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I can't possibly be the only one that laments the fact that all smartphones look basically the same after the iPhone took off. Candybar slates with massive scre

I can't possibly be the only one that laments the fact that all smartphones look basically the same after the iPhone took off. Candybar slates with massive screens and questionable batteries and life. No sliders, no flips, nothing new or interesting in hardware. Now, only featureless slabs with barely a physical button in sight, differentiated more by the images they display on screen and less their components. Eventually we'll wind up with a phone that's all screen and no bezel, and then where do we go? It feels like we lost something.

akavi 10y ago
Then they become commodities, the price falls to levels we could never imagine now, and use cases open up we could never imagine now. At the limit: ubiquitous, cheap, smart, connected displays. Seems like it could be pretty cool.
GFischer 10y ago
You're not the only one. But most diversions from the norm failed :( and large companies are afraid to innovate. LG's attempts are weird. My hope is now on Chinese companies like Xiaomi to do something different :) Also, Google hinders innovation by preventing hardware buttons. I miss the Photo button from my old Nokias the most, but also to answer the phone and other functions.
- morsch 10y ago
  How is Google preventing hardware buttons? Sony's most recent phones (Xperia X) have dedicated photo buttons; and that's a longstanding Xperia feature. I doubt they're the only ones. Android defaults to on-screen bottom-row buttons (to reduce bezel size), but the OS supports off-screen buttons just fine, and phones with dedicated buttons exist.
  - GFischer 10y ago
    I'm obviously mistaken then, sorry. I believe I read that at one time there were some rules or guidelines for hardware manufacturers that wanted to be Google certified (and have Play Store and all that). I'm trying to google that and coming up short, so I must have been confused.
- ryuker16 10y ago
  They release Some Of Those Crazy Designs In Asia
wvenable 10y ago
It was always going to be that way -- the screen is an empty canvas that you can project anything. All other hardware is superfluous at best and finicky at worst. This is the ultimate end result of phone evolution.
totalZero 10y ago
Smartphones will continue to look the same, until they start to look different. Blackberry was once a cool phone, and so was the RAZR. The current form factor emphasizes interaction with software, which I see as a good thing. Why exactly do you want to have a bezel?
ryuker16 10y ago
They're still making those crazy designs in Asia. You'll have to import them.

akavi 10y ago

Then they become commodities, the price falls to levels we could never imagine now, and use cases open up we could never imagine now. At the limit: ubiquitous, cheap, smart, connected displays. Seems like it could be pretty cool.

GFischer 10y ago

You're not the only one. But most diversions from the norm failed :( and large companies are afraid to innovate. LG's attempts are weird. My hope is now on Chinese companies like Xiaomi to do something different :) Also, Google hinders innovation by preventing hardware buttons. I miss the Photo button from my old Nokias the most, but also to answer the phone and other functions.

morsch 10y ago
How is Google preventing hardware buttons? Sony's most recent phones (Xperia X) have dedicated photo buttons; and that's a longstanding Xperia feature. I doubt they're the only ones. Android defaults to on-screen bottom-row buttons (to reduce bezel size), but the OS supports off-screen buttons just fine, and phones with dedicated buttons exist.
- GFischer 10y ago
  I'm obviously mistaken then, sorry. I believe I read that at one time there were some rules or guidelines for hardware manufacturers that wanted to be Google certified (and have Play Store and all that). I'm trying to google that and coming up short, so I must have been confused.
ryuker16 10y ago
They release Some Of Those Crazy Designs In Asia

wvenable 10y ago

It was always going to be that way -- the screen is an empty canvas that you can project anything. All other hardware is superfluous at best and finicky at worst. This is the ultimate end result of phone evolution.

totalZero 10y ago

Smartphones will continue to look the same, until they start to look different. Blackberry was once a cool phone, and so was the RAZR. The current form factor emphasizes interaction with software, which I see as a good thing. Why exactly do you want to have a bezel?

ryuker16 10y ago

They're still making those crazy designs in Asia. You'll have to import them.