// Pocket Picks //

It’s something of a foregone conclusion that Nokia are planning, if not an iPhone killer, at least an iPhone worrier.

The near mythical Nokia Tube shows the kind of thing we can expect to emerge from the Finn’s R&D labs Real Soon Now with a multi-touch, tactile-feedback display and a nice big screen for mobile video and web browsing. If you want to reaslly take on Apple, though, you need something a bit special.

An interesting patent application has come to light that might show the direction Nokia is looking in further down the road.

In June 2007 (just 6 months after the iPhone was announced) Nokia filed a patent for a ‘touchless’ UI using Ultrasonic Transducers set around the edge of a phone’s display.

The tiny emittters/sensors beam out tightly focused soundwaves and detect them as they bounce back from nearby objects. By triangulating several sensors, the handset can track the motion of the user’s fingers in 3D space and identify controlling gestures.

The full article over at UnWired.com has much more technical detail and is worth a look.

I’m a bit dubious about the practicaility of this, to be honest. Certain aspects - for example using gestures to navigate a web page - seem like they would work well, but I’m less enthusiastic about an on-screen keyboard that you can’t even touch. Also, this seems rather better suited to two-handed use, which isn’t how most of us would choose to operate a phone.

If waggling your hands around in front of your phone reminds you a bit of the Nintendo Wii.. well, what was it Nokia were saying a few weeks ago about seeking inspiration in the popular games console?