Should KEYone give WP/10M Fans Hope?

[Byrese]

With the launch of the K1 Blackberry has risen from the dead. Yes...i said Blackberry. Now don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting that BB will surpass iphones or Galaxy's in terms of sale volumes. All I mean is that they've managed to produce a phone that is being received VERY well by enterprise and consumers alike (due to its excellent hardware and software).

For yrs BB fans, like us WP fans, we're hoping against hope for a rebirth of their beloved brand. In fact, I would dare say that BB fans are as loyal, fierce, and yes sometimes defensive of their brand as us. And guess what? All their patience paid off. The rebirth of BB is well underway.

So should this give us hope? Can MS rebirth our dying brand and make a phone thats well received by almost everyone (like the K1)?

 

[ochhanz]

The old keys have a rounded quality, they stick up, have separation between the keys, and have buttons for special characters and punctuation. It's very tactic and provides easy access to every symbol you want to put in. Mainly it's the separation of the keys.

The layout of the new BBs keyboard seems to be more of an afterthought. Not particularly tacticle or ergonomic. They do have a raised style, but I've heard reviews complain about the keyboard experience.

Here's the q5s keyboard

, that makes sense. Seems like they tried to save some space with the keyone's keyboard for the 4.5 inch screen and perhaps it also because of design reasons (/more flat design). So the result is that it loses on screen size compared to modern smartphones and on the keyboard compared to older bb phones. Might as well do a Priv design than where you only lose a bit on the keyboard.

 

[Drael646464]

, that makes sense. Seems like they tried to save some space with the keyone's keyboard for the 4.5 inch screen and perhaps it also because of design reasons (/more flat design). So the result is that it loses on screen size compared to modern smartphones and on the keyboard compared to older bb phones. Might as well do a Priv design than where you only lose a bit on the keyboard.

Could be very slightly wider. Slider of some sort kinda also makes sense. I love a good keyboard and would give up screen space for it - but it's gotta be a good keyboard. That tactile typing experience is always going to be better no matter what people say. But yeah, these just don't quite do it for me.

If they for example got rid of the permenantly on screen navigation buttons and replaced that with a gesture to bring it up, that would help the screen situation a lot. And camera doesn't have to be mind blowing but it needs to be competent.

I mean the capacitive system is cool and all, and it's helped create hype for BB (along with the shortcuts), but its also expensive to make, and drives the price point of the devices higher. Now the keyone is here and selling I'd do a slider with just normal keys, a decent camera aiming for a more consumer price point. The fact that BB's software keyboard is also great should make that easier.

I wouldn't call it the priv though. That name SUCKS.

 

[ochhanz]

If they for example got rid of the permenantly on screen navigation buttons and replaced that with a gesture to bring it up, that would help the screen situation a lot. And camera doesn't have to be mind blowing but it needs to be competent.

, strange that this is not possible on Android, I can do it on my Lumia xD (wel not permanently but easy to do hide with a swipe).

Perhaps later when they feel they have finalized the keyone's design they will experiment with more designs/variations.
Also definitely agree with the camera, for me personally (and probably for many others) it is a major feature of a smartphone (which is why I am still really happy with my lumia 950).