Pantech unveils magnetic levitation slider phone

Korea’s Pantech Group, will launch a magnetic levitation slider phone in April.

Magnetic levitation, or maglev, suspends an object above another object with a magnetic field.

Pantech utilises the technology in the phone’s slider mechanism – the top half of the slider moves via magnetic power.

As the technology replaces the springs which are traditionally used in the slider mechanism, it has been possible to slim-down the design. With a thickness of just 9.9 millimeters, the device will be the first slider phone to measure less than one centimetre thick.

The phone will feature a 1.3-megapixel camera, an MP3 player and terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB).