Researchers at Northwestern University in the US are using nanomaterials to create devices that can rewire themselves

The Chamaleon reconfigurable chip

Future mobile devices may be able to reconfigure themselves to meet new demands, ­according to researchers that have developed a nanomaterial that can “steer” electrical currents. The discovery could lead to the development of smartphones and devices that can reconfigure their internal ‘wiring’ and evolve into an entirely different and new device, to reflect the changing needs of consumers.

It is not the first time that researchers find a way to introduce flexibility in hardware by designing circuits that can change themselves on the fly. Another example is the Chamaleon in the picture.

We are going to see more and more of them as we learn to use nano materials.

This blog has already reported about the new application stores designed on iTunes’ model and deployed by mobile phones manufacturers, software vendors and mobile network operators. Here and here you can find previous entries about Nokia Ovi, Vodafone, Windows Marketplace and others.

Also Samsung, the korean manufacturer which is very popular in Italy in terms of sales (probably it comes after Nokia), has recently announced the opening of an application store, which is now in beta version.

As Engadget reports,

The imaginatively named Samsung Application Store launches on September 14 for British, French, and Italian Omnia and I8910 HD handsets, later coming to the Omnia II and OmniaLITE as well as users in various other nations.

Samsung a big manufacturer with hundred million customers worlwide and a huge offer of smartphones. The availability of a dedicated application store is the attempt to build an effective ecosystem aimed to replicate the success gained by Apple with iTunes. But, like Nokia, Samsung differs from Apple because the Korean maker is not focused on just one model but can promote innovative applications for a wider range of multimedia smartphones.