The clamshell is a form factor of electronic devices such as a mobile phone, game console or portable computer. Clamshell devices are usually made of two sections connected by a hinge, each section containing either a flat panel display or an alphanumeric keyboard/keypad, which can fold into contact together like a bivalve shell. A clamshell mobile phone is sometimes also called a flip phone, especially if the hinge is on the short edge. If the hinge is on a long edge (e.g., Nokia Communicators), the device is more likely to be called just a "clamshell" rather than a flip phone. Generally speaking, the interface components such as keys and display are kept inside the closed clamshell, protecting them from damage and unintentional use while also making the device shorter or narrower so it is easier to carry around. In many cases, opening the clamshell offers more surface area than when the device is closed, allowing interface components to be larger and easier to use than on devices which do not flip open. A disadvantage of the clamshell design is the connecting hinge, which is prone to fatigue or failure. Etymology The clamshell form factor is most closely associated with the cell phone market, as Motorola used to have a trademark on the term "flip phone", but the term "flip phone" has become genericized to be used more frequently than "clamshell" in colloquial speech. History A "flip phone" like communication device appears in chapter 3 of Armageddon 2419 A.D., a science fiction novella by Philip Francis Nowlan, which was first published in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories: "Alan took a compact packet about six inches square from a holster attached to her belt and handed it to Wilma. So far as I could see, it had no special receiver for the ear. Wilma merely threw back a lid, as though she was opening a book, and began to talk. The voice that came back from the machine was as audible as her own." Also from science fiction, a 1964 episode of Star Trek featured an instrument called the "Communicator", which would become a regular plot device and an influence on future real-world technologies. An early use of the form factor in electronics was the Grillo telephone, which first appeared in Italy in the mid 1960s. The form factor was first used for a portable computer in