Engadget has an interesting write-up of a new “home phone” that offers content and presumably Internet access via a touch screen. This is something that Commoca tried to build a couple of years ago (with an emphasis on advertising). The idea was an IYP on the phone and/or to offer a kind of alternative to the PC in the kitchen, for those without one. Commoca appears to be defunct even though a site still exists.
photo credit: Engadget
This phone appears to offer a much broader range of capabilities. Most people don’t have wireless networks in their home and would want Internet access in the kitchen (or elsewhere) to read email, look up recipes, address/phone numbers and so on. One could imagine a broad range of functionality and capabilities on such a phone. It would also be a potentially powerful advertising vehicle for direct mail/couponers and other categories of (local) businesses.
I would imagine that there would be consumer demand; the only issue is price: how much would it cost and would consumers have to pay separately for a service that provides Internet/content access?
Screenwerk 
January 10, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Just wanted to let you know that Commoca is still very much in existence. We have spent the last year focusing on a vertical market outside of residential that takes advantage of the VoIP, Network Management, and Directory Services technologies that we had originally developed for our residential phone offering. Commoca is in discussions with companies that have an interest in offering a color touch-screen phone that provides Content Delivery, Advertising, and Local Search capabilities and we are assessing the market timing of such an offering.
January 10, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I was originally supposed to be a beta tester for the phone, which never arrived and there was no communication from the company about that. I never heard anything subsequently, other than rumors about funding or a lack thereof.
Good luck