Images of what appears to be the unannounced Nokia C2-06 have been leaked by Hackintosh India. Judging from the photos, the C2-06 will be a new S40 device with a slider form factor that’s capable of accepting two SIM cards at the same time. A dual-SIM phone is a good option for frequent travelers, or for two people that want to share a single device with two phone numbers. The device appears to have a low resolution touchscreen as well as a slide-out full alphanumeric keypad. Given the lack of amenities like Wi-Fi or 3G, we suspect this Touch and Type phone will likely be launched in emerging markets. Hit the jump for two more images.

[Via Unwired View]

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Hold on to your hats, BlackBerry fans, because this one’s a bit crazy. Truesupplier, a well respected online retailer of OEM and third party phone parts and accessories has published images of what it claims is a full-QWERTY keyboard for the upcoming Pearl 9100. Featuring what is best described as a shrunken down version of the Bold 9700′s keypad complete with guitar-like frets separating each row of keys, we have virtually no doubts that this keypad is indeed genuine. Having said that, we believe it’s for another device. Why? Take a look at the send, end, menu and back keys. See how they’re stacked on top of one another and extend well beyond the top of where the trackpad will sit? ? There’s no way that would ever fit into the Pearl as we know it unless everyone on the 9100 team at RIM collectively lost their minds and decided to shrink the screen. We’re just throwing this out there as nothing but a guess, but perhaps this belongs to a next-gen Pearl Flip? Regardless, we’re really intrigued by the idea of using a full-QWERTY keypad in such a tight space. But level with us, readers. Is this a viable solution, or should RIM just keep going with the SureType keypad no matter what its detractors say?

UPDATE: Kevin at CrackBerry has heard that the BlackBerry Pearl 9100 will be offered in two versions: a SureType and QWERTY device.

[Via CIO]

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Uh oh. The often accurate Carphone Warehouse has just updated its site to include the LG GD900, tagged as the GD900 Crystal, complete with an expected arrival time frame in mid-May. Yeah, we’re excited. While LG hasn’t yet announced an official release date for any region, we can only hope that other areas are slated for around the same — though we doubt any US availability would fall into that time frame. As you might recall from our brief but entrancing encounter with this sexy little piece of kit, the GD900 is the world’s first handset to feature an illuminated transparent keypad with multitouch gesture support. Coupled with LG’s new S-Class UI under a nice bright touchscreen display, we can’t get our hands on it quickly enough. Everything else — like the slim form and class-topping 8 megapixel camera — is just gravy.

[Via T3]

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We first posted about the LG GD900 back in February and now that we’ve finally had a chance to play with it, we’re not ashamed to admit we’re a little enamored. Say whatever you want… This thing is awesome. In a nutshell, it’s the fashion phone to end all fashion phones with some killer functionality on top. The transparent touch-sensitive illuminated keypad (with gesture support!) is sexier than you can imagine, and in fact the entire slide mechanism that runs up the back is the same clear material. The handset is super thin and yet manages to pack an 8 megapixel camera into the rear of the case. LG’s new S-Class 3D UI fantastic — responsive, attractive and logical. Think of it as TouchWiz on crank. It supports gestures, multi-touch and features tons of 3D transitions and menus. Hit the jump for some more pics and, if you’re comfortable with your masculinity, drool over the GD900 along with us.

Falling into the not earth shattering but definitely noteworthy category at MWC today, LG previewed a very cool upcoming handset that definitely caught our attention. LG rarely comes up short when it comes to the design element of a handset and the GD900 takes things to a new level. As you can see in the image above, the handset has a slider form factor that reveals a completely transparent keypad. When open, the keypad “illuminates a cool glow that reflects the phone’s sleek and polished silver body.” That’s cool and all but let’s take things a step further. Think about the possibilities here – how about a thin transparent keypad that sits atop a full-color LCD display? In other words, Optimus Maximus-like functionality without Optimus Maximus-like pricing. But we digress. Details on the GD900 beyond its design are forthcoming but we’re going to guess that this will be a pricey feature phone that probably won’t travel far outside the Asian market, at least for a while. Initial release is slated for Q2 2009.

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If you think the trackballs on RIM’s popular BlackBerry handsets are prone to breaking, just wait until the keypad described in one of RIM’s latest patents is realized – if it is ever realized. While a design of this nature would allow RIM to build a significantly more narrow handset, it would also seemingly be infinitely less usable and fragile. Three rows of the device’s keypad would be positioned on the face of the handset beneath the display. Standard 0-9 keys would be present an accessible at all times to allow standard usage. When used for messaging however, keys located on the devices side panels fold open to provide a full QWERTY or SureType keypad. Yes, trying to use a BlackBerry with a jumpy trackball can be pretty annoying but try using a BlackBerry after half the keys snap off…

[Via Cellpassion]

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Ok, so not everyone on your holiday shopping list warrants spending a fair amount of cash on something like the Epson Artisan 700 we showed you earlier this month. It’s never easy to figure out what to get for that friend, distant relative or coworker via secret santa that is cool, useful and isn’t going to cost an arm and a leg. Here at BGR we feel for you and seeing as time is running out, quickly, we thought we’d give you a cool idea that definitely won’t be duped at your office’s white elephant no matter how many people participate: The OnBoard Travel Keyboard by Atek.

In this day and age, the trend with just about everything in the world of gadgets is smaller. Mobile phones are shrinking, televisions are getting thinner, digital cameras are getting tinier and so on, and the same can be said for travel keyboards. Foldable, rollable, stuffable – pretty soon there will be a keyboard that will fold up to fit in your laptop’s PCMCIA slot. This is all fine and good but there’s a major problem with this trend; as travel keyboards get smaller and more flimsy, they also get less usable. Enter the OnBoard Travel Keyboard by Atek. As is the case in many industries, sometimes the best option completely discounts trends and fashion in favor of build and usability. It might not be razor-thin or have sexy aluminum accents, but it also definitely isn’t going to flap around under your fingers while you frantically bang out that last revision in your hotel room at 3am.

Atek’s design is great. Picture a standard desktop keyboard, flatten it out and remove everything other than the keys themselves and area immediately surrounding them. Then add sliding cover and you’ve got the OnBoard. It has a 99-key layout which retains the 1-9 keypad and omits only the Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause/Break, right side Ctrl and Windows keys from the standard 104-key layout. In case you missed that, along with the image at the top of this post, the OnBoard has a full numerical keypad! In other words, all you Excel-hounds can ditch the annoying little USB keypad you’ve been carrying around and use a real one.

As you can see, this is not a wireless keyboard. There are definitely pros and cons when it comes to wired keyboards but for the most part, we see this as a big pro for two main reasons: First off, there are no batteries required which means you don’t have to pack extras or freak out when your keyboard runs out of juice after all the local stores have closed. Also, the keyboard is much lighter as a result. The second major reason is the lack of extra tiny pieces. Unless your wireless keyboard makes use of Bluetooth and your laptop has integrated Bluetooth, wireless means there is an extra dongle involved that we inevitably lose or snap off.

In terms of size, while it might not fit in some man-purse like carry on, it will absolutely fit in any standard computer bag. It measures 14 3/4-inches long so it might even be longer than your laptop but trust us when we tell you, this translates to an infinitely more usable experience. Nothing is cramped, key-size is not compromised and like we said before, it has a full number pad! Here are a few shots of the OnBoard in our laptop bag with a MacBook:

On to operation and feel, Atek likes to compare the OnBoard to a laptop keyboard but we won’t even bother because there really isn’t any comparison. We, like most people, hate laptop keyboards. The positioning requires an unnatural reach, the keys never have enough resistance and the hand travel from the keyboard to an external mouse is way too far. Laptop keyboards are fine if you’re on the move and have no other choice, but once stationary we always prefer an alternative. The OnBoard has the look and feel of a desktop keyboard. The keys are tall and have a good amount of travel, though the actual amount of travel required to register a key press is minimal – a very good thing. We can honestly say that this is the only travel keyboard we’ve tried that hasn’t slowed our WPM at all; try saying that about a flimsy rollable keyboard.

Our only qualm in terms of operation is that the key resistance is a bit high. We wouldn’t say that the keys are hard to press but they do require an above-average actuation force. After a bit of use however, this complaint is essentially negated by the fact that the keys require such little travel to register a press. You can fly across them with ease and even the most minimal depression will be recognized. As such, it might be good that the actuation force needed is high because it prevents miss-strokes — it just takes a day or two to get used to.

In the end, Atek’s OnBoard is without a doubt the sturdiest and most usable travel keyboard we’ve ever come across. To make that claim about a keyboard that costs – get ready for this – a whopping $29.95, was staggering even to us. You know your pals at BGR are always looking for the sexiest new gadgets out there but sometimes you just have to slow down and admit that a comparatively bulky $30 accessory might simply make more sleek and compact competitive products seem bush league. We’re not saying the OnBoard is ugly by the way, we’re just saying it’s plain and simple compared to the general direction many accessories are moving in today. But then you have to ask yourself: Do you want a keyboard that looks sleek while you sit alone in your hotel room typing away, or do you want one that works as well as possible?

In the end, Atek’s OnBoard makes a great gift for anyone who travels for business. A keyboard that rolls up and flops around might be fine for some light surfing but if your giftees have some real work to get done, you’ll want to give them the right tool for the job – especially when it’ll only cost you $30 to snag it.

Click on over to our Atek OnBoard gallery!

Atek OnBoard Travel Keyboard product page