The keyboard-less touch screen has become the preferred mobile phone form factor after the launch of iPhone, but however some users out there still long for the physical response of a BlackBerry while still maintaining the flexibility of a touchscreen display.
A company called Tactus Technology has just revealed a truly awesome technology at SID Display Week 2012, in Boston, that marries the best qualities of touchscreens and physical keyboards.
Their display appears flat until physical buttons are needed – and then they instantly pop out of nowhere. When you are done with the keys, they disappear back into the device, leaving no trace.
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The video below illustrates the touchscreen at work.
The now you see it, now you don’t physical keyboard would be useful not only for phones and tablets, but for remote controls, ebook readers, and even automobile interfaces.
One more useful thing is that the physical buttons can even be pressed, so they don’t only act as tactile buttons. It feels exactly like a regular keyboard. And once the technology evolves more, we will probably be able to use is in more cases and allow the display to take more forms and shapes.
The incredible technology is not as far off as you might expect: Tactus says it should find its way into consumer gadgets as early as 2013.