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Physical keys under an iPhone’s screen may not be coming on the iPhone 6, but Apple is looking into it. AppleInsider has unearthed a patent from 28 June 2011 that uses a new kind of technology to add a physical keyboard underneath the iPhone display.
Currently iPhone’s have a virtual QWERTY keyboard, but Apple is reportedly looking for a more physical feeling when you type. The patent describes a flexible display that would allow Apple to place physical keys, buttons, speakers and microphones all underneath it. Then when a user presses down on the display it would bend down and press the buttons. There would then be a grid underneath the display to create a keyboard-like feeling.
Haptic feedback would then vibrate the area in question to make it feel more like physical keys.
A flexible display and an invisible keyboard isn’t all the patent suggests is possible though –– the front of the phone would be entirely bezel-less. The home button could be hidden underneath the display much like the keyboard meaning there’s no need for the bottom bezel either.
Speakers and the bottom microphone could also feature underneath the screen, meaning there’s nothing stopping the handset being one big display.
It’s not going to be coming in the iPhone 6. This is probably a long way into the future, but we do know Apple has been looking at the hidden keyboard technology since about 2009. It may not even make its way on to a commercial release but it’s an interesting idea.
16:14, 26 Aug 2014
by jamesp via Featured Articles
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