You’ve got files on your phone and files on your computer, and increasingly the two are becoming equally capable of not only displaying these files, but allowing you to edit them. Problem is, it’s never that easy to send one to the other. In fact, it’s a right rigmarole sometimes. That’s where Ishac Bertran’s ingenious concept comes in. You wanna watch this: it’s the future of computing.

Bertran’s discovered a problem. “Our devices are well connected virtually, through services like DropBox or iCloud,” he says. “Those offer wireless synchronization for data, but the devices that contain this data still miss a tangible connection. I thought that a representation of a physical connection would facilitate a more intuitive interaction based on traditional mental models from the physical world.”

What that means is, it’s easy to send files about, but it doesn’t feel easy because you can’t see anything actually move. As simple as it sounds, seeing something start in one place and end up on another in a fluid transition puts our minds at rest. And that’s where Bertran’s concept for ‘spatially aware devices’ comes in.

WP7 concept shows Android Beam killer

The idea is blindingly simple: hold your iPhone up to the side of your MacBook, and the two devices will recognise a connection. A connecting ring appears for you to drag and drop files into. It’d obviously take a MacBook with a touchscreen to work, alongside some sort of NFC tech, but other than that it’s incredibly smart, and very simple.

Have a watch of the video below and let us know: does this wipe the floor with what Google’s don with Android Beam?

Via Fast Co Design

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  • http://twitter.com/lexplex_ Lexplex

    AGAIN – earlier this year Apple said they think the idea of a touchscreen laptop is stupid and will never make one.  

    ALSO – looks cool to hold the iphone up like that to create the nice little circle but why bother holding the phone up when I could just drag the file onto the phone from the browser while the phone is in my pocket? 

    FINALLY – phones have been able to transfer files between devices speedily over bluetooth for a DECADE now.  And iphones STILL can’t do that.  So Apple’s so far behind the rest of the phone world on file transfer that it’s beyond funny, and they say it’s to protect copyrights and prevent easy file sharing (like, say, giving your friend all your bought MP3s).  If Apple do anything like this they’re going to have to do some considerable back-tracking on previous statements they’ve made. 

  • Dedokta

    Considering that this is just concept art at this stage and not even a prototype, I fail to see how this will wipe the floor in any way. Also Android already had phones with NFC tech inbuilt and have a long history of far superior files sharing methods than Apple, so I really don’t get what you are trying to say in this article.

  • BigNellie

    Yet another story of the amazing things Apple MIGHT do which would be so much better than something another company is ALREADY DOING – this time a story which doesn’t hold together under the most rudimentary examination.  

    As @Lexplex says, how is a system where two devices have to touch better than one where they don’t? And why would Apple encourage such a feature when for years they have gone out of their way to make filesharing difficult or impossible (where it doesn’t involve them making a profit, that is?) 

  • http://twitter.com/C_GATOR Canadian gator

    already done. hp did something similar with the touchpad and the pre. 

  • Declan Oreilly

    Its called bluetooth obex file exchange, cupertino might want to look into it.

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