Samsung’s Zeal is a phone that aspires to join The Transformers some day. Unlike normal (read lesser) flip phones, it flips both ways – horizontal and vertical! It doesn’t just stop there, it features a smart keypad where every gel-like key is a tiny E-Ink display that changes the keys as required. For e.g. if the phone is flipped open horizontally, the keypad shows a full QWERTY keyboard where as if thee phone is flipped open vertically, the keypad shows a standard layout along with arrow keys. The keypad display also changes according to the application context. It’s basically like a small version of the awesome Optimus Maximus keyboard. The only difference is that this technology is apparently much cheaper since it’s a < $100 phone with contract and Optimus Maximus was around $1500. It’d be great to see some notebooks using the technology in the future.
Watch the video ahead to see how the customizable keypad and form factor work.
For an innovative, yet basic feature phone, Samsung Zeal reviews aren’t bad at all. The sad part is as of now it’s only available in US on Verizon as of now. I wish Samsung would launch such a keypad/form factor on an Android phone soon. Imagine the possibilities if they give the developers the APIs to change the keypad.
Samsung, are you listening?
One response to “A Mobile Phone with Customizable Form Factor, and Keypad!”
[…] Continue reading here: A Mobile Phone with Customizable Form Factor, and Keypad! | woikr […]