DoCoMo and Fujitsu show off splitting phone at CEATEC

DoCoMo and Fujitsu are showing off some interesting phone tech in Japan at this year's CEATEC, particularly a concept device which can be split into two pieces. The gadget features a separate screen and keyboard segment, and the pieces can be configured in a standard flip-phone-like arrangement, or snapped together to form an X1 or Touch Pro-esque landscape QWERTY variation. The two halves are held together by magnets and communicate via Bluetooth. Of course, right now this is very much in the concept phase, and honestly -- aren't we trying to minimize the amount of electronic components we're carting around? Still, it's a fairly slick design, and certainly a new way of thinking about phones. Take another look after the break, and hit the read link for a slew of pics.

[Derek @ Sep 30th 2008 6:53AM]

Let me just flip open my phone here... *screen goes flying*

[absinthe party @ Sep 30th 2008 7:11AM]

Psh, yeah. My phone comes flying apart in two peices all the time. I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to, though.

[Adderz @ Sep 30th 2008 6:53AM]

I swear that first photo looks like a calculator.

Nice but not very practical me thinks. 2 halves would get lost in a matter of days.

[iEye @ Sep 30th 2008 7:03AM]

Samsung Upstage just got Upstaged!

[Matthew Forrest @ Sep 30th 2008 7:10AM]

My x7500 sort of already does this although each seperate piece is still the size of a house.

[Graham @ Sep 30th 2008 7:12AM]

I would lose one of those halfs within a month of buying it. Or just imagine texting somewhere and then oops, your keyboard goes falling under the chair in the subway or something like that. Cool concept just not very practical

[Someone is here @ Sep 30th 2008 10:11PM]

Why would you be texting someone in a subway? There is no reception!!

[Troels C @ Sep 30th 2008 7:15AM]

I don't like the idea of too many magnets in my pockets. Imagine putting your credit card into the same pocket as this phone... If the magnets have the power to hold this thing together, they gotta be pretty strong.

[Wwhat @ Sep 30th 2008 8:10AM]

Agreed, and not only that, it might become annoying if it attaches to your keys and perhaps some loose change, and surfaces you put it on.
And then there's metal splinters and stuff.

[Rakar @ Sep 30th 2008 7:24AM]

AKB48 :3

[Al @ Sep 30th 2008 10:21AM]

I'm surprised, someone actually knows 48

[macfanboy @ Sep 30th 2008 10:42AM]

wtfff....dude srsly wat does that group have anytin to do with the phone??

[erm87 @ Jan 12th 2009 2:25AM]

@ macfanboy

i wonder whats on the phone's screen.............

[dcpoor @ Sep 30th 2008 6:39PM]

baby baby baby
:o

[Aaron @ Sep 30th 2008 7:55PM]

I came here to say "yay AKB48"! You beat me to the punch.

[shreshth @ Sep 30th 2008 7:28AM]

i think that this is a great idea for people who sometimes break their screen. now instead of replacing the whole phone they just have to replace the screen part

[XenoX101 @ Sep 30th 2008 10:25AM]

They don't have to replace the whole phone unless it is entirely faulty (not just the screen). All they do is order another screen of the model the phone uses and replace the screen. Just like car parts.

[Darth Lord @ Sep 30th 2008 8:29AM]

I think that we need to get a point why the hardware is more less a non issue and the software as a service is the biggest factor.

[Freakin Ijit @ Sep 30th 2008 8:06AM]

http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=33796

[Dustin Howett @ Sep 30th 2008 8:24AM]

Three of these in the same room equates to a "Two people sharing a VNC connection" effect.
Imagine getting a text like "ITH'Ell CmOPSAeeR EAt yFouTE aR MEt noon."

[Dustin Howett @ Sep 30th 2008 8:24AM]

Bah. I know "VNC connection" is redundant. It's like visiting an ATM machine or entering a PIN number. :P

[Jesse in Japan @ Sep 30th 2008 8:36AM]

But doesn't Bluetooth pair devices so that the two halves will recognise and only communicate with each other?

As for the magnets, I wonder how they work exactly? Could they be shielded to where the magnetic field only projects out from a very small section? Is there a physical clasp that helps steady the halves while the magnets are holding them together? I do still worry about losing part of it. I want to like it, though!

Is the keyboard dynamic or just back-lit? It seems like DoCoMo would at least have the hiragana printed on the keys, since Japanese computers and cell phone keypads show them. It's possible for the keyboard to convert, but most Japanese people prefer to use half the keystrokes to type hiragana--especially because DoCoMo's large user base includes a lot of older folks.

Also, I am surprised no one has commented on the stoic DoCoMo Lady. She doesn't seem particularly excited about the splitting phone.

[Shinigami @ Sep 30th 2008 10:02AM]

"See?! It fell apart again! I want a replacement!!!"
Is what the lady is trying to say ;)

By the way... does this mean we'll have to charge pieces separately?

[jjd @ Sep 30th 2008 8:38AM]

And you thought it was dangerous when people were using their one-piece phones while driving....

[thedesolate1 @ Sep 30th 2008 8:44AM]

That is precisely the point. You can now have a full qwerty keyboard phone when you want to as oppose to carrying around a brick of a phone. So yea we are trying to minimize the amount of gadgets we carry and so you bring the keypad with you for work and just the phone for play. Well thats my take on the idea. I think it is good. Just a little scary to know its held by magnets.

[fred @ Sep 30th 2008 8:59AM]

It is a great concept. If apple had allowed a bluetooth paired key board with the Iphone, this would already be on the market.

[GTMac @ Sep 30th 2008 10:38AM]

How wonderful for you that you can access multiple quantum states and can perceive the dimension in which that actually happened.

At least I'm assuming that's the case. Otherwise your comment is just random speculation.

I'm guessing it's an Apple product that let's you do that?

[jupiterthunder @ Sep 30th 2008 9:25AM]

Guess by now it's clear that Engadget posters do not think gadget girl is sufficiently hot.

[XenoX101 @ Sep 30th 2008 10:21AM]

Maybe if she wasn't thrice my age. (Or rather, didn't look thrice my age)

[navamske @ Sep 30th 2008 9:43AM]

It reminds me of the U.S.S. Prometheus in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Message in a Bottle."

"Multi-vector assault mode -- now!"

[Cybergypsy @ Sep 30th 2008 9:44AM]

I would lose the keyboard

[XenoX101 @ Sep 30th 2008 10:19AM]

How is giving us the ability of losing the keyboard a good thing? I don't see any other advantage of this over say, a slide down keyboard. It's the same thickness.

[mocax @ Sep 30th 2008 10:26AM]

it'll be stupendous if the battery is located in one half and powers the other half by that new-fangled electromagnetic resonance whatever thingy technology.

[Shinigami @ Sep 30th 2008 10:54AM]

Lose the battery half and throw away the other one.

[John Sullivan @ Sep 30th 2008 11:00AM]

Not likely. I see a product with not one, but TWO overpriced batteries to replace at inconvenient times!

[Wwhat @ Sep 30th 2008 4:38PM]

I see 2 chargers, or worse you have to wait for one to charge then charge the other half.

[macfanboy @ Sep 30th 2008 10:44AM]

i like the idea...i odnt care what th rest says...this culd b the next revolution for the phone market...

[Franck @ Sep 30th 2008 12:43PM]

Live video of this amazing concept on Giiks.com !
http://www.giiks.com/2848-ntt-docomo-presente-un-mobile-qui-se-coupe-deux/

[Christian @ Sep 30th 2008 12:50PM]

Thankfully it's only a concept design.

Pretty much gives you ideas as to how to configure the phone in many ways. The way I see it you only need the top part and the second is when you really need to have a keyboard to do some massive text, hopefully the top is still touchscreen. I can see that as a controller of a game where you can place it on a headrest inside a car and have the other half as the game pad. Many possibilities but still needs to get more people to see other practicality of it all.

[karma_prisoner @ Sep 30th 2008 1:57PM]

Oh my god!
where is the other half of my phone!!!
i lost it again! :-(

[Karma_prisoner @ Sep 30th 2008 2:07PM]

btw, there are DoCoMo phone, they are japan only!
so even if they are launched, the rest of us will never even see them! expect maybe at trade shows