At first glance, there's nothing special about this mobile just demonstrated at CEATEC Japan 2007, but upon closer inspection you'll notice that the keyboard uses electronic ink (e-ink), capable of changing the display on each alphanumeric key whenever the spirit moves you. Just hit a Shift key and you can see an entirely different set of characters, similar to that possibly-forthcoming Optimus Maximus keyboard by Art.Lebedev. That concept will have major advantages for a mobile.

Besides the tactile feedback you'll get from individual keys, the major advantage is the way e-ink barely sips battery power, only requiring juice when it changes the display, because it doesn't use constantly shining backlights or LEDs at all. So even if battery technology stays the same in the next few years, mobiles can last a lot longer with this tech on board. But hey, we want to see flexible e-ink displays. [Xumdeo, via Uber Gizmo]

Tags: ceatec2007 | design | mobile phones