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BlackBerry to introduce angular keyboard |
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Written by Felix Da Silva (fdasilva@bitnip.com)
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Friday, 28 December 2007 |
 Research In Motion, creator of the popular BlackBerry, filed a recent patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In the application, it seems to propose an angular keyboard for future BlackBerry smartphones.
According to the patent application, posted on Dec. 13, it describes an "angular keyboard for a handheld mobile communication device" that would more naturally correspond to the way human thumbs move. Instead of positioning keys in a straight line on a keyboard (as they are on current BlackBerry models), the keys would be angled.
The patent application's abstract states:
Wireless handheld mobile communication device including a housing with a
display above a keyboard exposed for user actuation. A length of the device is
greater than the width. Each key of a right-hand keyfield has a longitudinal
axis oriented at a left-to-right inclined angle while each key of a left-hand
keyfield has a longitudinal axis oriented at a right-to-left inclined angle from
the vertical centerline. A left boundary of the keyboard is located adjacent the
left lateral side edge of the device and the right boundary of the keyboard is
located adjacent the right lateral side edge of the device so that the keyboard
spans a substantial entirety of the width of the device. If the above doesn't make much sense to you, just look at the diagram that went along with the application.
Although the patent doesn't specifically state it was for BlackBerry, it's safe to bet that it would be as its filed by RIM and by looking at the diagram.
As if the 'CrackBerry' isn't addictive enough, they will now make it more comfortable for our fingers so that we'll never have to put it down. No longer will our thumbs be sore from extensive typing on the BlackBerry.
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