Sony Ericsson patent reveals plans for sliding touchscreen mobile phone : Tech Digest

What next for touchscreen mobiles? Everyone and their aunt is making one, including Nokia (albeit only next year). However, Sony Ericsson appears to be planning the next step, with a patent for a sliding touchscreen phone.

I say 'seemingly', as there's no direct link to the actual patent, raising a slight concern in the back of my mind that this could be a hoax. Still, the idea is sensible enough, providing a balance between a full touchscreen, and the physical mobile keys that are still better for texting and dialling.

If Sony Ericsson turns this into a slinky Walkman music phone, the physical keypad could give them a good marketing line to try and tempt people away from the touchscreen-only iPhone. At least, I assume that's the idea.

(via Gizmodo)