Apple iPhone 5

It was just about one year ago when several researchers from Queen's University in Canada and Arizona State University in the US unveiled the first ever paper-thin cellphone, claiming it to be a role model for future phones.

The concept prototype paper phone is no different performance-wise from any other smartphones that can be seen now on the market, but what will likely lure you into a purchase is the gadget's 3.75-inch thin-film flexible display, which looks just like a bendable plastic sheet. The paper gadget even enables users to flip the corner to turn pages.

"This is the future. Everything is going to look and feel like this within five years," read a statement released by Queen's University in May last year, citing Roel Vertegaal, director of the university's Human Media Lab and one of the heralded creators of the prototype.

Many tech geeks have been amazed by the paper-thin concept device, although they are waiting for follow-up information on aspects of the advanced technology such as durability. There also needs to be more market research on whether the masses will actually appreciate the idea of bendable plastic phones. As well, the price, at least initially, will be quite prohibitive for the average mobile phone users. The prototype reportedly cost a minimum of $7,000 to create per handset.

Even though the paper phone may seem like a far-fetched idea in terms of spreading among the masses, it represents the ongoing desire to create and consume "otherworldly" gadgets. Smartphone use has transcended everyday life for vast amounts of people, and the quest to produce the "next big thing" is heated.

The smartphone market worldwide continues to soar, growing by 42.5 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011 in terms of shipment, according to a report released Monday by US-based market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

Tech savvy people do not even try to resist the lure of a super fast and dazzling online experience on a swanky new handset. The question for all manufacturers is what aspect of the phone should be focused on to create the best new features. A trend-setting device can blow through profit margins.

Smartphone makers are neck-in-neck to create both trendy hardware and software. With this fierce competition, consumers are inundated with new upgrades, whether it be Apple's iOS, Google's Android or Microsoft's Windows Mobile. Hardware wars continue to create the fastest single, dual or quad-core processors.

However, have any of these changes been impressive enough to actually satisfy users' longing for innovative gadgets?

This week's special TECH page offer hands-on access to several of the most anticipated smartphones. They may not be paper thin, but they will not fail to dazzle you.

Global Times

It seems that nothing can stop people's love for Apple iPhones products, despite the California-based tech giant is facing intensified competition from eager rivals. South Korea's Samsung Electronics in particular is waging a good fight. During the first quarter of the year, Samsung not only ended the 14-year reign of Finnish phone maker Nokia in the mobile phone territory to be the world's top phone vendor, but overtook Apple for the smartphone leadership spot, according to the latest figures from IDC.

"With other companies in the midst of major strategic transitions, the contest between Apple and Samsung will draw close observation as hotly anticipated new models are launched," Ramon Llamas, senior analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends program, predicted in the company's latest report.

Apple's future success appears to hinge greatly on how well the iPhone 5 will do on the market.

Its predecessor, the iPhone 4S, did not have very many upgrades from the edition before it, but rumors are swirling that the newest phone will truly live up to user expectations with exciting new features.

The iPhone 5 (whose concept design is shown on the left), expected sometime this year, is said to be powered by a quad-core A6 processor, featuring a 10-megapixel rear camera as well as a 2-megapixle front-facing camera for video chat.

Above all, it promises a larger screen, which is estimated to be a 4.3-inch Retina display, although there is yet to be any official confirmation on detailed specs of the gadget from the company.

While much attention has been directed to the anticipated unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S3, the real tech geeks' eyes continue to follow a concept gadget from the South Korean handset maker that sports a bendable, flexible OLED display and a built-in projector: the Galaxy Skin. The flexible phone concept, created by South Korean designer Heyon You, is the closest real phone entering the market to the paper phone. The concept gadget will reportedly come with a 4-inch flexible display, running on a 1-gigahertz CPU and the customized Android Flexy operating system.

Samsung has yet to confirm the launch of this innovative smartphone. In related news, Samsung announced its first OLED TV product at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Amazon's breaking into the tablet market has yielded quite a brilliant result. The Kindle Fire tablet computers (shown on the left), only launched in November 2011, quickly rose to be the No.1 Android tablet sold in the US market as of February, according to the latest data from research firm comScore. Analysts from Citigroup have recently commented that Amazon is already working on the next big thing: a smartphone. It will probably bear the name Kindle Phone.

Detailed description of the anticipated gadget is yet to be released, except for speculations that Amazon is partnering with Apple's main contract manufacturer, Foxconn, in developing the new gadget which would be ready for a release late this year.

Canada's Research In Motion (RIM) has never been a pawn in the smartphone game, but it has been in a downward spiral beside Apple's iPhone and other Android gadgets on the market. However, with the announcement on Tuesday of the next-generation Blackberry 10 smartphones at the BlackBerry World event in Orlando, Florida, RIM did not hide its ambition to reclaim its clout in the smartphone world.

Officially branded as the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha, the device packs a 4.2-inch touch screen. Powered by the upcoming Blackberry 10 operating system, the new phone also has 16 gigabytes of internal storage and 1 gigabyte of RAM. The exact release date and pricing information for the new gadget is yet to be announced.