[Grand Prix]
[Cellular & Mobile Technology]
SHARP CORPORATION - mirumo mobile phone equipped with "Memory LCD"

Expression of one’s personal style is a desire shared by U.S. and Japanese consumers alike. Applying style to consumer electronics usually is done en masse, hit or miss, and requires consumers to accept the product designs they are presented with, rather than creating something unique. The Apple iPhone and Motorola Razr are the two most successful phones on the market today primarily because of their industrial design. However, to personalize these devices, consumers must add skins, cases, and other accessories. This begs the question: What if the phone itself could be customized, with no impact on form factor, usability, or battery life?

It is in this aspect Sharp’s mirumo phone stands alone. More specifically, it is its use of Sharp’s Memory LCD, a display technology similar to that used in Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader.

The mirumo enables a consumer to display a custom black & white image on the back of the display. That’s it – choose the pattern for the back of your phone and it’s instantly stylized. No need for permanent laser etching, getting a new case, or wishing you had chosen a different style for that laptop cover. Want to change it? Snap a photo or change the wallpaper. Don’t want an image? You can show the news instead.

The applications for this technology are tremendous. First and foremost, as larger Memory LCD and similar displays become commonplace, entire laptop covers, computer cases, and other CE devices could be endlessly customized to a consumer’s tastes. No longer will a breakup mean you have to throw that device away just because their name is laser etched on it.

Indeed, the cell phone ringtone business is a multi-billion dollar economic wonder. Its re-use of media assets created a lucrative new revenue stream for the music and cellular phone industries alike. Another page could be taken from this playbook, now reusing photographic, image, and even video feeds to create the next economic “killer app.”

Auri Rahimzadeh