcoming Huawei and Samsung phones. The glass back on the concept would suggest that the new phone is aggressively pushing the gospel of wireless charging, while it’s hard to tell whether the concept sticks to the Lightning connector or opts for the Type-C connection.

iphone_2019_concepts_1

iphone_2019_concepts_2

iphone_2019_concepts_3

iphone_2019_concepts_4

Probably one of the most reliable visualizations come from the twitter handle of Ben Geskin, a young, 20-something designer from Latvia. Geskin’s twitter handle is pretty much a catalog of concept phones based on leaks, from Samsung and Huawei to OnePlus and to Apple. Geskin updates his renders with each subsequent leak, and his final renders almost always match the launches, even down to the color options. His take on the 2019 iPhone is that the phone will pretty much look the same, except for two key differences. One, the back of the phone will have 3 cameras and a flash, and two, Apple will aggressively try to reduce the notch by pushing the speaker module out of it. Looking at the back of the phone, it’s somewhat disconcerting to see how the cameras are laid out asymmetrically (Apple takes perfection almost too seriously, so this is worrisome). The three cameras are arranged in a triangular format, inside a square-shaped camera bump. The flash and the video microphone find themselves struggling for space in this layout and get placed at extremely awkward spots. I doubt Apple would green-light this, but only time will tell. It’s good to see that the notch is made to be significantly narrower now, although once again, not desirable.

iphone_2019_concepts_5

iphone_2019_concepts_6

iphone_2019_concepts_7

And lastly, we have Michael Mojica’s outlandish iPhone that does things we’d expect from Android… modularity. While the world wonders whether the iPhone will have 2, 3, or 5 cameras, Mojica says it can have as many as it wants to. Built with swappable camera modules, Mojica’s 2019 iPhone is customizable to have a primary camera that’s as powerful as you want it. The camera modules magnetically click into their place at the upper-center of the iPhone’s back (an unusual move because every iPhone has had a camera on the top-left), connecting to the smartphone through contact points… much like the kind of experiments Motorola, Essential, and RED have done with modularity in their smartphones. Depending on the price you pay, you can choose anywhere from a 3-lens camera setup to a 6-lens camera setup, allowing you to take stunning photographs that are worthy of the #shotoniphone hashtag!

iphone_2019_concepts_8

iphone_2019_concepts_9

iphone_2019_concepts_11

Cover Photo Credits: OnLeaks x DigitIndia