ZTE's Zubia Z9 smartphone boasts a full-bleed screen, touch-sensitive edges and a novel way—which the company calls Frame Interactive Technology--to interact with the device. Before we can discuss its pluses or minuses, take a look at how we're meant to use it:
Jeez, how many Apple videos did they watch before shooting (and scoring) this one? In any case, let's talk UI. At first FIT seems really cool. But if you can imagine it from an actual usage perspective, does it stand up? The idea of squeezing the phone to activate the camera shutter, for one, seems a bad idea; it's already awkward enough to hold a thin glass rectangle steady for a photo, and squeezing it on both sides will not lend itself to accurate framing.
Secondly, in apps of all kinds, the edges of the phone are where our fingers find the purchase to hold the thing. Do you not imagine accidentally triggering various functions just by holding it and/or shifting it around in your hand? Take the saxophone demonstration—when you're done playing, do you not imagine hearing a bunch of random unintended notes coming out of the thing while you fumble to shut the app down?
I think what has me most suspicious about the UI is that the demonstrator is clearly not holding an actual phone in space, and the video relies on editing and overlays to convey what's happening.
In any case, the Z9 is no mere concept; it's reportedly currently on the Chinese market, where a website called GizmoChina claims "it sold out in just 10 mins! [sic]," with no explanation of whether that means in a store or via online ordering. And another smartphone blog, Android and Me, says the Z9 will hit U.S. store shelves later this year.
Your thoughts? And what in the world is the bizarre press image below meant to convey?
Via Phone Arena
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