The main draw of the First Else touchscreen smartphone from Israeli designer Emblaze is the sleek, unified user interface. Menu options are presented on a digital scrolling wheel that you can move through with your finger pressed down on the screen. Release over an option and you'll be taken there. It's sleek and easy to understand, though we're afraid it might end up with a lot of going back and forward through submenus ala the clickwheel iPods.

Software includes photo management, GPS, contacts, media playback, and so on—most of what you'd expect from any high-end handset in the post-iPhone era. The OS is actually a mobile version of Linux called Access Linux Platform 3.0. Emblaze plans to launch a music download service with millions of songs. It won't require a credit card; instead, purchases will be charged on your monthly cell phone bill.

The hardware is impressive, too. It features the same TI OMAP 3430 found in the Palm Pre and Motorola Droid, a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 854 x 480, a 5-megapixel still camera, video capture at 480p, and up to 32 GB of storage. Data will be handled over HSDPA and EDGE, so AT&T and T-Mobile are carrier candidates but Verizon is not.

Neither a release date nor a price have been announced yet; we're pretty sure Emblaze doesn't know yet itself.