Mar
New Sony Ericsson patent for “portable electronic device with multiple input interfaces”
Sony Ericsson’s newest patent comes afloat, and it shows us a new type of device allowing up to three input interfaces. The electronic device has a main body, a flip attached to the main body and multiple input interfaces (it says here), so basically this will be some kind of new device in which you can enter data via any of the available ways. From the illustration above, you can see that this will be some kind of cellphone/smartphone with a flap on its face that can go both ways. It’s reversible, and two different input interfaces will reside on that flap alone, aside from the input interface located on the main body of the phone itself. Now I have to say, it’s a fine concept and all, but the question is, will it work?
To save you from the boring stuff in the patent document itself, let me give you the rundown on Sony Ericsson’s latest patent here. What they’re aiming to do is answer the apparent need of consumers for an all-in-one device that will replace the currently bag-full of gadgets most of us carry around. This is not the first time someone is aiming for a solution to the said problem, and even Sony Ericsson itself has tried multiple times in the past to deliver this electronic device “jackpot” that will attract new customers by the hundreds like it was a killer app of some sort. Nokia’s tried to do it. Motorola has tried to do it. Everybody out there is trying to do it. And this is Sony Ericsson’s take. Their solution? One device with the input interfaces of three. To me, this is almost like saying, “Hey, you wanted an all-in-one device, right? You wanted something that can handle your phone calls, connect you to the Internet, and let you listen to music, right? So here it is, a cellphone with a keypad, a keyboard, and a click-wheel. It’s all you need.”
But really, although this is really a great concept as it gives a user choices when it comes to entering data into his device, this will mean having to deal with three different input styles altogether. Three different “languages”, if you may, that you have to master in order to get the most out of your multiple input interface endowed device. This is completely against the concept of the iphone, which has a very simple, unified input interface: the touch. Well, I doubt if a device like the one in this patent will come out any time soon, anyway, and besides, you never know for sure and Sony Ericsson just might be able to pull this one off. Or maybe I just talk too much.
Via [Just Another mobile phone Blog]
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Tags: amps, design, home cinema, ipod