What will the next generation iPhone bring? Well it’s a little too early to speculate on that but Apple is certainly working on it. A few new patents have emerged and they depict a few new features like haptic screens, RFID readers and fingerprint ID. The picture clearly suggests that such technology would definitely apply to the iPhone or the iPod touch.

The screen is using a grid of piezoelectronic actuators that will offer a tactile vibration response every time you press the screen. Do we need a haptic touchscreen? Yes we do:

However, one of a touchscreen’s biggest advantages (i.e., the ability to utilize the same physical space for different functions) is also one of a touchscreen’s biggest disadvantages. When the user is unable to view the display (because the user is occupied with other tasks), the user can only feel the smooth hard surface of the touchscreen, regardless of the shape, size and location of the virtual buttons and/or other display elements. This makes it difficult for users to find icons, hyperlinks, textboxes or other user-selectable input elements that are being displayed, if any are even being displayed, without looking at the display.

As for fingerprint identification or RFID reader, these are not exactly must-have features but they would be also useful in a future iPhone.

It seems that Nokia has finally taken a hint from the market; touchscreens are good. Word comes to us that Nokia is prepping to launch 3 touchscreens enabled devices at some point this year to join the likes of their N97 coming this summer. One of these rumored phones is said to have the codename ‘Nautilus‘ which features both a touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard.

Rumor has it these new touch screen devices will utilize haptic feedback technology licensed from Immersion in an attempt to make typing on the phones less of a chore.

Nokia is still far ahead in terms of worldwide sales but companies like Apple and RIM are hot on their tail, so it’s about time they picked up the pace.

Read (InformationWeek)

Here’s a concept phone with has Nokia written all over it. I don’t think it’s the phone we’re going to see next week since it proposes quite an interesting idea. As you can see it’s a phone that immediately makes you think it comes with a touchscreen. Indeed it does. The other features aren’t clear right now but we don’t actually need them right now.

We are more interested in the touch experience. This Nokia will get you the feedback you are looking for in your touchscreen phones. And it’s not haptic feedback it’s water. The phone has a pump which allows water to be inserted into the substrate beneath. Thus you will get some buttons on that surface. Wonder if this concept phone will ever be picked up for mass production… What do you think?

People say that the Nokia XpressMusic 5800 Tube is the phone in the Batman new movie. Nokia says it isn’t. Either way, the 5800 has been spotted in the open and it pretty much looks like the one in the movie.

We’ve talked about the Tube before but we have a few more specs available:
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