This one is dedicated to my brother and father (avid guitar players). Apparently, those guys who sit around all day and track patents found one relating to Motorola and a “Guitar Phone.” From the looks of it, Motorola is is patenting a cellphone that displays the layout of a guitar neck on its screen, and allows its keypad to be “plucked” or “strummed” by a user. The sounds of which can be played through the phone’s speaker or directly to the the person being serenaded at the other end of the line.

The phone has the usual four rows of keys, but switching to music mode turns the keys into a set of virtual strings that respond to pressing. Turning a control knob shifts the scale of the selected chord up or down – like a guitar capo – or switches between different types of chord, like major and minor.

Of course, the tunes you create can be recorded and stored to play back later or as a ringtone. Being that it is an electric phone guitar, different type of string instruments from the banjo to the mandolin will be made available which will, I’m sure, create a plethora of “dueling ringtone” jokes amongst users and their friends.

Thanks SmartMobs.

“Rock Guitar for Dummies” (Jon Chappell, Carl Verheyen)

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