Swiveling MID prototype with Palm-like keyboard is an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a mystery

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Where to begin? The above device was apparently displayed at Computex back in June and had been speculated by some to be called the Palm Roteo (due to the very Palm-like keyboard) but has since been identified by Pocketables as the Compal Tabasco. Well, wouldn’t you know it, apparently in August a little rumor was floating around about Palm placing an order for five million units of something with Compal.

Whatever the case may be, the prototype device apparently had a 4.5- to 5-inch touchscreen, a built-in 3.2-megapixel camera with a 2x optical zoom and a flash, and a tiny touchpad with mouse buttons on the left and right.

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At about 6.3 by 3.3 by 1.3 inches, it’s too big to be a phone but it could very well function as a mobile internet device of some type. Palm will be announcing some sort of “new-ness” at CES this year, which has been speculated to be its new Nova operating system, but who knows? Maybe it’s got some sort of secret crazy Compal-manufactured mobile internet device up its sleeve as well.

Blog Times (Korean) [via Pocketables]