14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia is up to do some good. If Sony Ericsson "invented" the screen wiper, Nokia comes in the game and wants to invent a way in which the numeric keypad and the QWERTY keyboard coexist in the same phone.
But, as innovative as it may sound we must admit that this idea is not that new in the mobile-freak circles, even if Nokia and Sony Ericsson have recently wanted to patent these ideas. There are many rumors regarding this 2 in 1 keypad, that go around, including these...
It seems that the Sony Ericsson model P5i (under the codename "Bella"), besides featuring the new touchscreen UI - UIQ 3.2 of 2.8 inches, a faster CPU, meaning a 520Mhz or even more, and a GPS chip, may include this kind of keypad, with a two way slider. But for now, the phone is just a rumor.
Also, there is another rumor that says that the already officially announced Samsung F520 has the two way slider keypad. But that's something that we will eventually see, because a shipping date for this phone was not announced.
Even so, Nokia wants to break the limit and, in its patent application called "A layered mobile device", considers a triple slider. Nokia's idea is to put the display on top of the keypad, not that this would change things that much.
The working mechanism will go like this: the numeric keypad will slide on a side, as the music and game controls will slide in the other one. Makes sense.
But then, the question remains: is this application necessary? Isn't it a bit too much for a cell phone and not truly important? Even so, looking at the patent application, you can't ignore the fact that the idea remains interesting.
Who knows, maybe a future mobile device from Nokia will feature a triple slider and, in the end, it will be useful as Nokia wants it to be.