And having met with the Swedish software firm multiple times, so do I.

Their mobile user interfaces are cutting-edge and fresh. Unlike the rest who always play catch up to Apple, the Astonishing Tribe (TAT) look outside the iPhone for inspiration.

The fact that Research in Motion bought them (for an undisclosed sum) can only mean one thing:  

Blackberry is BACK!

RIM is seriously planning to kick some ass and win back some of the market share they recently lost to rivals Apple and Android. I can't wait to check out how slick the Playbook is going to look!!!

In 2009, I met with CEO, Charlotta Falvin - here's the interview about TAT thinking outside the iPhone box and the difficulty for handset manufacturers to compete with webOS and iOS user interfaces.

Sorry for the grainy pics (damn, iPhone).

Here is a first look at Fuse, a concept mobile phone designed by Synaptics, Texas Instruments (TI), Immersion, TheAlloy, and The Astonishing Tribe.

The Fuse design team created a different user interface with new modes of sensing input, and visual and haptic feedback.

This is what each team contributed:

• TheAlloy led the user experience and overall product design efforts.
• TAT enabled the 3-D environment and lent their UI software design skills.
• Immersion made the tactile feedback.
• TI’s OMAP 3630 processor provided the framework and platform to leverage the multimedia, graphics and imaging features.

The model we played with is still in early development and does not yet have an operating system. The touchscreen phone has squeezable side grips, a built-in accelerometer and a touch pad on the back that lets you navigate the screen  (similar to Motorola's BackFlip). It will run on Linux and will most likely be available on Chinese vendors like Huawei and ZTE.

Official launch of the Fuse will be at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

TelecomTV's video will be up on Monday, 25th January 2010.  Watch this space.