Nokia teases handset with gesture-driven UI

Nokia reportedly unveiled this advertisement for an unnamed, next-generation handset at a Capital Markets Day presentation in Brooklyn on Thursday. Little is known about the cellphone other than what the photo reveals, which is a touchscreen that covers nearly the entire face of the handset with no hard buttons visible. The cellphone breaks from Nokia tradition as it forgoes the use of any form of a conventional keypad or keyboard and instead relies nearly entirely on what the phone maker calls a Direct UI interface.

The ad has sparked numerous comparisons of the new handset to Apple's ubiquitous iPhone, which would be a logical competitor. Thus far, the one leg up on the iPhone Nokia is expected to offer with this device is the Direct UI interface that promises to allow gestures to control the handset's operation. Nokia has a patent for such technology,

It's not known whether the released advertisement represents an actual working prototype or an early look at a model soon to be released. [viaSlashGear]