The Neonode N2 offers an array of applications, including a music player, a Web browser, and a 2-megapixel camera.

The Neonode N2 looks nothing like a typical cell phone. It's about the size of a matchbox, measuring just 1.85 inches wide by 3 inches tall by 0.58 inch thick and weighing a mere 2.1 ounces. Its minimalist style slightly resembles the iPhone's--and on a few applications, it works sort of like it, too.

Wrapped in a rubberized, matte black shell, the N2 looks more rugged than the iPhone, but in other respects its external design is similar. The simple front consists of a 2-inch touch screen and a stiff (and hard-to-press) navigation button. Two holes--one on either side of the nav button--provide stylistic effect but appear not to have any practical purpose. 

In lieu of a physical keypad, the N2 offers an on-screen version. Alas, the phone doesn't provide a virtual QWERTY keyboard as well; instead, you get alphanumeric keys with T9 predictive text support. My cousin's teen-age kids, who are fast texters, probably wouldn't mind the lack of QWERTY keys. But for most users, multitapping to write a text message would be too laborious. To reduce the load on your fingers, you could copy and save common phrases, and then reuse them.