Nokia anticipated what future could bring in terms of phone technology and developed, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, the gadget of the future, called Morph. The concept device was part of the “Design and Elastic Mind” exhibition, and will be on display from February 24 to May 12, 2008 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Combining functionality and flexibility, the Morph concept was built based on nanotechnology, merging the elasticity of materials, with transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. The result of that was a small and slim device, capable of adjusting to the user’s needs, and transforming from a practical cell phone to a more complicated device that incorporates a keyboard and a touchpad.

There are numerous advantages to the concept phone, and one of them is the self-cleaning feature, which could prolong the life of the device through protecting it from harmful factors. At the same time, the surfaces could use nanotechnology to harvest solar power, in other words, smaller batteries, with longer life cycle and faster recharge.

“Developing the Morph concept with Nokia has provided us with a focus that is both artistically inspirational but, more importantly, sets the technology agenda for our joint nanoscience research that will stimulate our future work together,” Dr. Tapani ryhanen, Head of the Department of Engineering’s Nanoscience Group at the University of Cambridge said in a statement.

Morph is just the first step and a sneak preview into what the future of cell phones could become, and to be more precise, opens a path for devices that adjust to the consumer needs, rather than asking the consumer to adjust to the device. Nokia said it expected a least a part of the technology used in morph to begin being implemented into high-end mobile devices within the next seven years, which wouldn’t necessarily imply high-costs.