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I think the ideal phone/tablet keyboard would be a "transparent" system based on holding the back of the screen (edit: no real estate lost and great ergonomics).

Microsoft patented the idea a while back and among other sucky things about patents, they may simply not implementing it at all.

http://www.patentbolt.com/2012/05/microsoft-invents-portable...

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Interesting! This reminds me of the new Playstation Vita's rear touch sensor. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction of preserving screen estate for what its primary function should be.

Pro-tip: that's not a patent. It's a patent application.

But because that stupid site doesn't tell you the publication number, it's impossible to know (without doing some searching) what's happened in the meantime. Maybe it's issued as a patent, maybe it's still pending, maybe it's been abandoned. Also, no mention of the claims? Amateur hour.

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