Pilotfish Ondo Concept Weds Phone and…Music Production?

Germany's Pilotfish has unveiled a new concept that weds a phone with a multitrack music production system...and did we mention it bends?

Germany’s high-concept industrial design firm Pilotfish had taken the wraps off the Ondo, a new concept device that combines the key features of a mobile phone with—we’re not making this up—the key features of music production and editing. The Ondo concept is aimed at music enthusiasts who want to not only listen to their music on the go, but also record and even mix music while they’re out and about. Oh, and the design? The entire device is flexible and twistable, and features three removable display “sticks” that can be snapped on to a music instrument or a performer to capture live sound.

The three “sticks” each feature an OLED display; when snapped into the phone, they collectively form the phone’s display, enabling access to address book, calendar, and other phone functions. However, the sticks can also be removed and clipped on to instruments or performers to capture live musical performances—or, we’d guess, readings or lectures. Pilotfish doesn’t say whether the sticks use transducers or integrated microphones—and we’re betting the audio quality isn’t the best— but it’s an interesting idea. Once recordings are done, users can send them to each other via MMS messages—and once sound has been captured, users can manipulate it by physically bending and twisting the Ondo device—or spinning its integrated dial. The Ondo also has a “party mode” where the device can be used as a digital mixer and transition between songs on different tracks.

Pilotfish isn’t really in the business of producing a device like the Ondo: it’s more looking to license out the technology to OEMs who, in turn, would integrate it into their product lineups. Pilotfish envisions businesses built around the Ondo’s capabilities, including online song libraries and (of course) games that take advantage of the Ondo’s capabilities…and maybe even add-on Bluetooth instruments.

In the meantime, Pilotfish’s concept photos will have to do.