Apart from the bad fashion and hairstyles, one of the most amusing things you can see in a 1980’s movie are the brick size mobile phones; but give it another 20 years and the mobile phones we use today may look just as ridiculous, as technology currently under research by mobile phone giant Nokia could halve the size of phones from their current slim sizes – and smaller phones mean less materials, which is kinder to the environment.

Nokia’s vision of the future was revealed at their annual world conference held in Amsterdam recently, and one of their more interesting concept products is the Eco Sensor. The concept consists of two parts – a wearable sensor unit made from solar cells worn on a wrist or neck strap and a dedicated mobile phone. The sensor could be customized for personal needs, such as monitoring heart rate, local air quality, weather reports or monitoring UV levels to prevent sunburn.

The concept is also being developed to make use of reclaimed materials from recycled mobile phones, bio-plastics and innovative technology such as printable electronics, which uses nano inks to print circuit boards onto practically anything. The technology enables smaller electronic components – and smaller components mean more compact phones.

Eco-friendly technology, however, is also being used now, not just on concept products. At the conference Nokia announced the launch of their new Nokia 3110 Evolve handset, which will be available in early 2008. The phone is made with bio-covers made from more than 50% renewable material. Packaged in a small container made of 60% recycled content and it comes with Nokia's most energy efficient charger yet, which uses 94% less energy than the US Energy Star requirements.

Like all of their recent handsets, the Evolve will also feature an alert device to encourage people to unplug their chargers, and as it uses a mini-USB port for the charger, it also means it is compatable with solar chargers such as the Solio, which means the mains supply doesn't need to be used at all.