DoCoMo’s concept separable gaming phone

One of the joys of a show such as the World Mobile Congress is the chance to see some of the wilder outworkings of phone manufacturers’ R&D labs. And sometimes they even let you take photos.

The best one so far has been Japanese company DoCoMo’s prototype separable phone. The concept is pretty simple: the screen and keypad don't need to be physically connected. They communicate to each other using Bluetooth.

The reason for such an approach is two-fold. As each unit can operate independently, you could use the keypad unit to make a normal voice call, while watching TV on the screen. Neat.

More interesting however are DoCoMo’s plans for a range of different phone parts, effectively allowing you to pick and mix different components – base unit, screen, keyboard, controller, etc – depending on whether you’re a gamer, business user, teenage girl.

As an example of the gaming option, this device was shown as one concept idea. We’re not sure about the square-looking screen, but you get the idea. Different screens and input pads could be attached to the pink camshell base depending on what you wanted to do with the phone that day.

And, amazingly, devices based around the separable design could be out in Japan this year.