RIM seeks patent for angled BlackBerry keyboard

By Tom Krazit on 03 January 2008

Tags: blackberry | business | keyboard | pda | rim | smartphone | patent | angle

Would you want to type on an angled BlackBerry keyboard?

Just when you've gotten to the point where you can type on your BlackBerry upside down in the dark, they're thinking about changing the keyboard.

A patent application filed on behalf of Research In Motion was recently revealed by the US Patent and Trademark Office, and it describes an "angular keyboard" where the keys are set at a 45-degree angle to the base of the unit.

Anybody who has spent hours dashing off e-mails on a BlackBerry would have to learn a whole new method of text input, but the payoff might be felt in the lack of hand and wrist pain. It looks to me like the keyboard would be using a predictive text-style entry system, where one key represents two or more letters in the alphabet.

But, of course, patent applications aren't necessarily product blueprints. And RIM's not exactly having trouble selling the BlackBerry as it stands; last week the company said it was starting to gain traction with consumers, not just the executive types famous for their attachment to the "CrackBerry".


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windowsmobilefan
04/01/2008 07:56 PM

You'd need to be on 'Crack' to use a Crackberry .. And this one just proves it!

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