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Sep 04 AT 5:59 AM Taylor Wimberly 36 Comments

Huawei concept provides a glimpse into the future

Are you growing tired of the constant flow of Android phones that all feature roughly the same design? While wondering the halls of IFA this week I came across one of the coolest concept phones I have ever seen.

The Huawei Hx is a smartphone that features a physical keyboard which is completely enclosed inside the device. The QWERTY keyboard slides out with a unique mechanism which allows it swivel and double as a kick stand.

I have no clue if we will ever see this thing again, but the booth babe was telling me it launches this year.

Hot or not?

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36 Comments Join the discussion!

FiefGuest 09/04/10 6:15 AM

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That thing is awesome, I really hope that concept becomes a reality.

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- mothGuest 09/11/10 2:39 AM
  
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  Actually, the best concept phone I’ve seen was the one from the Nokia Kinetic Smartphone.
  
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SquirrelWithAGunAtTheZooGuest 09/04/10 6:17 AM

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This is indeed an awesome phone! But the video showed 1 potential flaw: If you actually tried typing on the keyboard, wouldn’t it bend over backwards into a kickstand?

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- FiefGuest 09/04/10 6:20 AM
  
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  That’s true I hadn’t thought of that.
  
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- SeanGuest 09/04/10 6:25 AM
  
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  I hear what your saying about the keyboard doing that but it still looks like an awesome phone I would so buy it
  
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DanGuest 09/04/10 6:32 AM

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From the look of it, typing on that thing will not only be uncomfortable, but it will be the cause of thumb injuries around the world.

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BubblesGuest 09/04/10 6:32 AM

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very cool design, would love to see more devices like this

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AndrudeGuest 09/04/10 6:57 AM

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Absolutely smokin’. Hope it makes it into production.

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JDGuest 09/04/10 8:06 AM

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Absolutely cool design. But considering the company is actually based in China, and uploads their videos to Youtube is…. I can’t even find the right word.

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- JeffGuest 09/05/10 2:24 AM
  
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  They didn’t upload to youtube, someone at the conference did.
  
  I’m not a big fan of Huawei for reasons I won’t go into here, but they’re one of the most technically sophisticated companies in China. If you haven’t heard of them before, it’s because they don’t market a lot of stuff to end consumers. They build a lot of cellular and networking equipment which they sell in a lot of first-world countries. I’m sure they can figure out how to assemble a decent phone.
  
  The only problem is that they’re not tested as a consumer device maker. Who knows what they’re customer service is going to be like, or if they’ll bother to port updates
  
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RichardGuest 09/04/10 8:10 AM

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This phone would be even better with
• Android OS 3.0 (Vanilla Gingerbread)
• Without the keyboard just the kickstands. The keyboard just doesn’t look right.
• Super LCD/AMOLED/SAMOLED with Gorilla Glass
• HDMI Input
• Android Navigation Buttons
• Looks like there is a front facing camera

This would be the best Android Phone for 2011.

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- HTCevoftwGuest 09/05/10 2:43 PM
  
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  So basically the EVO with gingerbread on it?
  
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joGuest 09/04/10 8:27 AM

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cool stuff. i like that the screen covers almost the whole front of the phone. looks very cool.
if the keyboard is usable i would buy it for sure!

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TrojaanGuest 09/04/10 9:17 AM

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Look great idd! But im wondering how the typing is.. The keyboard buttons look pretty small to me tba.

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BrianGuest 09/04/10 9:20 AM

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Cool phone, bur they could lose the keyboard. If they removed the keyboard they could use that space to remove smell if the bezel and make the entire face glass screen. That would be hot.

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realityGuest 09/04/10 9:45 AM

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are u people high? that is one of the ugliest phones i’ve seen. its not even a phone. its little more than a painted up piece of plastic with a weird unusable slide out keyboard.

i doubt that any of you would be caught dead walking around with a phone that looked like that.

i’m all for something different and some color already but what taylor showed us is simply junk .. and thats reality.

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- ZardozGuest 09/04/10 1:02 PM
  
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  Agreed. Phone looks terrible and keyboard doesn’t look functional or even comfortable to use. And is it me or the thickness of the phone didn’t look that much thinner than the N1 if at all.
  
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jackGuest 09/04/10 9:53 AM

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too wide, remove keyboard, change colour.

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Mobile Porn HubGuest 09/04/10 10:16 AM

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OMG that is SWEET

Probably one of the coolest phone designs I’ve EVER seen.

Dont lose that keyboard- thats the BEST PART! I’d just like to see the key pad be less membrane style and a little more bumped for typing feel.

Two version of the phone- one with, one w/o a keyboard would be ideal, but I love that keyboard sliding out idea- I’d probably buy that for my next phone if it was available

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Bhanu TiwariGuest 09/04/10 1:51 PM

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When I saw this paper my conclusion was that Android and Me’s commenters just have to read this! http://hubpages.com/hub/rent-a-laptop-rentals . I just don’t get renting a laptop at all! The dollars for renting a laptop even for ten days or so is going to charge you as much as just going to the store and buying it!

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AnonymousGuest 09/04/10 3:43 PM

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Actually, I like that design. Slim, compact, and yet stylish.

It should have interchangeable covers on the back for those professionals whom need to have a more professional look, and have that for people who want more colour/variety in their phone…

Perhaps the keyboard should be touch capacitive like the home, back, menu, etc. buttons… less likely to wear those buttons out that way… and it could have that gorilla glass for the keyboard…

perhaps a removable keyboard that can be interchangeable with a second battery that could slide in there. just have a latch that removes 1 for the other…

but over all, its innovative, as i havent seen too much fresh lately for designs… would be awesome & most likely welcomed on T-Mo USA or perhaps unlocked GSM like the Nexus One was…

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artcarneyGuest 09/04/10 4:08 PM

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(Partial quote):

“I have no clue if we will ever see this thing again, but the booth babe was telling me it launches this year.

Hot or not?”

Can’t tell, you forgot to include pics of the booth babe ….

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- ShiggityGuest 09/04/10 10:28 PM
  
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  Hahahahahahhah. Good point. WE WANT BOOTH BABES! hahah.
  
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0 eLindemann 09/05/10 12:45 AM

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Yeah, I wouldn’t go for it. The keyboard size blows, and that kickstand looks like it’ll snap off in a week.

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- 0 eLindemann 09/05/10 12:46 AM
  
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  Though I think having a homescreen like that would be really cool and different.
  
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0 event 09/05/10 1:20 AM

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Keyboard would be terrible to use with it’s current design. The keys are too flush and the screen flops around when the keyboard is slid out…

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JeffGuest 09/05/10 2:49 AM

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Hmm, looks like they borrowed liberally from this guy’s concept design: http://designfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/07/htc-1.html

He didn’t come up with the keyboard idea, though.

As for the keyboard slipping, that could easily be fixed with a small lock button or notch on the edge of the keyboard.

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VindicatedblissGuest 09/05/10 5:00 AM

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Hot just got hotter. This would sell loads I’d it came out with newest Android build.

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timothy firstGuest 09/05/10 6:36 AM

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kickstand would be useless at such low level of elevation. could fix by increasing size but then there would be less room for internals. speaking of which, these guys seem to have completely ignored that internal components (pcb, lcd, battery etc) would mean bigger screen bezel and most definitely thicker size.

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Patrick CorriganGuest 09/05/10 3:37 PM

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The sign says the key boards modular so mabey you could switch it for a battery pack or game pad!

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mobile reality kingGuest 09/05/10 6:02 PM

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The should make the keyboard springloaded like popping a cartridge out of a Nintendo DS .. push on the edge and it pops out fast

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jonGuest 09/05/10 6:53 PM

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sweet looking phone. keyboard might be useless with that monster screen. i hope it comes out and its stacked internally. last thing we need is another phone that looks amazing but the hardware is below par.

on a side note, in the video when he showed the name you see that the description says modular keyboard/gamepad/can’t remember the 3rd one. so if that’s true, things just got alittle redonkulous

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@brykinsGuest 09/06/10 2:04 AM

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Looks nice, but considering the way they have left T-Mobile Pulse users in the lurch with no support and no OS updates (even though they have got 2.1 working in some countries), there’s no way on earth I would ever buy, or recommend anyone else buy, a Huawei product.

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UriGuest 09/06/10 10:33 PM

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i think WOw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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ontheFritzGuest 09/07/10 8:13 AM

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I think I just drooled a little bit…

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ElanGuest 09/10/10 1:28 PM

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Am I the only one that got excited thinking they were showing an android version of Fixpix?

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