When Microsoft Surface was announced it was praised by many for it’s innovative kickstand and keyboard. The idea of having a built-in kickstand had never been done right before, and having a keyboard as a flip-cover was genius. Turns out Microsoft wasn’t the first one to have these ideas, just the first one to actually create them.
An old design patent application from Nokia has been revealed, and as you can see it looks reminiscent of Surface. The device has a built in kickstand/keyboard that doubles as a flip cover. Unlike the Surface, in this design the kickstand and keyboard work together. It looks like Nokia’s design would be much easier for lap typing. These plans were filed months before Surface launched, but we know that Microsoft was working on Surface for a long time. Nokia has been said to be working on a tablet for a long time now. The latest rumors suggest that they have ditched plans for a Windows RT tablet in favor of Windows 8. That’s probably a good decision since RT devices haven’t been selling very well.
What do you think of Nokia’s design? Would you buy a Windows 8 tablet that looks like this?
[via The Verge]
