Disappearing Keyboard?

[4ginnc]

For those of you who love slide-out keyboards on your phones, here's an interesting article on what the future might hold to satisfy both those who like to feel the keys and those who prefer the thinner phones with no keyboard:

 

http://whatsnext.blo...ar/?hpt=hp_bn11

 

Looks really cool. Don't know how far from implementation in real-world phones it would be, or whether any manufacturers would be interested. As a consumer, I know I would be.

 

Edit: Missed at the end of the article, they expect products mid-2013:

 

Tactus has partnered with Touch Revolution, a touchscreen manufacturer. The first Tactus products will be available by mid-2013, Ciesla said.

[bgguy]

Holy crap that looks awesome. It seems like something I've always wanted. I loved having the keyboard on the Epic 4G but have enjoyed the comparable thinness of the Photon. The question will be can they scale it down more to a average smart phone sized screen, make it affordable and durable?

[S4GRU]

This almost seems like an April Fools Joke. Pretty trick. I want to see some video.

 

Robert

[pyroscott]

I wonder how scratch resistant that would be

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[4ginnc]

This almost seems like an April Fools Joke. Pretty trick. I want to see some video.

 

Robert

 

Here's a link to a video on their website.

 

http://www.tactustechnology.com/technology.html

 

Of course, since my Sprint 3G connection at home sucks I won't be able to watch it until it finishes buffering probably after midnight sometime.

[4ginnc]

I wonder how scratch resistant that would be

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

I'm wondering, if the material moves it couldn't be glass right? Wonder what it does to the sharpness of the image on the screen versus glass.

[9erHater]

One advantage slide-out keyboards have to this type of device is that you still have the full real estate of the screen, but it is an interesting technology.

[S4GRU]

These guys are doomed. I'm sure Apple is patenting the idea right now. Just the idea, mind you. Details of how to do it can be filed later.

 

Robert

[4ginnc]

One advantage slide-out keyboards have to this type of device is that you still have the full real estate of the screen, but it is an interesting technology.

 

That's true. I was thinking about that when I saw the picture in the article. It's probably not too big of a deal for texting where you're sending mostly smaller messages, but could be for other types of interaction (e-mail?).

 

I wonder if it only work in a landscape, or if they can make the touch points small enough to work in portrait as well.

[silverhawknike]

There is a better link on Engadget ;D http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/07/tactus-morphing-smartphone-and-tablet-display-hands-on/

[Fraydog]

These guys are doomed. I'm sure Apple is patenting the idea right now. Just the idea, mind you. Details of how to do it can be filed later.

 

Robert

 

Or they could just buy the small innovators much like Microsoft did when Gates was running the show in the 80's and 90's.