Google has released a retro phone-style Gboard keyboard

The Japanese team at Google has surprised everyone again by unveiling an unusual keyboard. The company showed off a new version of its Gboard keyboard, this time with a disk-based typing system.

In place of standard keys, the keyboard uses rotating disks: the user places his finger in the hole and rotates the disk until he finds the desired letter. According to the developers, this approach eliminates accidental presses, and the input is accompanied by a characteristic click and a “return” time, which, as Google ironically notes, helps the user think about the next letter.

The design doesn’t stop at a single disk: Engineers have developed a three-tiered system that makes typing faster and reduces the size of the device.