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By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor

 

The new smartphone, called ‘ADzero’, is expected to launch later this year. Made from four-year-old organically grown bamboo that has been treated to improve its durability, the phone runs Google’s Android operating system.

 

Kieron Scott-Woodhouse, from Shepherds Bush in London, said he designed the phone in his spare time because he was frustrated that so many existing models looked similar to each other. Middlesex University said that he was contacted by a technology entrepreneur after posting designs online.

 

Described as ‘weighing half as much as the iPhone’, the new device will also feature a ‘ring flash’ to make the illumination of pictures taken with its camera more even.

 

Initially intended for the Chinese market, an enthusiastic reception in Britain means that the phone will go on sale in design retailers later this year.

 

Mr Kieron-Scott, who is still a full-time student on Middlesex’s Product Design course, claimed “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.”

  

Dr Andy Bardill, Mr Kieron-Scott’s tutor and Middlesex University’s product design and engineering director of programmes, said: “The web has opened up the highly competitive design sphere and enabled those with talent to get noticed more easily. Kieron is a remarkable designer.”

 

More information about A.D can be found at www.justadzero.com; detailed specifications have not yet been released.Telegraph