Upside Down Phone Patent

An anonymous reader noted that "A patent has been filed for the "Upside Down Phone", which features the keypad on top and the screen on the bottom. The idea behind the upside down phone is, apparently, to allow faster texting by have a more comfortable position for the thumb to work from. A quick check of this seems to confirm the theory, making this one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments."

Comments

Garmin GPS did this 10 years ago

[cvd6262]

I bought a Garmin GPS12 back in '98 that had the screen on the bottom. It made for great one-hand used.

I guess adding "cellphone" to a design is just like adding "on the Internet" to a business plan.

Nothing new

[earthloop]

Ericsson did this way back in 1999 with the "Hedvig".

Project was cancelled, one reason being users didn't like the upside down configuration.

Re:Nothing new

[earthloop]

(Replying to my own post, ugh!)

Pics of Hedvig can be found here:
http://semania.mobilmania.cz/content/view/87/2/

Plenty of Prior Art

[LordSchnitzel]

Here's a phone by B&O that came out in europe two years ago: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/serene-bang- -olufsens-upside-down-cellphone-210756.php

Re:Not Why Didn't I Think of That

[monsted]

Too bad Bang & Olufsen has done it for a few years now.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/serene-cellp hone-from-samsung-and-bang-olufsen-155610.php

You may now rip that patent to pieces.

Re:Really? Not for me.

[sconeu]

I've never understood the infatuation with flip-phones

No keyboard locking necessary. I can't count the number of times my wife has forgotten to lock the keyboard on her Nokia, and buttons get pushed on it in her purse.

Re:"Why didn't I think of that?"

[fang2415]

One of us *did* think of that.