Samsung filed a patent for this avian-looking smartphone concept: Two spring-loaded half-keyboards burst from the sides of the phone, which in theory provides both a larger keyboard and more screen space, since hands are out of the way. In theory.
It’s a half-baked idea, of course, which is why we’re only seeing it in a patent and not in actual hardware. Unless the half-keyboards were incredibly strong, the whole device would feel like it’s itching to break into pieces, and wouldn’t it have to be twice as thick as standard QWERTY sliders to accommodate double the amount of hardware? So it’s just a patent, and it’ll almost certainly stay that way. But at least somebody’s trying to figure out a way to keep hardware keyboards alive. [Reg Hardware]
