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The omnipresent tacky plastic casings for electronic devices are morphing into wood, leather and metal designs. At the Photokina exhibition in Germany, Japanese electronics maker Olympus debuted a camera that features a wooden casing.
Taking real wood and then pressuring and heating it, the company managed to give the wood exterior the same strength as plastic, while preserving the color, burnish, and grain, causing something of a buzz at the show.
¡°The warm feeling of the wooden case weakens the cold image of electronic devices,¡± a company spokesman said. ¡°Every time the user runs their hand over the camera, they can experience tactile pleasure.¡±
Leather casings were also a hot item. The outer casing and the lower part of the keyboard of the S6F Laptop computer from Taiwanese firm ASUS are wrapped in leather. As the wrapping has been treated with an uneven embossing process, the product is nice to the touch. Nokia¡¯s fashion handset L¡¯Amour also features leather wrapping on the back, and the firm stressed the feeling of the phone in the hand. Here, Samsung Techwin is releasing a digital camera that has a leather handhold.
In the mobile phone industry, where slim is in, phones made of new materials are emerging on all fronts. Samsung Electronics¡¯ Magic Silver Phone is made of magnesium that is both thin and light. The outside is reminiscent of a small mirror. Samsung has also offered phones made of glass fiber-reinforced plastic and rubber coated models.
¡°The feel of a phone in one¡¯s hand can dictates whether or not that phone gets purchased,¡± Samsung's mobile telecommunications division chief Lee Ki-tae says. ¡°Materials and design are just as important as the latest features.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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