Samsung Alias 2 Gets Video E Ink Keyboard Demo

The Samsung Alias 2 isn't officially meant to go on sale until May 11th, but that hasn't stopped one Verizon rep from selling one a few days early.  That lucky shopper turned out to be JenJen from HowardForums, and she put together a demo video of the Alias 2's E Ink keyboard in action.Video demo of the Alias 2 after the cut

While the Samsung Alias 2 can't exactly be described as a handsome cellphone, it does have something no other phone can boast: E Ink.  The dual-flipping clamshell can be used in portrait or landscape orientation for single- or two-handed use, with the E Ink keys changing between numeric and QWERTY accordingly.

The screen refresh rate is good, and because you have to physically close and re-open the phone to change orientation there's no real wait for the E Ink to catch up.  They also look pretty readable even without the backlighting, and since the epaper technology requires no real battery power to maintain the legends, only to change them, it shouldn't have too much of an impact on overall standby time.

[via Engadget]