RIM attempts to patent “garage door” keyboard

By on Jun 21, 2007 at 12:13 PM
General June 21, 2007

 

People that are into smartphones are pretty passionate about what they like. Treo users swear by their touchscreen. Blackberry users by their trackwheel/ball. Will iPhone users swear by their on-screen keyboard? Speculation abounds about the viability of extensive use of such a keyboard, and RIM may be toying with a possible solution. In a recent patent application, RIM has introduced a keyboard that actually rolls back into the body of the phone, allowing for only certain keys to be exposed, should only they be needed. It’s an interesting twist, for sure. Only on the days after June 29 will we find out if it’s necessary.

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  • Tyrone D.

    That’s a pretty cool concept – I wonder when we’ll see this in production or even a test product. I look forward to more on this in the near future.

  • victor

    This could be nice. It would give us a good keyboard and pleanty of screen landscape.

  • one1082

    woah, this gave me a little idea… i could really use an actual garage door opener on my phone, it would help when i’m on the bike hahaha

  • eJay

    It would be nice if they would redesign the browser that looks worse then IE 4.

    Still love my Curve though. Im not sure about the iPhone. Anyone else having doubts?

  • http://LeoAllen3NC.blogspot.com Leo

    I’m going to have to see this live. Seems kewl but. . . hmm. . . Will the 91xx be touch screen :p I haven’t even got my Curve yet. . . ANXIOUS AS HELLO

  • Joe Alien

    This would appear to be a solution to a problem that does not exist, and in fact, adds to complexity and moving parts that WILL break, get stuck, etc.

  • Cal

    How dumb.. as if the Pearl’s keyboard wasn’t mushy enough they make it even more flexible!

  • chris

    Blackberrys just keep getting better and better.

  • mikeyp

    great idea for their phones. love to see how they put it into their designs.

    -good find Gregory…

  • http://benmarvin.com Ben Marvin

    That would be super nice if it was well engineered and worked. But I would think something like that would break soon. But keep those ideas flowing RIM!

  • SammyQ

    @ ghost nyc: yeah, they put in the application for the “garage door” keyboard… not sure if they secured the patent though. bg… any update on that patent app?

    http://www.bgr.com/2007/11/30/blackberry-9000-specs-revealed-our-early-christmas-present-to-you/

    well, i think that this would be a very interesting device to see. my big concern is losing the keyboard, but if they can come up with a good plan, like that of the garage door style keyboard, then i think this device will be a hit. you will have a great huge screen, fast machine w/ 3g service… this sounds like a super bb to me!

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