What do you do with a bulky QWERTY messaging phone that makes everyone yawn? You give it a snazzy name and add some twisting action to the form factor in order to garner the people’s attention. Such is the case with the Pantech Razzle, the successor to the rather ho-hum Pantech Blitz. The prominent feature of the new Razzle is a spinning keyboard that will twist from a QWERTY pad on one side to music controls on the other. Our previous scoop pegs the arrival of the Razzle sometime in late October with a very attainable entry-level price. Hit the jump for some swiveling action.

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Remember that funky swiveling Nokia handset that we told you about back in April. Well, it looks like it is more fact than fiction as it just hopped, skipped, and jumped its way through the FCC.  The Nokia model RM-526 sports dual-band CDMA/EV-DO, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, has the boxiest form factor ever and runs software version VN_2040T13_VZW_108. Notice anything familiar? Looks like our ninja was spot on and we may actually see this handset hit Big Red sometime this summer.

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If this wasn’t from one of our normal ninjas we probably wouldn’t publish it, but since it is, here we go… We’ve been told that there’s a “swiveling E71-type handset” that’s going to be launched on Verizon around the July/August time-frame. Yes, a swiveling QWERTY Nokia phone. Before you get too excited, we’ve been informed the OS it will be running will be S40 and not S60. Major buzzkill, huh? The image above is a mockup our guy sent us based on first hand impressions.

Thanks, Daddy G.!

There’s no question Sony Ericsson is under an enormous amount of pressure to release a relevant handset that appeals to the masses. If the alleged leaked advertisement of an upcoming handset you see before you is any indication of things to come however, Sony Ericsson might as well just call it a day. Codenamed “Reese”, it is purported to feature “a unique swivel design reveals a QWERTY keypad below the large portrait screen which allows you to view several messages of any one kind in high definition. It also comes with one-click access to your favorite networking sites. So now it’s never been easier to keep up with your mates.” Hmm, looks kind of familiar. It’s obviously too early to pin down an OS for this device but it is possible we could be looking at Windows Mobile a la the Xperia X1 or even Android. No matter which way SE slices it though, the Reese really doesn’t look all that appealing – especially next to the sheer beauty of Sony Ericsson’s first sliding QWERTY, the Xperia X1.

Thanks, Chuck!

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Last week, rumors were flying about a mysterious device with a swivel screen that was tentatively identified as the Palm Roteo. The folks over at Blog Times in Korea have dispelled that rumor however, and have identified the mystery device as the Compal Tabasco MID, a 4.5-5 inch touchscreen device with swiveling display that made its debut as a non-functional prototype at Computex 2008. The Compal Tabasco sports dual cameras with a front facing webcam and a rear 3.2 megapixel camera with 2x optical zoom and a flash. It also comes in with MID-sized dimensions of 160(W) x 85(H) x 33~35(D) mm, a mini touch pad and a 35 key QWERTY keyboard. It is not clear whether this device ever made it out of the prototype stage but we highly doubt that it will show up as the Palm Roteo come 2009. Then again, Palm was rumored to have placed a large order with Compal back in August so you never know. Hit the jump for a few more shots.

[Via Pocketables]

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The odds of us ever seeing this exact form factor in a Nokia handset aren’t great but a recently filed patent illustrates an interesting new take on the candy bar form. When closed and viewed head on as in figure 21 above, the handset looks like a standard QWERTY candy bar reminiscent of the E61i or E71. As figure 22 reveals however, half of the display tucks behind the keypad and pivots open to reveal what would be an amazingly large widescreen. We’re not sure why Nokia took the concept further than this, but figure 25 shows the display swiveling from side to side once open. The only reasoning we can think of for the swivel: Perhaps Nokia envisions the display rotating a full 180° and then folding back down so that the handset can be used as a full touchscreen device with the QWERTY keypad facing away from the user. Whatever the case, if the Finns can manage to plant a kick stand a la N96 on the back of the keypad it would make for some pretty sweet multimedia viewing, that’s for sure. Would you be interested in a swiveling, rotating touchscreen handset with a full QWERTY keyboard?

Thanks, Justin!

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