GearBits

Motorola Camphone Swings Into Action

Motorola has just announced the V80 cellphone, which sports a unique rotating cover design.

Closed, the V80 shows off an colour display for playing games and photo caller ID alerts. Push a button, and the cover swings open to unveil a full-sized mobile phone.

Rotate the cover to a 90-degree angle, and the phone turns into a 640x480 VGA camera, with auto-landscape mode, photo messaging and integrated Bluetooth for photo-sharing.

The V80 also makes creative use of MP3 ringtones and lighting. Users can attach favourite songs or light patterns to friends' numbers to identify incoming calls, or can play JAVA games with flashing lights, arcade-style.