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Inbrics M1 gets Android 2.1 and CPU bump to 1GHz, insists on being called an MID
It looks like a smartphone, it has a smartphone's form factor, operating system, and an extra-slim slideout QWERTY keyboard, yet Inbrics still insists on calling the M1 a Mobile Internet Device instead. When the company's not busy sinking its own battleships, it appears to be doing actually beneficial stuff, such as cramming a new 1GHz Samsung CPU inside its device. The original 800MHz unit was the thing that worried us most during our otherwise praise-filled hands-on experience with the M1 at CES, so it's a good sign to see it getting a bit of extra brawn ahead of launch. The software has also moved with the times, with Android 2.1 being the current OS on tap, which should look rather nice on that 3.7-inch OLED display. The M1 will have WiFi, but no cellular connectivity is planned just yet. It's all dependent on having a Western vendor pick up the hardware and infuse it with its own requirements. Although at CES we were told to expect the M1 in March, the current timetable is for a July launch in Korea and US availability by the end of the year, provided Inbrics finds a partner for the device. Netbook News have also finally squeezed a price out of the company and have been told to expect it in the "low $200" range. Sounds kinda promising, don't you think?
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXLV: the Nokia iPhone
Alright, so iPhone and N97 knock-offs probably aren't the rarest of gems around these days, but how many handsets do you know that can lay claim to being both? The Cooli902 takes the iPhone's 3.5-inch touchscreen, spit-shines a pretty realistic iPhone OS clone-job, and then adds the Nokia flavor with a fully fledged QWERTY keypad ripped straight from the heart of the N97. Not only does it open to that familiar angle, it also sports the same layout and what we can only imagine to be the same violent opening mechanism as found on the original Nokia handset. And to think that poor Philippe Starck had to pick between these two phones, when for only $143 we could have had both. More pics after the break, or hit the read link to get your own.
Fake iPhone comes with magical external QWERTY keyboard you've always fantasized about
Alright, would you look at this, Apple? We know you require your employees to pay in blood for every single button or moving part that makes it onto a shipping product, but would it really kill you to work in some proper Bluetooth keyboard support for the iPhone so we could enjoy the magical freedom of external QWERTY pads if we so choose? Take this particularly stunning KIRF, for example. Sure, you might find the iPhone-miming handset it's paired with offensive, but is there really so much wrong with this flip-out QWERTY action? Do you enjoy our suffering? Please? iTwinge just isn't cutting it. [Thanks, facelessloser]
LG Xenon appears in semi-unflattering photoshoot
LG's Xenon has just shown up over at Smartphone Nation in an impromptu photoshoot, and it's not looking too bad. There's nothing out of the ordinary here -- slideout QWERTY keyboard, resistive touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera -- you get the idea, right? Seems to be expected on or around the month of April on AT&T, and we hear it will come in three colors -- red, black and something else -- and that it'll run somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 after a mail in rebate. Of course, none of that's official yet, so we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? One more shot after the break, hit the read link for the whole set.[Via Boy Genius Report]
New 'quicker than QWERTY' mobile keypad spotted
We thought the mobile universe was content with the standard 12-key mobile keypad and QWERTY mobile keyboard layouts (and LCD ones too) that inhabit almost every normal handset and smartphone these days. Don't tell this to Zacod, which has unveiled a new concept keyboard for mobiles called the "zk –m100." It's no regular concept, as Zacod's explanation here is that mobile customers use a "3-axis principle" to get that input into that handset. In addition to a version of the concept make for touchscreen smartphones and normal cellphone keypads, Zacod claims that faster input than even a standard 107-key QWERTY computer keyboard can be achieved. Big claims there, eh Zacod? The "guessing and spinning" input concept is indeed unique, but we have yet to try this out to check Zacod's claims.
