A design student from Middlesex University has designed a new smartphone made from bamboo.
The smartphone – called ADzero – is made from four year old organically grown bamboo, specially treated for durability.
Kieron-Scott Woodhouse, 23, a full-time product design student, said: “Bamboo may seem like a strange material to use for a phone, but it’s actually extremely strong and very durable, perfect qualities for this kind of application.”
The phone runs on the android system and is said to be approximately half the weight of an Apple iPhone, with a larger 
screen. It also boasts a camera featuring ‘ring flash’ technology, a circular photographic flash around the camera’s lens which ensures even illumination and minimises shadows.
Initially intended for the Chinese market, the phone was created after Woodhouse posted creations on forums and websites and was subsequently contacted by a technology entrepreneur who wanted to bring his ideas to life. The pair joined forces with a hardware engineer and within weeks had set up a company to manufacture the phone.
Dr Andy Bardill, Woodhouse’s tutor and Middlesex University’s product design and engineering director of programmes, commented: “The web has opened up the highly competitive design sphere and enabled those with talent to get noticed more easily.”
Woodhouse’s company A.D., set up alongside the operational director, Jerry Lao, and hardware engineer Leo Qu, now plans on launching the phone in the UK first and will then open up to other markets.
