[irrational]

Was there any research into what keyboard would be the ideal phone layout (presumably something entirely new)?

[LeoPanthera]

Back in the Days of Yore we had something called "Fitaly", which was supposed to be optimized for pen typing: https://textware.com/fitaly/fitaly.htm

[mjcohen]

I loved Fitaly and the associated ecosystem. Palm, Handspring, the usable stylus on a 160x160 screen...

[com2kid]

Few years ago someone posted a link on HN of a keyboard that was designed for optimum swiping, fewest overlaps and what not.

It faced the same problem as all new keyboard designs, getting people to use it.

If you are on Android, you can find plenty of research project keyboards that are indeed more efficient to use, after you get over the learning curve.