Opinion: Physical Keyboards

[someone2639]

I think you're on to something. Let's brainstorm. How about a landscape Type-ish cover with the magnetic latch and all. With the kb closed you have a screen protector like the old Palm Tungstens. Since it's removable, you're not adding any weight or girth to the existing device.

Remember old pocket calculators? Some had flip cases on them. Something like that would be some sort of mini-Yoga.
Wait... I'm gonna email Lenovo...

 

[fatclue_98]

Remember old pocket calculators? Some had flip cases on them. Something like that would be some sort of mini-Yoga.
Wait... I'm gonna email Lenovo...

I'll just collect the royalties, thank you. :evil:

 

[Laura Knotek]

BlackBerry still enjoys a 60% market share in the Enterprise arena. The fact they've opened up BES to iOS and Android shows that they're quite comfortable in this segment and are now monetizing their services.

That's BES, not BlackBerry handsets. BES 12 also supports Windows Phone.

 

[ilabene]

Thanks for the responses! Me, personally, I don't care for weight or bulkiness. I would love a Windows Phone with a pkb. I might mind the reduced screen size, though, but I think a slide-out, landscape pkb would suffice. But then that goes into a deeper conversation about the OS itself. As for enterprise, I just think MS is missing out dearly on this opportunity what with their various Office suites.

 

[tiziano27]

Geez, another misinformed BlackBerry Prophet of Doom. Under Chen's watch BB has gone from $1B in the red to $46MM in the black in less than 2 years. Every company should suffer a horrible death like that.

When I say BlackBerry is dying I refer the hardware unit, that's what we're talking about here. BlackBerry still has a chance to survive selling enterprise software, or maybe the could find a role in the IoT market, but at least two quarters are needed to start to find out.

The profits doesn't say anything about the future and aren't a merit of Chen. BlackBerry had profits in FYQ3 because SAF is an amazing business with margins of 70%-80%, but this business is dying falling at a rate of 13%-15% per quarter as people switch to Android and iOS. They have to give up most of that profit because of the loses that generates the hardware unit.

All that was needed to come back to profitability was to downsize the hardware business, and It was Heins who did that. Heins made the deal with Foxconn to remove the inventory risk, Heins took the big losses to cancel the purchase commitments. The fruits of the Chen's work will only come in FY16 Q2, with the ramp up of BES12 in the enterprise market.

 

[Kevin Rush]

I want a physical qwerty keyboard with properly offset keys, all the keys (using toggle function key), backlet, raised slightly, sliding out from below and tilting at an adjustable angle with the screen just like my HTC TouchPro2 Windows Mobile Phone had, only also add detachable and option of using Bluetooth,, and a larger screen that has a wacom digitizer for precise sketching.

Oh, and don't disable predictive text, or the on screen keyboard with all its features.

Am I asking too much?

 

[Geodude074]

Thanks for the responses! Me, personally, I don't care for weight or bulkiness. I would love a Windows Phone with a pkb. I might mind the reduced screen size, though, but I think a slide-out, landscape pkb would suffice. But then that goes into a deeper conversation about the OS itself. As for enterprise, I just think MS is missing out dearly on this opportunity what with their various Office suites.

Same here. I wouldn't care if my phone was heavier and thicker with a keyboard. Make mine a slide-out QWERTY though, that would actually increase screen size and give a wider, comfier keyboard to text on.

 

[someone2639]

I'll just collect the royalties, thank you. :evil:

Lenovo doesn't seem to have a contact method. I'll contact them about... Wait...

 

[ratsttam]

It sounds like you're all asking for HTC to remake the Arrive. Properly offset keys, number row, shift/function. I absolutely LOVED how the screen slid out, then popped itself at an angle that made typing really quick and easy. It never felt top heavy. It's only major "issue" that I had with it, was that it was a wp7. I upgraded to the 8xt, and keyboard aside, can't really go back to wp7 now.
I would absolutely love to see a 720p 4.5" screen size, dual front speakers (the Arrive LOOKED like it had dual speakers, but didn't), and the same type of slide/angle keyboard.

 

[fatclue_98]

It's only major "issue" that I had with it, was that it was a wp7

I would submit to you that the only major issue it had was that it was on Sprint.

 

[Paul215821]

I would personally love a physical keyboard, a slide out, not one that uses up screen real estate. But I just don't see enough demand to make it worthwhile to design and produce.
I absolutely loved the TouchPro 2. Not just the keyboard, but that you could angle the screen, too. Perfect for watching videos or video calling. And combined with Glance, it would be a perfect alarm clock on your nightstand.

 

[ratsttam]

I would submit to you that the only major issue it had was that it was on Sprint.

Very true. There are many reasons I switched to T-Mobile (and a Lumia 925).

However, the Arrive (also known as the HTC 7 Pro CDMA), is the CDMA sibling of the HTC 7 Pro
HTC 7 Pro - Full phone specifications Which is a GSM device

 

[negative1ne]

It's only major "issue" that I had with it, was that it was a wp7. I upgraded to the 8xt, and keyboard aside, can't really go back to wp7 now.

for me, the attraction is windows phone 7.8, i would never switch up to 8.x, too many things are broken
and not working.

especially the music features, which are the main things i use.

later
-1

 

[skstrials]

As a current BlackBerry Q10 user, I would only use phones with physical QWERTY keyboard. And I feel that many people do not fully understand the full potential of physical keyboard capabilities.

Here are some of my reasonings.

1. Autocorrect will not do ****, for personal names, street addresses, passwords, numbers, and number/letter combos.

In order for any touchscreen autocorrect to work, the word first has to be in the dictionary right? I have to regularly type addresses and other people's names in my phone usage. And this is where the physical keyboard accuracy comes in. Yes, I am aware that I can add words to the dictionary, but there are plenty of times when I have to type in brand new words.

2. Physical keyboard is more than just for typing, it is a shortcut key available for launching apps, making phone calls, and in-app actions.
With BB10, I can assign a contact, or an app for each keyboard key. For instance, I can press "m" from the home screen which can call my mother. Or I can press "b" to launch the browser, "q" for making the phone silent. There are 26 alphabets. That means you can have at least 26 contact, and app shortcut right from the home screen.
Ever had to scroll to the top from the bottom of a lengthy document? I can press "t" to get back to the top, instead of manually scrolling. There are these keyboard shortcut keys assigned for all of core apps from BlackBerry.

For search function on my physical keyboard BlackBerry Q10, I can just start typing what I want from the home screen instead of having to first launch a search app, and then typing which would be the case on all touch screen phones.

With the slider, the keyboard shortcuts "can" still work, but it will be less efficient since you would have to open up the keyboard first to get access.

3. Physical keyboard phones are better for your neck.

With the way autocorrecting works, if you mess up one word, you are going to mess up your entire sentence because autocorrect nowadays takes into account the entire grammer/sentence structure.
So you still have to look down at your phone screen when you type on a touchscreen, even with the autocorrect.
And looking down on the phone for a long period of time is really bad for your neck.
Your smartphone is a pain in the neck - CNN.com

With my phyiscal keyboard BlackBerry Q10, I can type blindedly without looking down on the phone because I can feel the angled surface on the keyboard with my finger tips. Now, I do not get any neck pains even from writing long emails.

I am also a lot more comfortable walking and texting since I can look where I am going, and let my thumbs do the typing.



In order for a WP physical keyboard phone to work, the OS needs to support the keyboard fully, and make use of the keyboard, instead of just "throwing on" a keyboard.

 

[poddie]

I really feel it's the opposite problem... physical keyboard users have a hard time believing touch keyboard work well. I used to be one of them. Took about a day for me to be converted, and that was before WordFlow. At this point I'd never go back to a physical keyboard... MUCH slower.

I agree there are definite advantages to physical keyboards, but I now believe there are far greater advantages to touch keyboards.

 

[ajst222]

I think there would definitely be a market for Windows Phone devices with keyboards ONLY if marketed specifically towards business use, and also if they could maybe be bundled somehow with Microsoft's enterprise software and services.

On a side note, as an ex BlackBerry user, the Classic is really kind of calling me, and I'd definitely be willing to give that a shot. Granted, it runs the same 3 year old chipset that the Z10/Q10 used and also shares the same mediocre camera, but I feel that it's a device that I would really enjoy.

 

[xandros9]

Palm Pre Plus arrived yesterday, I missed that keyboard. I liked the autocorrect, the feel, size, design...
Although this specific unit needs some keys to be hit slightly harder than normal, but hey, they had middling build quality IIRC.

 

[ajst222]

Palm Pre Plus arrived yesterday, I missed that keyboard. I liked the autocorrect, the feel, size, design...
Although this specific unit needs some keys to be hit slightly harder than normal, but hey, they had middling build quality IIRC.

It's a shame that WebOS had no future in phones

 

[pgg101]

I'm pretty efficient on both types of keyboards. What I like the most about a physical keyboard is that my screen size always remains big. My other device is a 5", but really is only half that when I am typing an email since the KB takes half the screen.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android on my BlackBerry Passport

 

[ImBerryCurious]

Windows phone, with its slightly higher developer support, does stand to take something from the BlackBerry business model. Low expectation, low production, big wow-factor. I personally believe that Microsoft should manufacture an upgraded version of the Dell Venue Pro under the Lumia moniker. The DVP had a special quality that, if made thinner and given a bigger and better screen, would attract the eye of those who saw it. No, I don't think that Microsoft could kill BlackBerry with this strategy. Their fanbase is too strong to kill it altogether. I do think that it could move into a coexisting space. I personally believe they should release a slider, a phablet, and a budget phone. Revamp the look and feel of their apps. Replace the Xbox brand with the Zune brand. Develop a subscription video service. Create stronger continuity services with Windows 10 which would allow for remote access like Apple's products. Kill the Skpye brand and rebrand as a windows service. Add IR blaster. Add color and material optimization to hardware cover. These rather Apple and Android characteristics plus BlackBerry's business model could easily make Windows phone a real contender in mobile tech.