OPPO patent reveals a keyboard case accessory

Smartphones have become so powerful these days that you can use it for almost everything. You can even use a desktop on it, either through remote access or some Linux-based magic. Smartphones, however, will always be limited not just by the hardware they have inside but also their size. You can, of course, always attach a peripheral like a keyboard but one of OPPO's latest patents means you won't have to carry around a separate one with you. Presuming, of course, you're willing to bulk up your phone with a case.

The size problem of phones is being solved in different ways. Samsung and Huawei have opted for foldable phones with flexible screens while LG and Microsoft are going with dual-screen solutions. OPPO's idea is a bit more conservative and also more limited as it involves putting a keyboard on a folio cover case.

Like the LG Dual Screen case, it can be put on or removed as needed. Unlike that, however, there is no second screen but what is presumably a physical keyboard that can't be used for anything else. The patent reported by LetsGoDigital doesn't detail how the keyboard and the phone are connected but given the slim design of the case itself, it could very well be via Bluetooth only.

This isn't the first time someone attempted to make a semi-permanent keyboard accessory for a phone. From the stillborn Keyboard Moto Mod (that eventually became a phone of its own) to Tech21's Evo Type, there is no shortage of such cases aimed at making phones more suitable for business use.

It may be a curious prospect but few of those cases have really become that popular to warrant mass adoption. Although it's simply a patent, it does show that OPPO may be looking into making its phones more appealing not just to regular consumers and young buyers but also to business users and professionals as well.