RIM own’s a patent for a device which suggests a dual keyboard; alpha in landscape orientation and numeric when the keypad is flipped and in portrait orientation. The drawings don’t clearly show what I’m talking about so you can either take my word for it or try reading the the official patent yourself. Now just because RIM has secured this patent, doesn’t mean they will end up making this device. Companies like RIM secure patents all of the time for future possibilities. Then again if you go back over a year in time, many of us thought we would never see RIM release a slider like the 9800. Hey, you never know. More images after the jump.

[Via: BerryReview, GoRumors]