The 'Vase' is just a concept device, to be sure, but it got me thinking. Is this the way to handle a smartphone interface where there's enough functionality to overwhelm beginners? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it's a question that's good to ask.

"If the Apple iPhone ushered in anything, it was the era of the user interface - at least in the mobile world. Not that traditional S60 or UIQ or Windows Mobile phones were THAT hard to use - but Apple's built-from-the-ground-up interface was so jaw droppingly simple and obvious. Now, arguably, part of the simplicity was also down to the fact that the iPhone also couldn't do that much - but I contend that the modern smartphone has to be able to fulfill a lot of separate functions and, where you have functions, you'll need icons. The more a smartphone does, the more icons and options you'll need, and so on. As Apple are about to find out in the next year, I suspect - just look at the iPhone fans filling up homescreen after homescreen with shortcuts and web clips with the latest firmware..."

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