Video: Samsung's Alias 2 dynamic E-Ink keypad in action
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 8th 2009 4:54AM
posted May 8th 2009 4:54AM
[Thanks, Mike M.]
posted May 8th 2009 4:54AM
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There is a backlight under the thin e-ink display
it is top lit - v.interesting Samsung light pipe technogy and it looks fantastic
I wanted to see everything this phone does. :( I give you a grade of C - . What did you have for dinner?
coolness... too bad it's Verizon.
Wait a minute...
People always say they love Verizon's coverage... but hate their phones...
You just said it's a cool phone... so wouldn't it be awesome that Verizon finally got a cool phone?
That's not it at all. A lot of Verizon's phones are cool, but it's what they do with them that makes the difference. They do have the best network, hands-down. But they nickle and dime you for every little extra feature on your phone. I had a phone with Verizon and I had to pay an extra monthly fee just to be able to copy MY OWN mp3's to it!
I'm of the opinion that when you buy a phone, it should be yours to use how you please. The only thing a service provider should be concerned with is giving me the ability to communicate with the network.
>> "I had a phone with Verizon and I had to pay an extra monthly fee just to be able to copy MY OWN mp3's to it!"
Get a better phone.
I got a Verizon Blackberry Curve for $30 after my 2 year upgrade... and I can do ANYTHING with it.
I've replaced my 8GB iPod Nano with it. I can download podcasts to it, copy movie files to it... anything.
sounds like user error or lack of knowledge if you dont know how to transfere mp3 files to your phone or sd card. There has never been a fee to transfer your own mp3 files to a phone on verizon.
"Get a better phone."
First of all, it wasn't the phone. The same phone on other networks was not locked down like that. Secondly, I did: G1.
Anyways, you're missing the point. That was just an example, not the only anecdote I can give... Verizon has a long history of doing that crap, and they still do it. Blackberry is so popular that they can dictate their own terms with Verizon, but anything that Verizon can lock down and nickle-and-dime you for they will.
I realize many people don't care about the antics of a company. I'm just one of those rare savvy consumers nowadays, like those that seemed to have died out 40 years ago. If a company is mistreating customers, I will mistreat that company.
>> "Verizon has a long history of doing that crap, and they still do it."
My previous phone was a Samsung a930... and it had MP3 capability. I didn't use it because I already had a an iPod.
I don't know anyone who plays music on their phone... so it's probably not a big deal to most people.
What phone did you have before?
I don't even remember the model#, it was a POS and not well branded. I just remember I could connect a USB cable, which would charge the battery but not allow me to transfer anything unless I handed them my wallet. But again, I'm not talking specifically about MP3 playback (I hardly listen to music on my phone anyways), that was just an example. I had another phone that I bought a tether for and I thought it was ridiculous that I couldn't dial-up with it without paying an extra service fee... why the heck wouldn't it just deduct from my minutes? Another example is their new Verizon Hub. $35 a month for an internet video phone... which you can't even browse the internet on. You can get other similar services for much much cheaper (like Skype).
>> "I had another phone that I bought a tether for and I thought it was ridiculous that I couldn't dial-up with it without paying an extra service fee... why the heck wouldn't it just deduct from my minutes?"
Most cell phone companies charge for tethering... it's never included in your "minutes" but may be included in your data plan... which you pay extra for anyway.
And the Verizon Hub has nothing to to with a cell phone... it's a device on its own. And a stupid device at that.
I know what you're saying about Verizon... they cripple their phones compared to other carriers... like removing Bluetooth file transfer and charging for GPS. But, they are the largest carrier with the best network despite that.
My solution? Use another phone or device for music playback... use a Garmin GPS in my car... and I've never had the need to transfer a file over Bluetooth. I'm obviously not the only one that feels this way.
How's the battery life on the G1? I've heard it can't last a business day... is that true?
"they cripple their phones compared to other carriers... like removing Bluetooth file transfer and charging for GPS. But, they are the largest carrier with the best network"LOL, that's what I've been saying this whole time! This looks like an cool phone, but I'm sure Verizon Wireless will find a way to cripple it and nickle-and-dime you to death.Yes, the G1's battery (much like the iPhone) only lasts a day or two (depending on use & background processes). I run an app in the background that checks the GPS and updates my position every few minutes, so the battery is fairly drained at the end of the day. The battery is quite powerful, that's not the issue, it's just that these "smart phones" are basically like a PC shoved into a tiny package -- of course they're going to drink up the battery like there's no tomorrow. My first cell phone was a giant thing (without even a backlit LCD) that barely fit in your pocket, but the battery (even though the mAh was fairly low) lasted a week! The trade-off is worth it though, for me anyways.
this girl is very boring that is doin the review. they didnt even show the QWERTY part of it in the video.
Part 2 of the video shows the QWERTY keyboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_7T4EMKby0#t=1m2s
Thanks to the people who found it.
OMG, someone call Art Lebedev and tell him to do this with his Optimus Maximus! I'm sure it would be at least a thousand bucks cheaper with e-ink buttons instead of OLED
I have Verizon and all I want is for them to release a reasonably priced ($250 or less) smartphone with WiFi and no expensive data
plans that you're forced to pay for even if you don't need it. It would also be great bonus if the smartphone could have regular GPS
(not VZ navigator...real gps). How is it that other carriers release phones that actually have features, but Verizon doesn't? And what's
up with them releasing crippled versions of phones months after they've been available on other carriers (without being crippled)?
I got a Palm Centro in August when I upgraded only because it was the least restrictive phone with the most features available on Verizon for under $250 (at the time). I'm glad that I got it (even though the Centro kind of sucks) because when I eventually upgrade I won’t (unfortunately) be able to go back to a smartphone because of the forced internet plan that I would have to sign up for (this new policy came out after I got the Centro). The only way I could go back to smartphones on Verizon is if the data plans get cheaper or if they stop forcing data plans on people who purchase smartphones.
I'm embarrassed by how bored I am with this phone. I *really* am a phone snob.
Why can't they have the blank keys not light up and stay black?
Staying black (or becoming black) isn't an issue - that is a question of style. It may be possible that Samsung would alow this "feature" in the phone but I havent seen the final form and cannot comment.
Having them not light up is diffferent (that would require an led for each key - pretty infeasible really)
Why is everyone freaking over the backlit E-Ink? Check out the Sony PRS-700 Reader.....
That isn't back lit either.
Alias 2 commercial with Ozzie Osbourne. Brilliant
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1d4_1242803353