Original URL: http://www.reghardware.com/2007/03/23/nokia_rotating_keypad_patent/
Nokia attempts to patent rotating numeric pad
Dial A for Any Angle
Nokia has filed for a US patent for a mobile phone with a rotating numeric keyboard. No, we don't mean an old-style dial lookalike, but a numeric pad that can turn round to retain the correct orientation when the handset it flipped into landscape mode.
The application details what looks like a standard candybar handset. The clever bit comes when you rotate it through 90°: the screen slides up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. We've seen this sort of thing before, but the novel component is the really clever bit: the numeric pad also rotates so that it's now in the same orientation as the QWERTY layout. Thus:
Flip it all back and you have a standard handset again:
Nokia original filed its patent applicaton back in September 2005, but the filing was updated [1] yesterday, which is what brought it to our attention.
Thanks to reader Callum for the tip