Mysterious T-swivel handset appears on Korean site, keeps us guessing

by Darren Murph posted Dec 7th 2008 at 3:38AM

Here's a Sunday challenge for you -- what in tarnation is this thing? The mysterious T-swivel type handset has appeared on a Korean site, presumably signifying its status as a simple concept. Obviously, the device packs a full QWERTY keyboard, a front-mounted camera, a rather sizable display and a swivel contraption to keep things horizontal when texting and the like. Beyond that, your guess is as good as ours here. Any clues on this thing's origins? We only ask because, you know, we'd love to actually toy around with one.

[Via Pocketables]

Filed under: Handsets

Tags: cellphone, computex, mid, swivel, t swivel, t-swivel, TSwivel, umpc, unknown

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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dishbreaker1526 @ Dec 7th 2008 4:14AM

wow. I have no clue why that's set up that way. I would assume so that you could get a landscape mode while still being able to type one-handed. kinda useful, now that i think of it.

btw. first. =)

Highly Ranked

Giles @ Dec 7th 2008 6:50AM

That looks like a mouse trackpad and buttons at the bottom too !

To me it looks like a Paml device .. don't know why .. just the styling.

Neutral

plh2034 @ Dec 7th 2008 7:32AM

Looks like a mini laptop at the bottom.
I think it's Acer's new phone. Acer trying to stick to its roots.

Neutral

Dorian @ Dec 7th 2008 8:05AM

Everyone knows that's the long awaited Helio Ocean 2 by Virgin Mobile....

I mean....duh!

Neutral

bil @ Dec 7th 2008 8:33AM

please send to me

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bil @ Dec 7th 2008 8:38AM

i'd have to go with a Palm device, note the rounded Centro style buttons and grey block on the Fn key next to the model's thumb? totally Palm. hope they can ship it before they go bankrupt.

Neutral

SPOKE @ Dec 7th 2008 9:48AM

That is about the most snorkeling thing I have ever seen. I have never said snorkeling before.

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THEG @ Dec 7th 2008 9:49AM

That thing that looks like a front facing camera proved its not coming to America :)

Neutral

Esquire0399 @ Dec 7th 2008 11:49AM

No, the front-facing camera just says that THIS version isn't coming to America. It could very easily be removed for the American market, as is done with many other phones.

Neutral

KENNETH DANIELS @ Dec 7th 2008 3:05PM

I'll say a Palm too. The "qwerty" keys are what gives me that impression. Looks like my 700P. Looks like my 800W. Nova?

Neutral

Patrick Horne @ Dec 8th 2008 9:45AM

Here's my original line drawing from months ago called Roteo. Different
due to keyboard access in portrait. But, hey maybe Palm is listening finally?

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa125/livefaith/Roteo.jpg?t=1228714830

... The beauty of the design is in the fact that most tasks can be handled in one handed fashion like the Treo excels at. But when vids, e-mail, spreadsheets or other l/s tasks are needed, a flick of the screen rotates and leaves the KB available.

Neutral

asbestos @ Dec 7th 2008 11:19AM

I have to agree that it's either a Palm device or someone who ripped off palm's keyboard layout.

I checked the keyboard in the picture and compared it to my 750 sitting right next to me and the graphics are EXACTLY the same on the keyboard.

I have three other ppc/smart phones sitting here and none of them have even remotely similar keyboard graphics.

Now, is it the new Palm (c) (tm) 20?? OS or is it a WM device?

Neutral

pheer6224 @ Dec 8th 2008 2:08PM

Looking at my 650, that's it's keyboard layout, right down to the brightness option on the p key.

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Alicia @ Dec 7th 2008 11:27AM

It's thick but I really like it, probably will never come to the us tho. =(

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carcomptoy @ Dec 7th 2008 12:26PM

That would be so random if it were a Palm device--I didn't think they had a presence in Korea.

That trackpad and buttons at the bottom seem pretty cool, although the ergonomics may not be so great.

Neutral

nc @ Dec 7th 2008 12:47PM

I think it looks like a palm device too - whether it is or it's just styled after their items, I don't know.

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artisan555 @ Dec 7th 2008 12:55PM

FUGLY!!!!!!!!!!

Neutral

YpoCaramel @ Dec 7th 2008 2:26PM

Doesn't make as much sense as a horizontal slider. Keyboards are oriented horizontal, but with this vertical orientation the keyboard ends up kind of squished and the optical trackpad doesn't use all the remaining space either.

Neutral

random9q @ Dec 7th 2008 3:47PM

@many of you:

Whether someone KIRF'd Palm's keyboard, or that's a prototype (for a past or future model), I agree that's a 100% match to the Palm layout, right down to the symbols. AND...

Note two little extra bits of stylistic nod: (1) The orange number pad gives the thing Palm's white and orange colors. (2) The button at the right / base of the screen looked familiar, too, but it took me a while to find an example like it. It's a bit like the older Tungsten T / T2 / C / W -era instead of what Palm'd started using recently (various oval/rounded-rectangle).

Pocketables mentioned this photo was taken back in June.

@carcomptoy: Palm contracted with HTC for on demand manufacturing back in January. So while they may not have much of a marketing presence in Korea, they _indirectly_ have a manufacturing presence there.

Neutral

tom @ Dec 7th 2008 9:26PM

HTC is located in Taiwan not Korea.

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duswdav @ Dec 7th 2008 6:37PM

isn't that the phone tony stark used in iron man?

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N.Rosario @ Dec 7th 2008 8:40PM

idc what kind phone it is, its just ugly

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Ben @ Dec 8th 2008 7:10AM

... Eeeew (that's a personal opinion, of course).

@duswdav - no, Tony Stark used an LG (can't recall the model, sorry). Overall, it was rather undertech for the quality of everything else (you know.. his suit) but then again he was using Dell servers. The product placement in that film was almost as bad as in recent James Bond films...

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