T-Mobile and LG are reportedly prepping a novel Android phone that offers a secondary display — apparently dedicated to app shortcuts — embedded in the middle of a split-QWERTY keypad. The slider phone may well be the “Flip II” phone that appeared in a recently leaked T-Mobile product roadmap, says the Pocket-Lint website.

You gotta love the open source, multi-vendor Android platform for the wackiness of the designs it inspires. Oddball, evolutionary experiments like the dual-display, multi-mode Kyocera Echo or the reverse-flip, double-jointed Motorola Backflip are not likely to appear on Apple iOS, RIM BlackBerry, or Nokia phones, for example.

So bring on the unnamed, possibly doomed, LG slider phone from T-Mobile, as revealed by Pocket-Lint. The phone, which appears to offer a main touchscreen in the 3.x-inch range, features a unique design in which a smaller secondary touchscreen is embedded in the middle of the split QWERTY keyboard.

LG mystery phone, possibly the Flip II
Source: Pocket-Lint

The keyboard screen appears to be dedicated to shortcut widgets for launching apps, says the story. Two of the widgets are left blank and appear to be ready for user customization (see image above).

Pocket-Lint's Chris Hall had just enough time to make a few "exploratory prods" and take some photos before the phone was spirited away by U.K.-based carrier Orange, as well as Kineto Wireless. The companies showed off the phone, among several others, in a press event in London to demonstrate Kineto's Smart WiFi solution, which powers Orange's Signal Boost technology.

Side view of LG slider
Source: Pocket-Lint

One rep apparently referred to the phone as the Flip II, but tbat could not be confirmed. Basing its opinion on design cues borrowed from earlier LG phones, including the Optimus 2X, as well as a recently leaked T-Mobile roadmap, Pocket-Lint speculates that other possible names include the LG Optimus Slider or LG Maxx Q. (The roadmap, leaked by ThisIsMyNext mentions a Flip II phone due Sept. 14.)

The phone is "fairly hefty" and rather thick, says the story. Other noted features include an LED flash camera on the back, and rather unspectacular screen resolution. Beyond that, this flipped out phone remains a mystery.

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