You might think that RIM’s future is represented by lots of touchscreen BlackBerries after the company has launched the Storm. We beg to differ. Sure the touchscreen Berry is a great thing but more people will miss the actual QWERTY keyboard they’ve grown to love.
Is that the reason RIM filed a patent for a new keypad?

The new keypad is weird to say the least. We don’t need a Transformers BlackBerry right? The phone is definitely slimmer which means some of that keyboard has to sit under the display. The regular keypad is displayed at all times unless you need to message or email someone. Then the keys on the side panels fold and reveal the rest of the full QWERTY or SureType keypad. When will we be able to try one of those? You know, just to see if they break or not!

via cellpassion