Microsoft’s product groups are busy crafting their answer(s) to the Apple iPad. But Microsoft Research is working on slate/tablet-related projects of its own, including a way to add physical keys to the backs of these kinds of mobile-computing devices.
Microsoft Research’s RearType project is dedicated to finding a way affix keys to the backs of all kinds of tablets and slates, but in a way that users can reach them by gripping the sides of the devices.
Researchers have taken the two halves of a QWERTY keyboard and rotated the keys in a way that a user’s thumbs remain on the front of the surface and the other keys are placed within reach of the thumbs.
Full story: Microsoft’s RearType: Physical keys to the iPad, Kindle and tablet kingdoms? | ZDNet