Keypad assembly with a contoured keypad facade for a mobile computing device

1. A mobile computing device comprising:

a housing including a cavity on a front surface of the housing to retain a flexible keypad assembly;

wherein the flexible keypad assembly includes a keypad façade formed of a flexible material on which a plurality of keys are integrally formed, the keypad façade configured to flex when each key in the plurality of keys is pressed;

wherein the keypad façade includes a lip that curves inwardly towards the plurality of keys, the lip fully circumscribing the plurality of keys and being contoured to adjoin and be flush with a perimeter of the cavity on the front surface of the housing; and

wherein the keypad assembly further includes a flexible electrical contact layer coupled to a bottom surface of the keypad façade, the electrical contact layer configured to receive key inputs from the plurality of keys and correspondingly connect the key inputs to processing resources of the mobile computing device.

2. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the keypad assembly includes an adhesive layer positioned underneath the keypad façade.

3. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the keypad assembly includes an illumination layer to provide light to a plurality of characters on the plurality of keys.

4. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the flexible electrical contact layer is a printed circuit board for providing connections to the processing resources of the mobile computing device.

5. The mobile computing device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of keys provide a QWERTY type keyboard.

6. The mobile computing device of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of keys also provides a number pad.

7. A mobile computing device comprising:

a first housing segment and a second housing segment, wherein the first housing segment is slideably coupled to the second housing segment;

wherein the second housing segment includes a cavity on a front surface of the second housing segment to retain a flexible keypad assembly;

wherein the keypad assembly includes a keypad façade formed of a flexible material on which a plurality of keys are integrally formed, the keypad façade configured to flex when each key in the plurality of keys is pressed;

wherein the keypad façade includes a lip that curves inwardly towards the plurality of keys, the lip fully circumscribing the plurality of keys and being contoured to adjoin and be flush with a perimeter of the cavity on the front surface of the second housing segment; and

wherein the keypad assembly further includes a flexible electrical contact layer coupled to a bottom surface of the keypad façade, the electrical contact layer configured to receive key inputs from the plurality of keys and correspondingly connect the key inputs to processing resources of the mobile computing device.

8. The mobile computing device of claim 7 , wherein the keypad assembly includes an adhesive layer positioned underneath the keypad façade.

9. The mobile computing device of claim 7 , wherein the keypad assembly includes an illumination layer to provide light to a plurality of characters on the plurality of keys.

10. The mobile computing device of claim 7 , wherein the electrical contact layer is a printed circuit board for providing connections to the processing resources of the mobile computing device.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of keys provides a QWERTY type keyboard.

12. The mobile computing device of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of keys also provides a number pad.

13. The mobile computing device of claim 7 , wherein the first housing segment and the second housing segment are slideably coupled to move between an extended position and a contracted position, so that the keypad assembly is not visible when the first housing segment and the second housing segment are in the contracted position.

14. The mobile computing device of claim 8 , further comprising a display assembly provided with the first housing segment.

15. The mobile computing device of claim 8 , further comprising one or more flex cables for interconnecting electrical components of the first housing segment and electrical components of the second housing segment.

16. A flexible keypad assembly for a mobile computing device, the mobile computing device including a housing with a front surface, the housing including a cavity on the front surface to retain the flexible keypad assembly, the flexible keypad assembly comprising:

a keypad façade formed of a flexible material on which a plurality of keys are integrally formed, the keypad façade configured to flex when each key in the plurality of keys is pressed;

wherein the keypad façade includes a lip that curves inwardly towards the plurality of keys, the lip fully circumscribing the plurality of keys and being contoured to adjoin and be flush with a perimeter of the cavity on the front surface of the housing; and

wherein the keypad assembly further includes a flexible electrical contact layer coupled to a bottom surface of the keypad façade, the electrical contact layer configured to receive key inputs from the plurality of keys and correspondingly connect the key inputs to processing resources of the mobile computing device.

17. The flexible keypad assembly of claim 16 , wherein the flexible keypad assembly is modular.

18. The flexible keypad assembly of claim 16 , wherein the flexible electrical contact layer includes electrical interconnect elements to operatively connect the flexible keypad assembly to the processing resources of the mobile computing device.