{"id":61632,"date":"2016-06-06T12:39:18","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T11:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=61632"},"modified":"2016-06-06T12:39:18","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T11:39:18","slug":"5-awesome-smartphone-concepts-q2-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/06\/5-awesome-smartphone-concepts-q2-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"5 awesome smartphone concepts: Q2 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, we took a look<\/a> at some cool concept renders of upcoming smartphones made by imaginative artists the world over. Now we’re back with another crop of recent concepts and leaks, including the next big smartphones from Samsung, Microsoft and Apple. Let’s get right into it!<\/p>\n

Galaxy Note 7<\/h3>\n

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Is this the next Galaxy Note? It very well could be! It’s not clear if this render, published by\u00a0@OnLeaks<\/em>, is a leaked image created by Samsung, or an accurate approximation by someone outside the company. It’s thought that Samsung will skip the Note 6<\/a> and go straight to the Note 7, while also dispensing with both an Edge and non-Edge version; this time the only option will be a Note with an Edge screen.<\/p>\n

The image reveals that the Note 7 will come with a USB-C port, breaking compatibility with the current Gear VR headset but allowing for USB-C’s reversible connector, faster charging and faster data transfers. The screen is said to be 5.7 or 5.8 inches across the diagonal, with a bunch of sensors along the top edge of the screen. One of these may be an iris scanner, which allows you to log into your phone just by looking at it. The Note 7 is expected to be announced in August or September, so we don’t have too long to wait!<\/p>\n

Source: Onleaks<\/a><\/p>\n

iPhone 7 Edge<\/h3>\n

\"iphone-6-curved-display-1\"Apple’s next iPhone isn’t expected to make a lot of design changes, but what about next year? If rumours of a three year cycle<\/a> are correct, we could finally see a fresh design from the Californian firm. This concept located by uSwitch shows one way Apple could go: an OLED screen with curved edges, just like Samsung’s popular Edge editions\u00a0of Galaxy handsets.<\/p>\n

Apple has been rumoured to be switching from IPS to AMOLED in 2017 or 2018, and combining the move with a curved display would make a lot of sense. Samsung have proved that it’s an efficient way to get a lot of screen into a small space, and that sounds like something Apple would want to copy.<\/p>\n

Via: Uswitch<\/a><\/p>\n

Microsoft Surface Phone<\/h3>\n

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Microsoft have long been thought to be working on their followup to the Lumia line of smartphones, which should arrive under their popular Surface brand (which has heretofore only been for tablets). There have been no leaks of what this phone might look like, so concept artists have fired up Photoshop and made their own ideas about what to expect.<\/p>\n

This concept from\u00a0nokibar\u00a0via Baidu shows a boxy white phone, with no physical buttons on the front. There’s a USB-C port at the base and a flip cover that looks to be a teeny-tiny version of the touch cover keyboard that Microsoft uses for its Surface tablets. The back of the phone has a Lumia-style camera, with what looks to be a pretty impressively large camera near the centre.<\/p>\n

Via: Concept-Phones<\/a><\/p>\n

(Largely) Realistic iPhone 7<\/h3>\n

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The iPhone 7 is coming soon… and if recent leaks and rumours<\/a> are any indication, we’re looking at largely the same phone as last year, with a similar design and a few feature alterations. The 3.5mm jack is being dropped in favour of Lightning or Bluetooth headphones and a new speaker grille is being added in its place. We could also see waterproofing, a dual rear camera on Plus models and a smart connector for attaching battery cases and the like.<\/p>\n

This beautiful concept by HKI hits pretty much all of the bases, with that dual speaker grille, a slightly more polished look and otherwise largely the same design as before. (Although the missing Lightning port doesn’t really make much sense.) It also looks like it includes a virtual home button with a sub-screen sensor<\/a>, which Apple could potentially work into their iPhone designs at some point.<\/p>\n

Source: HKI Phone<\/a><\/p>\n

Project Ara modular phone<\/h3>\n

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This one’s cheating a bit… because it’s actually a real, working phone! Project Ara is Google’s attempt\u00a0to make a truly modular phone, with a bunch of different sections that you can slide into place to change your camera, speakers, battery life and way more. Modular phones have been concept pieces only for a long time, so it’s great to see something that actually works.<\/p>\n

The project has been ongoing for years, but Google announced that the first developer kits will be released this autumn, ahead of a wider release next year. You can find out more about Project Ara at the official website below, or typing Project Ara into the search engine of your choice.<\/p>\n

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Source: ProjectAra.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Wrapping up<\/h3>\n

Thanks for checking out the article! If you’re hungry for more, check out our previous concept roundups here<\/a> and here<\/a>\u00a0— or perhaps you’d prefer a look at BMW’s shapeshifting concept car<\/a>?\u00a0Thanks again and enjoy your week!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Earlier this year, we took a look at some cool concept renders of upcoming smartphones made by imaginative artists the world over. Now we’re back with another crop of recent concepts and leaks, including the next big smartphones from Samsung, Microsoft and Apple. Let’s get right into it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":61635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[311,8208,216],"tags":[8303,8754,8755,528,6933,8753,7140],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61658,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61632\/revisions\/61658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}