At an event in New York City this week, Acer unveiled a series of new notebooks, tablets, and devices that straddle the line such as the Acer Switch 10 and 11 2-in-1 tablets and Acer Aspire R 11 convertible notebook.

The company also took the opportunity to show off a prototype of something a little different: the abTouchPhone is basically a desk phone with a built-in Android tablet.

abtouch_02

I guess the idea is to bring smartphone-like features to an office phone. Instead of a basic speed dial feature, you can access your full contact list and tap a button to make a call or send an instant message.

The phone could also have some advantages over a smartphone, since there’s room for a large speaker at the bottom which you could probably use both for spearkerphone functions or for music playback. Throw a camera in the tablet section and you could also make video calls.

It’s not clear if Acer will actually bring the abTouchPhone to market, but it’s not the craziest prototype I’ve ever seen.

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7 replies on “Acer abTouchPhone prototype: Desk phone with a built-in tablet”

  1. What phone networks does the run on? Landline? Wireless? VOIP?

    Are there docks for smartphones that turn them into something like this?

  2. Here’s an idea — make a tablet that serves several purpose through apps. HP incorporated a tablet into one of its line of printers; Acer is doing the same with phones; and many tablets can be used as desktops using a docking system. Some company should develop a tablet that serves all those purposes and many more.

  3. I like this. I wish there were more desktop android SIP phones. I’ve been toying with buying a Ubitquiti UVP Pro, but I don’t really like the shape of the screen wrt handset. This Acer is nicer.
    Still, I want more choices and reasonably priced.

  4. Full Android? Find myself reminded of something that made the rounds for a limited time around 2000. It was a desk phone with a resistive touch screen, web browser, and a slide out keyboard. Sadly the browser was painfully archaic in a age of rapid changes.

  5. I agree about changing the screen shape, but honestly even with this design if I can install Lync, WebEx and Skype on it, my Cisco office phone would be in the trash.

  6. Hmm, and if left handed on-hook use is awkward. Go 4:5 aspect ratio and move the handset cradle to the top, horizontal. The result is slightly wider but far more useful.

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