Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

Which one of these form factors do you guys like better for a tablet?
Based on functionality 1st, appearance 2nd.
Keep in mind that they (Nokia) can make it look prettier than this black and white drawing.

Assume all have the same processor, the same ram, the same ROM, the same virtual memory, the same connectivity, the same OS (maemo 5 or 6), accept the same size and class of cards, and all are resistive screens.

Pick a first and a second pick.



For example

1) figure 1
Make comments here if you want such as, keep the keys spaced far apart.

2) figure 7a
Where does the stylus go?




Then if you want to say which one you would choose as a phone go ahead.

These images were pulled off of the uspto.gov website patent applications database and converted to jpg and uploaded to photobucket. There are 630 patent applications with the assigne name Nokia with the word device in the title. I only went through a couples pages of them.
patent apps 20090137279 and 20090059491

I'm curious what the majority of us would all pick and our reasons why.

I've seen many differing opinions on keyboards, memory cards, screen sizes, key placement, etc.. and since a lot of the users here would be considered "power users" (using the tablet to its fullest capability) I think this vote would be interesting.



Here they are
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http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...owkeyboard.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...r/figure3a.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...r/figure6a.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...r/figure7a.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...r/figure8a.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...r/figure9a.jpg

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The originals are located at (this is a search link)

http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...LD2=TTL&d=PG01

from the patent apps search
http://appft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

1st pick: Figure 1 (N800 FF w/ one row of keys)
To maximize the text entry experience, I'd impliment a hardware and software solution to be able to do the following - keys are pivotable (like a d-pad) and know if you pressed the center, right, left, top or bottom - with each "position" assigned a character/value. For the software side, I'd implement a version of the text entry software for the BB Pearl, that predicts what word your looking for (but better & more easily able to put in non-standard/dictionary words)

2nd pick: Figure 9 (phone shape with fold behind keyboards)
This looks like a very compact FF (good), but it also looks like it could be very thick (bad)

My 2 cents

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

1) Fig 9: all the keys you could ask for.

2) Fig 6: auto-rotating the screen based on folding direction, not accelerometers. Just wish there were a way to fold it closed with the screen out, though.

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

What if there is another screen underneath. Doesn't the Arm 9 have support for two touch screens?

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

This is a hard choice!! .....Ok

1) 6a
Because you have the most amount of keys available at all times but I'd want those hinges to be solid! solid! They'd have to be made out of liquid metal and brag about it in the owners manual.
http://www.liquidmetal.com/
Samsung is using it, why not Nokia?
And I'd want that screen in portrait mode locked down nice and good and solid with some kind of cushion on the hinge (springs and maybe magnets too) when I flip it over in that portrait mode. I don't want to feel like it is going to fall apart which is what the picture kind of makes it look like (screen is too thick). Maybe make the whole screen housing and hinge out of liquid metal then you're never gonna break it unless you take a blow torch to it.

2) 8a
Because WTF are those swivel plates??? Those could be all kinds of things!
They could be solar panels from nanosolar.com
The right one could be a handwriting/mouse pad so you could just sit there and make your way around the whole OS using the right pad if you are right handed and then the left pad could be for finger print recognition or inductive charging (drop the inductive charger onto it) or their ambient EM harvesting or it can be an additional antennae for wimax or LTE. Possibilities hmmmmm.

If they could take figure 1, remove one of the keys, space it out a little more, implement what previous poster said about dpad like function on those keys and add a little slide out underneath optical horizontal mouse like they have on the current E72 but about 2 inches long with a few more functional keys filling in the rest of the space on the left of the slide out i.e., you would have on the left (going left to right) function,control,shift,space,delete,backspace,ente r,shift, optical mouse.
That would be a total f'n rewrite of a keyboard. Noone would see that coming.

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

first pick would be 7. almost ideal.

second choice: 9. i'm not shure about the alpha-layout, though. seems to be in alphabetical order... they'd need to change that before i start typing on that one. ;)

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

The "abc" just means it is for letters. You are not supposed to take that literal. It will of course be a qwerty. These are patent images, they are drawn to get across the general idea not to get totally 100% representative of the real device because it is already well known that keyboards are layed out in a qwerty fashion unless otherwise stated.

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

1) Figure 7
Because I like to enter text on mine and I don't want it to break apart 2" after unboxing.

2) None of the above.

Don't need/want it to be a phone :-)

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

I really like #7 as well. I think that would be ideal for a handheld computer / communicator.

I have no idea what #6 is supposed to be. What's that thing in the middle with the cutout hole for? It has buttons on one side. But why would you want to unfold the screen from the buttons? I don't get it.

EDIT: And #8 is almost as weird. Just what are those swingy panels used for?

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

You can open the screen only, keeping that panel down (screen is then portrait), or the screen with that middle panel (landscape). It really wants an e-ink keyboard, of course, since otherwise the keys will be sideways in one mode...

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

Flight mode.

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

FIG 6A or 8A

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

4th by a long way.

Re: Which one of these form factors do you like best? Vote
 

Hmmm, None of them really, as they all seem to be trying too hard.

Current N8x0 form factor is pretty good. Although I would like to see a form factor and keyboard similar to the classic Psion 5. Given all the various sizes and form factors from 7" up, I am surprised noone has tried it, although Psion probably has lots of patents etc still covering the design.