Sony patent suggests Xperia Play with dual keyboards, it's slidingly slidable

Okay, so maybe physical keyboards were a bigger deal back in 2010 when this thing was filed, or maybe -- just maybe -- we'll one day see an Xperia Play smartphone with both a gamepad and a full QWERTY counterpart. A patent for such a contraption was just granted to Sony by the USPTO, which stakes its claim for a device with two sliding mechanisms in addition to the display. When the primary sliding mechanism is engaged, the second will come along for the ride -- and for those curious, it seems the default option is the keyboard. Once both are open, the sliding units may be disengaged from one another, so that when one of the units retracts, the other will remain accessible. It all sounds quite feasible, and if the mechanism works well enough, what's a few extra millimeters among friends?

Sony patent suggests Xperia Play with dual keyboards, it's slidingly slidable originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.