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RIM seeks patent for angled BlackBerry keyboard

BlackBerry nation might get turned on its side if RIM ever brings the angled keyboard described in a recent patent application to the market.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit

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.

Would you want to type on an angled Blackberry keyboard? PTO [via ZDnet]

A patent application filed on behalf of Research in Motion was recently revealed by the U.S. 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 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.