A BlackBerry with a new form factor may be on its way to the smartphone arena. A newly-published patent application filed by Research in Motion (RIM) presents us a unique design concept of a physically rotatable keyboard that can be used in both portrait and landscape layouts.
As shown in the picture provided by the BlackBerry manufacturer, the patent involves a handset with a slide-out slab section, featuring a numeric keypad on one side and a full QWERTY keyboard on the other. According to the patent description filed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, consumers can spin the slab around to switch from a numeric input surface to a QWERTY one, and rotate to change between portrait and landscape modes. In other words, consumers can enjoy a total of four input layouts in just one device for the best typing experience.
"For some functions... such as text entry for messaging and email it may be desirable to provide a specific type of interface, such as an alphabetic keypad, which typically would have a landscape orientation" the Canadian smartphone maker explains in its application. "For other functions, however, it may be more convenient for the handheld electronic device to have a different orientation."
RIM has been heavily relying on its traditional keyboard design with the exception of its Storm Series (including the Storm2 9550 and the Storm 9530), which uses the SurePress touch screen technology. But in the past few years, the company has filed patents for some non-standard concepts like angular keyboards, keyboards with foldable side keys, and keyboards for the blind. This patent application marked another attempt made by the BlackBerry manufacturer to stray from its standard and develop novel form factors. Hopefully, we will see this intriguing device becomes a reality in the not too distant future.
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