[youtube]http://youtu.be/Xbyoool5ZwY[/youtube]
Transparent screens have been presented as available for smartphones for more than a year, but only now have the people from NTT Docomo taken up the courage to implement them in an interesting device. In the video clip above, you have presented the first smartphone that has a transparent screen with two sides. From the point of view of design and interface, the smartphone does not amaze, but the interesting part is that users can interact with both sides of the screen at the same time, the operating system being able to record simultaneous touches.
You could hold down an icon on the front, and slide on the back to move an icon, or use the message bar, or create a new application. For example, from the front, you can only move the whole Rubik's cube like this, but if you slide your finger across the front while holding down the back, you can rotate just one face. So this display makes gripping operations possible. The display is QVGA (320 x 240), at 2.4 inches. We think it needs to be bigger if we're to market this kind of phone. But even in this form, we think it could be used as a sub-display. In that case, it will have a limited display capability, so we think the range of applications could be wider.
What Docomo is trying will certainly attract the attention of many users, but the technology must evolve enough to be implemented in a serious smartphone that can generate sales.
