Well, this isn't new, but it is the good news/bad news kinda thing for those of us wanting a keyboard.
Qwerty keyboard wins the battle of the input methods – Nokia Conversations : the official Nokia blog
The good news is that Nokia sees it's fan base wanting real keyboards still. Seeing how Nokia is trying to find reasons to get their Symbian and feature phone faithful to get onboard with WP, you can bet that Nokia will come out with some devices. Absolutely be sure.
The bad news is: The U.S. market wants screens. HUGE screens. They want streaming media, games, and videos. They also want thinner devices to keep these huge screened devices more comfortable. That may mean any physical keyboard options will not be seeing the North American market just because the desire isn't there.
The Droid series on Verizon is still a decent seller, but does not fly off the shelf. There are always mid-range Androids on Big Red and on AT&T, but they are always vastly outsold by the all touch-screen competition. Case in point: My daughter has the Samsung Captivate Glide on AT&T, and I cruise the forums on it every once in a while just to see what is being talked about. Problem is, it ISN'T being talked about. No activity, no interest. Not a good sign for qwerty love.
The best hope we have is that the 4.3" side slider Motorola Photon Q on Sprint is a huge success. That may prove to Nokia, Samsung, or HTC that a physical keyboard done well can still sell. What I wouldn't do for a WP 8, portrait slider with a 4.0"-4.2" screen.....