CES VTech has catapulted the cordless home phone into the 21st Century. It’s unveiled the LS6117, which boasts a full Qwerty keyboard and instant messaging capabilities.

VTech LS6117: text and talk

The company claims the handset is in fact the first to combine a Qwerty keyboard, IM and peer-to-peer calls, using a DECT 6 connection to communicate with its base-station. The handset supports AOL and MSN IM clients, although there’s no mention of support for additional applications, such as Trillian. It also supports Windows Live programs.

However, reading your conversations shouldn’t be a problem as the phone has a large colour LCD display. One of the benefits of the phone is that whilst you're using it to IM your chums, the missus is free to use your computer for surfing other websites.

It also carries all the standard features you’d expect from a cordless home telephone, including a large address book (50-name capacity), caller ID, caller waiting and speakerphone.

VTech’s LS6117 phone goes on sale in the US during the first half of this year for around $100 (£50/€75). A European release date or price hasn’t been confirmed yet.