BlackBerry reported to the U.S. patent office an application describing a new concept of a QWERTY keyboard. This solution would allow to place a full-size keyboard on smartphones without much expansion of the enclosure.
Patent skechphoto: USPTO
The new BlackBerry’s idea assumes that the keyboard would pull out if necessary. It's like a little slider mechanism, but this time it was assumed that it would look somewhat like concertinas in practice, the concepts would pivot keys into place as the phone owner pulls out a retractable section to start typing. You could say that are arranged in a zigzag pattern. Unfortunately, the application does not describe the exact operation of this mechanism, it represents only a general outline. The keyboard of this type could be located either below the display, as in conventional QWERTY constructions or divided in half and arranged on both sides of the screen. Of course, the mere submission of a patent application does not mean that the solution ever goes into production. However, it does not rule it out ...
Source Engadget
