Dual-sliders are great and all, but the price we pay for the convenience of having both a numeric keypad and QWERTY keyboard is usually a considerable amount of bulk. Even HTC is guilty of adding a bit of heft in the name of convenience. But, that could all change if our favorite Taiwanese WinMo manufacturer decides to go ahead with a patent for a unique dual-slider design. The patent application, entitled “Handheld electronic device,” shows off a truly unique take on the dual-slider idea.
The use of a novel keyboard plate and slider-track allows the main display of the device to be moved from landscape to portrait mode in a diagonal direction. And, more importantly, the patent allows for a slimmer design by combining the numeric keypad and QWERTY-keyboard onto the same keyboard plate – unlike the HTC S720 that makes use of separate keypad and keyboard plates. In portrait mode, the numeric keypad is exposed. Sliding the screen diagonally into landscape mode reveals the full QWERTY keyboard.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any way of sliding the screen into a “closed” position that would cover all the keys – seeing as how the keyboard plate is larger than the display. Still, if the display is slim enough, it shouldn’t matter that the numeric keypad is always exposed.
Now, lets see if HTC puts this idea into actual production…
[Via: Unwired View]