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Fashion has fused with tech in a new phone that can be worn like a handbag.
It’s the latest concept design by Chinese manufacturer Honor. Could this be the future of phones? The Honor V Purse is a mobile phone that folds up into a small clutch-style purse. Unlike other foldable phones, its screens are meant to be seen even when not in use – so they are on the outside. The so-called ‘always-on displays’ (AODs) can be changed and personalized to match the user’s outfit.
The V Purse was unveiled by Honor CEO George Zhao at IFA Berlin. Zhao says it doesn’t really matter that the bag can’t actually hold anything inside it. “It’s the right time for us to consider the Honor V Purse concept because within smartphones are integrated camera, credit card, ID, the boarding pass, almost everything and keys. So you do not need to bring too many things with you when you travel. So this is a pretty new experience today,” he says.
The phone is less than 9 millimeters when folded, thinner than many high-end phones currently on the market. Its internal gyroscope can sense motion and the display reacts accordingly. And they are also interactive – Honor even suggests users could have a digital pet that they can play with on the screen. The idea is they can be customized to each individual.
Even though the device is not going into mass production, Honor has still recruited a host of artists to come up with designs for the external displays. Among them is Mexican artist Yunuen who has a history of using augmented reality in her work. She has mixed the traditional Mexican decorative craft of ‘papel picado’ with tech to create her design.
So will we all be wearing our phones five years from now? Or is this just a way to grab some headlines in a crowded market? “How commercially viable they are is very, very questionable. But it’s great to grab the headlines at a point where all mobile phones essentially are looking the same. You have to do something different,” says Ben Wood, chief analyst of CCS Insight.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.