BPhone – is it a phone, handtop, or UMPC?
Another curious looking device has made an unexpected appearance from the land of China. Occupying that increasingly crowded line between a UMPC and phone, along with the ITG xpPhone and ViewSonic VCP08, the mysterious Cool BPhone with its clamshell form factor, swiveling 5-inch touch screen, and full QWERTY keyboard and trackball seems pretty similar to a small handtop/UMPC like the Fujitsu U820. But it is also said to be a fully functioning cellular phone device. The operating system and hardware specifications are unknown, although from the image and videos I think it is likely to be Windows CE. There is also a rumor going around that it will run Windows XP. The extendible aerial seems to indicate it can also receive analog TV signals.
Like the other UMPC/phone hybrids, the BPhone is extremely large for a phone, but quite compact for a UMPC. At this point there is no confirmation of whether this device is a concept, in development, or slated for production, but it's an unusual and interesting design that I wouldn't mind finding out more about. Who else is interested? Below are two videos showing the BPhone in more detail and the device in action.
[M8Cool via Cloned In China]
