Today is a significant day. It is the day when Google and Samsung launch the Nexus S. For all of you who still lives under an e-rock, the Nexus S is the second true and pure Google experience phone which will be released into the market since the launch of Google and hTC's Nexus One a year ago.
As a Nexus One owner, naturally I am very excited about this. However, the Nexus S did not really give me the 'wow' feeling I had with the Nexus One. I probably will still get it nonetheless.
This, however, kick started my design thinking cap! What if I can design my OWN Nexus phone. What would it be like? Hmmmm...
Here goes...
It probably will look similar to the Nexus S in shape, thickness and size.
It will however have some titanium parts in matt colour to make it look slightly more premium but yet still keep the weight low.
It will have the same contour screen design.
It will have all the standard ports, slots, jacks, sensors and whatever.
Big internal phone memory for Apps! The other hardware specs are of no importance as specs are ever improving.
Now here comes the core of my design idea.
If Apple's iPhone has a one button to control all, my Nexus' design language will be a one ticker screen to control all.
My phone will spot a 4 inch AMOLED screen (of course the latest variant of AMOLED).
But right under that 4 inch screen, I will have a second mini AMOLED screen about 1 to 1.5 cm in height and the same width as the 4 inch screen.
I call this mini screen the ticker screen and the 4 inch screen the main screen for easy reference in this post.
Under normal usage of the phone (i.e. when the main screen is ON), the ticker screen will display the four Android command buttons. For Android users, it will be the 'back', 'menu', 'home' and 'search' button.
The user, can choose to press and hold to drag and change the positions of these 4 buttons if he/she wishes.
When the phone goes into Sleep mode (i.e. power button off), the main screen can be used to display a very simple time and date and even notification icons. The display will only appear when the phone detects that it is being moved or tapped (either by gyroscope or accelerometer sensors). If the phone is motionless, both the main and ticker screen will be off. This display is optional and can be switched off if the user wishes so.
When there is a notification (eg. incoming SMS) the ticker screen will flash a small SMS icon every 5 seconds. Icons will vary in color and design depending on the nature of the notification.
The user can then tap on the icon, and a short snippet of the SMS will be displayed ON the ticker screen itself. If the user thinks that the SMS is important and he/she wishes to reply straight away, he can then double tap on the snippet and the main screen will turn on.
Once the user unlocks the main screen (be in pattern or password or swipe), the SMS messenger is already opened and ready for him to reply that particular SMS. By this time, the ticker screen will already be showing the 4 Android command buttons.
If the users thinks that showing icons as notification LEDs is boring, he can choose from a wide gamut of patterns to display instead. Such as, a small pulsing light (any color), a dot of light that pans from left to right and back (i.e. knight rider style), or a tracing light that speeds around the perimeter of the ticker screen, or a light that tunnels outwards from the centre of the ticker screen in a rectangular manner, or a heart beat pulse, etc. etc. etc.
I would also like to take the opportunity here to introduce another way of unlocking the phone. It uses gestures in conjunction with the gyroscope and g-sensors. The possibilities are endless.
Well, thats about it, I probably have alot more ideas in mind, but you know me, I am too lazy to write them all down :P
So thats all folks, have a Merry Christmas!
