Just found this design and I think it’s totally awesome. The new super-small switch PG1316M is used to fit 3 rows into such a constrained space.
Wonder if you could even get away with 4 rows of this, especially to somewhat compensate for the lack of thumb keys? I’d personally be interested to try 4 rows even for a more conventional tabletop keyboard.
EDIT: I have accidentally erased the main URL when I tried to upload a picture. Apologies. (Didn’t know Lemmy works this way). Here’s the main URL for this thing: https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMobileComputers/comments/1npnj85/btyp_a_mini_pg1316m_switch_keyboard_for_use_on_a/
It is true, unless it’s contractes with stated parameters, like for military use, that you can encounter in laptops. There are a lot of rugged chinese phones on the market with pretty good battery life and strong casing, I enjoyed a couple of these, and I’m displeased major brands don’t do them. Having that body with their r&d and long-going updates could be a killer.