New fabric phone

The newest hype in technology appears to be the fabric phone. Smart Textiles will allow an entire phone to be woven into the fabric of a jacket. The keypad will consist of a touchpad on the sleeve and there will be no need for a screen as this new phone will be a basic calls-only device. A Bluetooth earpiece will house the speaker and microphone. However, at the moment, this new miracle of technology is still in the making and a prototype will probably not be available for the next decade.

In the meantime, however, the British firm Softswitch has enjoyed great succes with the development of touch-sensitive material, including cloth control panels for electronic tools such as MP3 players. Although the development is still in its early stages, the technology has already taken years and billions of pounds to develop. The next generation of mobile phones might include possibilities as limitless as watching digital TV, starting your car, taking your pulse or even paying for your shopping.