Dual touch-screen mobile phone
By , CNET Asia
21/06/2006

About the writer
Darius Chang is a notebook expert who occasionally dabbles in smaller mobile devices.

Sure, we have seen mobile phones with a touch screen, but what about one with two? Looking like a slimmer cousin to the Nintendo DS portable gaming device at first glance, the Japanese Telco NTT Docomo showcased its dual-screen prototype at CommunicAsia2006.

	If one is good, two is even better.

Unlike prototype mutants which were created solely to demonstrate certain technological possibilities, the dual touch screen of this phone is not merely for show. By implementing user-friendly features such as the three-menu interface and two-step Japanese character input, the context-sensitive displays changes to suit the task in hand.

Will this relegate keypads to the annals of history? Well, we are not quite so sure of that despite the greater flexibility of this design. Most certainly poor sods with sweaty palms or oily fingers may still prefer the comforting feedback of the traditional keypad without having to wipe the screen after every call.

Features:

• Three-menu item interface
• Dual displays with tactile feedback
• Cursor moves automatically to highlight the most logical function
• Call status notification
• Easy two-step Japanese character input system