DoCoMo’s “D800iDS”, made by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., opens up like a clamshell and is equipped with screens on both upper and lower halves, rather than the typical design of one display and a number keypad. The “DS” in the name of the new touch-panel handset stands for “direct and smooth,” the concept on which the design was based. Incidentally the Nintendo DS also opens like a book and lets users control play with a stylus but it has no link to this phone.

Users input characters by writing on the touch screen with their fingers or a stylus. They can also call up an on-screen keypad to dial a number or type a message, or touch the buttons shown on the display to browse the menu screens.

DoCoMo said its new handset, which is scheduled to go on sale in Japan in February, would let users send hand-written messages and drawings as e-mail attachments and also offer a wider scope for games and other entertainment software. Lets see when these phones make it to Pakistan!