Back in August 2009, we covered a cordless phone offered by Sharp Japan that could be connected to a portable 7-inch touch panel via infrared. That panel could be used as a digital picture frame, for example. And yesterday, the same company announced [JP] the JD-4C1CW, which again links a cordless phone to a touch screen. This time, the display is part of the phone.
The new device is a trimmed down version of the previous model: The screen isn’t portable anymore, it’s considerably smaller (4.3 inches), the internal memory is now just 64MB (down from 128MB) and you can’t use the device to send or receive faxes anymore either.
Next to using the handset, you can also use the touch panel to dial. The screen can also be used as a status indicator, kitchen timer, address book, alarm clock, and a photo frame. Pictures can be uploaded via SD/SDHC/Memory Stick or Memory Stick Pro.
The JD-4C1CW cordless phone system, which comes with 2 handsets, will cost $310 when it hits Japanese stores sometime in April. Sharp hasn’t said yet whether the device will ever be available outside this country as well.