Kieron-Scott Woodhouse's bamboo-hulled smartphone isn't destined for mass production and world acclaim. Instead, it'll see a smaller run, be sold in targeted markets and in boutiques where design is appreciated, and that'll probably be that. Even still, keen designers and smartphone makers would do well to peek at what Woodhouse is doing — his phone, the ADzero, is half the weight of an iPhone even with its larger screen.

Carmakers could never have anticipated all their fiddly nobs, buttons and dials might be replaced by smart fabric seat covers. The idea of controlling your radio volume with the same sort of swipe used to control your smartphone would have been like something out of Back to the Future. Now, it is almost a reality.

We knew this day was coming. The day you could FEEL something on your TV, smartphone or tablet — and not just vibration, but elaborate textures. Touch technology company Senseq has just released a prototype tablet showing the phenomenon in action.

If you haven't made the switch to a smartphone yet, your days are numbered, because the future won't have any cellphones in it. Sony Ericsson is the first major cellphone company to stop making "dumbphones." From here on out, its Xperia brand of smartphones will take over.