Tired of people making fun of its incredibly functional, yet aesthetically barren devices, RIM last year released the Blackberry Pearl, a stylish candy bar that didn’t sacrifice power—I reviewed it favorably last week.

This week comes news that RIM is seeking a patent for a newfangled rotating keypad. From the looks of it, the rotation would give the pad dual functionality as a phone keypad and a keyboard.

The addition would allow the device to maintain smartphone-like functionality with a significantly reduced size.

What’s next for your Blackberry [Unwired View]