Durable, organic bamboo has been used by a student called Kieron-Scott Woodhouse to create a smartphone. The bamboo is replacing some of the steel and plastic that would be used in similar smartphone devices. The phone is called Adzero and will run an Android operating system, it has a larger screen than the iPhone 4S but weighs less.
Via Inhabitat.

DIABETIC DEVELOPMENTS

Researchers are working hard to make it easier for diabetics to monitor their glucose levels. The latest development involves a biochip and something which could have come right out of a Douglas Adams novel: a plasmonic interferometer. The device can detect glucose in far smaller quantities than conventional home-testing methods, meaning it can test glucose in the saliva, instead of the blood.

CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING

Quantum computing may be the answer to realising totally secure cloud-based computing. Although the popularity of cloud-based computing is on the rise, many fear the security of these systems. There may be little need for concern when "blind quantum computing" steps in. Files will be encrypted and unreadable by the computer encrypting them, as well as anyone who may intercept them.