Motorola Granted Patent For 'Smellophone'

Touting the future of the mobile phone market at the Software 2007 Conference in Santa Clara, Calif., earlier this week, Motorola CEO Ed Zander made no mention of his company's secret weapon: The smellophone.

Last month, Motorola received a patent for a "Communication device having a scent release feature and method thereof."

The phone becomes what amounts to a wireless-capable Glade PlugIn. It uses the phone's battery to heat a replaceable scent pack to 54 degrees Celsius, which releases the fragrance.

The unit is designed to have a stronger smell than other local odors. "Plug-in units typically provide a stronger scent over a broader area than non-plug-in scented items, given that the scents are activated by the heat energy in the plug-in devices," the patent explains.

Is there a need for a scent-generating phone? Motorola believes so. "Some cellular telephone users are the same individuals who enjoy having plug-in scent units located around their homes, and may miss not having a nice smelling fragrance while they are on the go," the patent states. "Therefore, a need exists for a communication device such as a cellular telephone that can address some of the above-mentioned problems."

No doubt the device, when released, will be re-branded with some clever, vowel-deprived name like Smelr, Flowr, or Whiffr. When might that be? Who knows. Perhaps after the iPhone hysteria dies down.