Sony patent suggests dual-keyboard Xperia Play could come in the future

posted by Victor H. / Apr 27, 2012, 4:26 AM

Sony patent suggests dual-keyboard Xperia Play could come in the future

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play was and still is the only handset with a gamepad - the perfect addition to a handset for gamers, and now the newest patent filed by Sony suggests that a successor is possible and it will feature not one, but two slide-out keyboards, according to a filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

So, how does that work and what does it mean? First of all, thus a possible future device could have both a gamepad and a full QWERTY keyboard. That’s already a big plus for those of you who prefer to have real feedback from pressing physical keys. And the mechanism to make this work actually is not all that complicated - the two keyboards just slideout.

Now, the two sliding mechanism should allow each of the keyboards to be accessed separately and if Sony nails it, this will be one handset that will be truly worthy to be called a transformer. And yes, it seems that in that case the extra thickness actually won’t be a dealbreaker. How do you like Sony’s idea?

source: USPTO via Engadget

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9 Comments

1. bobfreking55

Posts: 866; Member since: Jul 15, 2011

awesome! i have an xperia play currently and i feel like the thickness just sucks. the weight feels so unneeded. Xperia Play 2 Pls. :)

posted on Apr 27, 2012, 4:43 AM 2

2. Birds

Posts: 1172; Member since: Nov 21, 2011

I like this but, I think it needs an extra analog button, and more of a spin wheel thing. Well, nevermind.....cool concept.

posted on Apr 27, 2012, 5:33 AM 0

3. decent4u

Posts: 75; Member since: Apr 26, 2012

Feels like this would be a FAT phone

posted on Apr 27, 2012, 6:26 AM 2

4. mercorp

Posts: 1045; Member since: Jan 28, 2012

either this is going to cost $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$..... or it is going to have duo-core only. :(

posted on Apr 27, 2012, 8:08 AM 2

5. Ric1511

Posts: 26; Member since: Dec 28, 2011

I find myself sometimes sliding out the gamepad when web browsing and want to type something just to realize I'm an idiot. This sounds like a good idea...if they can get it right.

posted on Apr 27, 2012, 8:57 AM 0

6. jellytime

Posts: 135; Member since: Dec 05, 2011

These pictures are probebly fake but I found some xperia play 2 photoshttp://www.xperiablog.net/2012/02/24/is-this-the-xperia-play-2/

posted on Apr 27, 2012, 9:51 AM 0

7. 1Fawwaz

Posts: 3; Member since: Apr 27, 2012

Sony's ideas are INCREDIBLY AMAZING!!!

posted on Apr 27, 2012, 11:11 AM 1

8. Markizzle21

Posts: 30; Member since: Dec 28, 2011

I say just use the gamepad to type. Like a normal ps product. Avoid the extra bulk still have the capabilities of typing physically. Also I wouldn't be surprised if they make it capable of running nds perfectly. I know it runs ps1 perfect at least when i had it. I wouldn't even mind having this 3g to have quad core capabilities and ultra strong graphics proc.