google japan modernizes rotary phones as Gboard with dials

Rotary phones inspire google japan’s team in 2025 Gboard

Google Japan introduces Gboard Dial Version, a rotary-phone-inspired keyboard with multiple turntable dials. A successor to the 2024 double-sided and twister keyboard, the typing device moves away from pressing keys and instead rotates the dial to choose the keys. The Gboard Dial Edition has a main circular dial with a keyhole for finger placement. The user inserts a finger and rotates the dial to select and input characters.

The dial is divided into three stacked layers, reducing the overall size of the device while still allowing for full character coverage. A single rotation cycle can be faster than pressing across a wide surface of keys, and the layering also allows parallel inputs. Function keys and cursor keys are placed on smaller independent dials around the main dial, so users can operate multiple rotary controls depending on the task. The enter key and number keys are designed as dedicated dials that can be turned separately.

all images courtesy of Google Japan

buzz sound refers to mechanical feedback of the retro devices

Google Japan’s Gboard Dial Edition draws influence from rotary phones, which used circular motion for dialing numbers. The buzzing sound produced during rotation is a deliberate reference to the mechanical feedback of those devices, and the three-layer dial system adapts this influence by compressing a large number of inputs into a smaller physical space. The design also references the 101-key standard keyboard, a format introduced in the 1980s. The release date of October 1 was chosen to connect the 101 layout with the 10/1 calendar date. In this way, the Dial Edition links both the rotary past of communication devices and the standardization of modern typing.

The Gboard team from Google Japan has confirmed that the Dial Edition inspired by rotary phones will not be sold commercially. Instead, it has been released as an open-source blueprint, allowing anyone with the tools and materials to build a version themselves. The files include technical drawings, dial schematics, and assembly steps, and the open-source approach continues the experimental nature of the Gboard project. Each past version has tested new forms of typing, not necessarily as mass-market products but to explore what input devices can become.

Google Japan introduces Gboard Dial Version, a rotary-phone-inspired keyboard