BERLIN — Is your smartphone too big for your pocket, and pulling it out of a bag or backpack to make a call is a nuisance? Alcatel has a completely wacky solution — a remote controller (that looks like a small phone) for your smartphone.
We've caught up with Alcatel's lineup of products at the DigitalFocus Global event that accompanies IFA Berlin.
The company's upcoming One Touch Hero is a pretty powerful device: a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 13-megapixel shooter and 2GB of RAM. With a 6-inch screen, it's also too big for most pockets, and this is where the remote comes into play.
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It looks like a tiny DECT phone, but it's not really a phone, and it doesn't require a SIM card. However, you can make calls with it — it pairs with the Hero, allowing you to view contacts and actually make calls without touching the "main" phone.
The presentation given to us by Alcatel's representative was Inception-worthy — he used a phone-like remote to place a call from the phone in one pocket to a phone in the other pocket. Yes, that's just how Alcatel rolls.
Alcatel went so far to create two variants of the remote — a white, plasticky one, as well as a "high-end," brushed aluminum one, which will only be offered in certain markets.
That's not all, mind you, as Alcatel has an even crazier idea — so crazy, in fact, that the company's not yet sure whether it'll be launching it at all. It's an e-ink cover for the Hero, which pairs with the device and lets you read a book while the Hero is covered. It also displays various notifications (an incoming call notice will show up on it, for example), and it does all that with a very small impact on battery life.
The e-ink cover is in prototype stage, and Alcatel claims it'll be turning it into a real product if the market shows interest.
The One Touch Hero, bundled with the remote, will become available in October, but it won't be coming to U.S. shores — the first market to get it is China, followed by certain countries Europe and Latin America.
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