The iCEphone, developed by a company unfortunately called The Medical Phone, is a strange mish-mash of features and one of the weirder items to be seen at this year's CES. First, the thing has a unique three-part form factor, with three slabs attached side-to-side by funky hinges that let the slabs fold either way--like a Z or like an S--and are stiff enough to hold the phone in any of those configurations (see the video if this doesn't make any sense). The phone is ruggedized (including rubber bumpers), fairly large and bulky, and comes in bright colors like fuchsia and orange. It has built-in medical monitoring, a touchscreen, a trackpad, gaming features like multiple "triggers," and a full qwerty keyboard, including the bonus Windows keys that let you perform such feats as the famous ctrl-alt-delete. What, you may wonder, the hell is going on here? The thing is that the phone was originally developed for use by the military, and now the company is now releasing a slightly modified version to consumers. The military legacy is clearly visible in the resistance to shock and dust, medical monitoring, push-to-talk fuction, and even the games--The Medical Phone says the military likes the phone to have games because servicemembers become attached to and proficient with the device. The consumer-ization is visible in the pretty colors and productivity applications. The company says they see a potential market of a million civilians, mainly medical professionals and frequent travelers. Are they right? I frankly have no idea. It seems a strange product, but the flexible form factor is pretty sweet, especially as it reminds me of the great old toy, the Jacob's ladder.
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