Core77

Upside mobile phone design considered more ergonomic

By Niti Bhan - February 5, 2007

in Design Business

A patent has been filed for the design of a mobile phone with the keypad positioned above the screen - considered more ergonomic for texting - expect these to be released in Asia any day now.

The new design repositions the keypad above the screen and ensures that most of the handset rests in the palm of the hand for improved support and control.

As well as the improved grip, the thumb rests in a comfortable position directly above the buttons of the keypad. The improved angle for the thumb makes it unnecessary to shift the mobile phone around in the hand while typing text.

link

o

Favorite This
Q
24

Comment

Comments

Jassica

14 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

B&O and Samsung's SERENE PHONE is different design compared to this one.
!Report as spam
Richard Smith

14 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Its really interesting but B&0 and Samsung with the Serene phone has already prove it. www.buymobilephonesuk.org.uk
!Report as spam
David

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

LMAO! THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN! All the phone is doing is flipping the itself. I have cell phone designs myself but I don't know where I can produce a prototype.
!Report as spam
Dasman

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

This is new? Blah, I remember seeing concepts just like this and B&O at early '90's. And now someone patented this?
!Report as spam
HeyArnold

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Yes, maybe this patent application won’t be granted – but – please give up the ‘B&O did it before’ whining. C’mon… there are a lot of things that have been done before – actually, I’m saying EVERYTHING has been done before.

The point is, a lot of these ideas don’t reach the poor end-user due to market mafia, high price tags or simply nobody pushing it through. If it’s so that many designers thought of it before – why didn’t we bring it further than some one-offs?

I am not praising Harrison’s patent application but complements for creating a bit more awareness on our thumb breaking technology – hope to see some more friendly phones soon.
!Report as spam
P.J. Milne

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Duh. What you mean to say is, he filed a patent APPLICATION. Applications don't get granted if there's prior art the examiner can find (and google will show).
!Report as spam
Neil

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

This has already been done by B&0 and Samsung with the Serene phone
!Report as spam
T.O.

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

B&O Serene is more that a year in the market!!! THe phone has lay out as pictured so it comes to me that the rights allready belongs to Samsung / Bangand Olufsen.
!Report as spam
lmao

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

lol
!Report as spam
EO

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

finally! I've thought about this for years. great job!
!Report as spam
Alistair McMillan

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Here is the link to see the Bang & Olufsen phone.
http://www.mobilegazette.com/bang-and-olufsen-serene-051007.htm

Its been out for years.
!Report as spam
Alistair McMillan

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Bang & Olufson have already brought out an upside down phone. A few years ago actually. It opens up so that the screen is below they keys. They too think it is more ergonomic. Unfortunately they decided to put a massive price tag on it.
!Report as spam
inventeer

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Wow. I've been thinking that the iPod was built upside down since the first time I picked one up. It makes sense with a phone to (but is that patentable???)
!Report as spam
Thomas Toftborg

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Like this one? http://www.bang-olufsen.com/page.asp?id=54
!Report as spam
LOL what?

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Bang & Olufsen already have this. It's called the Serene Mobile.

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/page.asp?id=208

!Report as spam
Chester Longfellow

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

A startup named Wildseed shipped a linux based phone in 2004 with the keypad above the screen. It was manufactured by Curitel. The phone also had other novel features such as replaceable plastic skins with an embedded smartcard chip able to update features on the phone. Wildseed was bought by AOL in 2005. See:

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7002110505.html

!Report as spam
Kyle

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

It may take some getting used to, but I think I would like the buttons like this more than the traditional positioning.
!Report as spam
Ronald Lewis

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Some might consider this an awkward design initially, but like all things, it will grow on the user over time.
!Report as spam
Mario

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Damn... I should have patented this myself months ago when I sketched my first concepts on this... in fact I after some more thoughts I came to the conclusiion that a clamshell design with its keypad in the traditional position of the scren would be the best combination
!Report as spam
Mario

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Damn... I should have patented this myself months ago when I sketched my first concepts on this...
!Report as spam
guido endert

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

this "upside down mobile" fits much better for any onehand interaction to the mobile phone. a convienient simple ergonomic concept. but not new! in 2003 the concept was discussed at the multimodal interaction course at the university of wuppertal, germany.
!Report as spam
Greg B

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Bang & Olufsen have already done this.
!Report as spam
../Ant

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

That's interesting but I tried flipping my phone around to see what it's like... my lower thumb area covers to much of the screen. Love the blog BTW.
!Report as spam
christianius

17 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Ah, but this is no new idea - check out Serene Mobile by Bang & Olufsen and see for yourself! www.bang-olufsen.com/page.asp?id=54
!Report as spam