When first talking about the project the question "What will it look like" tends to be at the top of the list. Design concepts are tricky to do in the beginning when you haven't solidified your internal hardware yet. With a rough project goal, some key design criteria, a trusty ruler, a decent CAD package and a phone to measure for comparison; I was able to put together the designs below:

For those of you paying attention; Number '8' is an Iphone 6 - included for comparison

You might be able to tell that I have a soft spot for hardware keyboards. Does anyone else remember the G1 android phone? That had an amazing keyboard, but I digress. The main criteria for the designs were as follows:

• The final design '9' was settled on as the target design; Abandoning the hardware keyboard but allowing more length and a bigger screen made the design much more manageable internally with more space for components. The helical/patch antenna argument will have to be settled at a future date.
  JW