Wednesday, February 17, 2010

This phone has more personality than some of my Facebook friends.


http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/puma-phone-hands-on/

It's not often that technology meets playful simplicity quite like this.  There are those who would argue that iPhones are fun and playful, but no, they really aren't.  Not like this, at least.  Lately many devices have started to incorporate playful aspects thanks to the iPhone and the recent movement towards a more personable user experience, but here are some examples of how the Puma phone shown in the link puts them all to shame:
  • Menus are "hidden under the rug" and shown with a swipe and a "pull up the corner" animation
  • The music player is in the form of a turntable, complete with interactive scratching
  • The solar panel on the back encourages outdoor usage and keeps track of how much power you save by using it, with a display phrased in terms such as "## mins of music powered by the sun"
  • Retro-analog stopwatch and bike speedometer tools
  • A calculator that reportedly chides you for using it on overly simplistic calculations
  • A built-in puma
Seriously, just watch the video in the link.

Now, I'm sure Jakob Nielsen would have a field day with some of the usability decisions they've made, and I can definitely see a few ways that the experience may be a little clunkier than it needs to be.  But lately I've been thinking a lot about things like giving devices a "face" and injecting personality and playfulness into the ordinarily cold or inert, and Puma have really surprised me with this device.  I would love to see this become a popular thing to do.

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