Mio's Lovebird becomes G50 while LEAP K1 shows both sides of itself

Mio's got quite the interesting duo set up at Computex: the Windows Mobile 6.1-packin' G50 and the two-faced LEAP K1. As for the former, you may know it better as the Lovebird, but it seems a more corporately accepted monicker was chosen at the last minute for the quad-band GSM handset. As for the latter, this mysterious creature actually has two faces to fondle -- one of which packs a traditional numeric keypad, while the other features an expansive panel perfect for serving up routes. Check the links below for more details on both.

Read - Mio G50
Read - Mio LEAP K1

[Tom Reinke @ Jun 4th 2008 10:43AM]

I honestly could never see myself ever getting a phone for the sole purpose of getting directions.. That's why I use google maps before my trip, and if I get lost on the way I use google earth on my win mo phone.

And if they come up with the "Well, it's for people who do driving for a business" then why not just get a GPS unit to install in the car? Not only will they have a bigger screen, but since it's a unit built for ONE thing, it'll more likely be better at what it does.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jun 4th 2008 10:44AM]

I'm sure they'll sell like crazy (in Asia). :-p

[iEye @ Jun 4th 2008 10:53AM]

Very True...

But I wonder where the design cues are coming from? It seems that it
has been exactly 1 year ago that the market was full of button laden
devices...

I wonder what (or who) could have started the trend towards rectangular touch screen devices?

[Matt @ Jun 4th 2008 2:58PM]

@iEye...

Its called the IBM Simon. It was designed in 1992 and featured a large rectangular touch screen filling the front of the device and had phone / PDA capabilities...

http://cdecas.free.fr/computers/pocket/simon.php

[martin @ Jun 4th 2008 10:58AM]

@ ieye
i'd say htc, they've been making phones with large touch screens for a while now. or maybe even lg, they did make one of the first devices that harldy has any buttons..

the answer you wanted? :-p

[don @ Jun 4th 2008 12:19PM]

@iEye also:
Hmm, my old sprint Palm phone from about 6 years back was a rectangular , button-less touchscreen phone. Is THAT what you were thinking of?

Every screen made since the dawn of screens has been a (gasp) rectangle. I wasn't aware that any one company had a lock on a particular gemetric shape :/.

[gm76 @ Jun 4th 2008 11:31AM]

I'm terribly confused here. The LEAP K1 has two screens, a square one on one side (with the 12 hard keys) and a touchscreen on the other side?

[Don @ Jun 4th 2008 12:23PM]

Yes - you flip it over to use the two features. I personally like the concept; if there was a switch that deactivated the buttons on the side facing down, that would be even better.