If the 9930/9900 was all touch running QNX...how much would public perception of RIM change..RIM's only problem has been their OS and having said that OS7 isn't bad at all. I believe it to be a very good stop gap on the way to QNX. However once QNX hits the streets things will change...at least I hope so.
I think the reason the new Storm (Torch) wasn't a top tier phone is because they are waiting for the QNX touch screen to be on the same level as the 9900. That's just a guess though.
Isn't the original poster talking more about an all-touch taking design cues from the 9900 over the 9860 rather than proposing they dump keyboards?
As far as the 9860, I personally wouldn't want to swap one for my 9900, but the comments that Kevin has made about how well things like how it fits your hand is very true and sadly is not something that they get enough credit for compared with some other all-touch models where looks take precedence over ergonomics.
One of the reason people still buy Blackberry is because of its fabulous keyboard. If you take away the keyboard, I don't see why a lot of people would still buy one.
I used the 9860 and the 9900 on Monday before I made a decision. Both are very nice devices. The Torch is very balanced and ergonomic and the keyboard is a vast improvement over the virtual keyboard on the original Torch.
However after getting that Bold in my hand the decision was so easy. Before this my favorite phone ever was my Bold 9000. This was just a natural progression.
Besides as far as screen size goes, I've got my PlayBook for websurfing. So now I have the Cadillac of smartphones with a stellar keyboard and an awesome tablet to boot. I just hope the QNX phones retain a physical keyboard. Its one of the things I love about BlackBerry.
