I think what you see there is the influence of Matias Duarte


He was the director of design for Danger inc who made the Hip-tops and Michael Knights tom-tom, err I mean Side Kicks

Notice the crystal keypad?



It had a rather nice UI too, shame about it being tide to the cloud and so locked down that it makes Apple look hedonistic.

Anyway, he left to join Palm to become VP of Human Interface and User Experience. In the mean time M$ bought Danger and decided to release the Kin using their new properties and swallowing Dangers Cloud Services that MS has built upon today.

Matias's work can still be enjoyed today too, he is the guy we can thank for a little project called Ice Cream Sandwich.

This bloke is an interface legend IMO.