i was under the impression you could make a

1)link to the phone app on a desktop

2)simply flip to portrat view to dial

3)i could swear i've seen the dialer in landscape in a screen shot



as far as the keyboard goes, i suppose its "better" that the space is closer to the thumb as its something commonly used, but im not sure about that

i'm heading downtown tomorrow i'll have a go at it as well