A couple of weeks ago, we showed you the 6 finalists of the NYC Reinvent Payphones challenge. The contest was hosted in the hopes that they would be able to find the next best and most innovative evolution for the aging landline payphone that has been around all this time, and then theoretically implement these ideas on within the constraints — most likely what is actually feasible and possible financially.

Out of the six finalists (which were winners in their own categories), the public has voted and the winner for the “Popular Choice” award has been chosen! NYFi, which you might remember was the winner in the Best in Connectivity category was awarded the Popular Choice.

While this doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing their exact design with all its described functionality all over New York anytime soon, it gives the city an idea of what people want most from an technologically evolved payphone. Also, despite the fact that the NYFi won both Best in Connectivity and the Popular Choice award, there’s also a chance that one of the other designs could be chosen as a template for what will eventually show up in the streets.

And maybe, just maybe, they’ll wise up and combine every single design entree’s functionality into the ultimate do-it-all kiosk! Might as well make it resistant to laser attacks and heal itself too while they’re at it.

Was NYFi your choice for the most popular award? Have a better idea for a futuristic payphone? Post them in the comments!

[via Engadget]