1. slagman5's Avatar
    So, while I'm glad they are finally showing off their phones' features instead of making ads of people moving from one side of the screen to the other, I think they kind of forgot a certain aspect of their point about spreadsheets. Let me ask you guys, do you type text or numbers more in spreadsheets? I don't know about you, but when I use spreadsheets, most of what I'm inputting are numbers, and when I'm setting them up, I use a lot of symbols for equations... So basically, this is what BB is advertising:
    BB advertises the Passport more efficient than competition in using spreadsheets...-blackberry-passport-spreadsheet-productivity.jpg

    But this is more like how it'll actually look thanks to them removing the alt key and the symbols from the keyboard:
    BB advertises the Passport more efficient than competition in using spreadsheets...-passport-spreadsheet-01.jpg

    Edit: I redid the photo with the virtual keyboards from the other phones, before I was too lazy to do all three, but it was easy to visualize in your mind where they would be. But just wanted to state this so some of the comments about the other virtual keyboards won't seem out of context. And as you can see, when the Passport's virtual keyboard is up, there's really not much difference between them... Except the other two phones will have one keyboard taking up room on the phone while the Passport will have two... I'm pretty sure if they made any waves with this ad, the competition will come up with this as well. I can't be the only one who thought of this... And to be clear, I'm not at all saying that the way the Passport is doing it is just totally bad, it's still good because it's very wide and you can view a lot of columns at a time, which while editing a spreadsheet and looking at other values, often times you're looking at values to the left or right of the cell you're editing, so the wideness definitely is more important often times. But still, my point is this, wouldn't this be so much better?:
    BB advertises the Passport more efficient than competition in using spreadsheets...-passport-spreadsheet-02.jpg

    That's all I'm arguing, that it could potentially be that much more of an improvement, both while viewing, AND while editing. The way it is now, it's only a big improvement over the competition while viewing. Once you need to edit, it becomes pretty close...

    And just in case any of you guys are wondering, I've made a comparison of how much bigger the phone will be with the full keyboard, it's not at all much of a difference:
    BB advertises the Passport more efficient than competition in using spreadsheets...-passport-kb-comparison.jpg
    Now imagine that, WITH all of the same added capacitive touch features they are advertising for the Passport... I've replaced the "sym" key with a dedicated period button because with the gesture controls on the keyboard, you can simply swipe down to bring up the menu with the lesser used symbols on it, like what the sym key used to do. While the more commonly used symbols and numbers are printed right there on the keyboard. Please tell me I'm not crazy in thinking that this would have made for a perfect combination of new innovation in the keyboard (capacitive touch gestures) and the practicality of the old keyboard, and the difference in size is so small, I doubt anyone would notice...

    Oh well, yes, I'm not praising every single decision BB has made, I'm such a troll and crybaby, etc. etc.
    Attached Thumbnails BB advertises the Passport more efficient than competition in using spreadsheets...-passport-spreadsheet.jpg  
    Last edited by slagman5; 07-08-14 at 02:08 PM.
    07-08-14 03:31 AM
  2. II ARROWS's Avatar
    You know how they will answer to you... They won't change, they won't start reading now.
    07-08-14 03:42 AM
  3. snapexp's Avatar
    Exactly. Hate them removing the alt key and the symbols&numbers.
    07-08-14 04:02 AM
  4. domolsz's Avatar
    All fair points, but I rarely input numbers into spreadsheet on the phone, I mosty use it for reviewing spreadsheet, in which case Passport's screen will still be huge advantage over competition.

    Interesting comparison of the keyboards... I wonder how would it look like if they keep the new keyboard layout but print numbers and commonly used special characters on it, allowing direct input from the physical keys.


    Posted via CB10
    Blacklatino likes this.
    07-08-14 04:25 AM
  5. snejpa's Avatar
    Sorry OP, but that's quite a stupid bashing. From all what we know, there will be only one row of numbers if you want to fill your spreadsheet. Welcome the Classic if you allready know that the keyboard has to stay the same for you, or wait and let's see how the new design performs.
    drjames05 and Spawn12 like this.
    07-08-14 04:37 AM
  6. 018125's Avatar
    OP makes a very good point.

    Posted via CB10
    07-08-14 05:32 AM
  7. dvarnai's Avatar
    ok so they made pictures of zoomed in spread****s on the competitors' phones. wut?
    snapexp and MarsupilamiX like this.
    07-08-14 06:08 AM
  8. 018125's Avatar
    ok so they made pictures of zoomed in spread****s on the competitors' phones. wut?
    You didn't read the OP, did you?

    Posted via CB10
    M_Portiss likes this.
    07-08-14 06:09 AM
  9. 018125's Avatar
    I guess BlackBerry also forgot to mention that Microsoft Office isn't compatible with BlackBerry, and Docs to Go is a vastly inferior experience versus Office on Android/iOS.

    Posted via CB10
    early2bed, co4nd, FF22 and 6 others like this.
    07-08-14 06:11 AM
  10. II ARROWS's Avatar
    ok so they made pictures of zoomed in spread****s on the competitors' phones. wut?
    It's sheet, not s h i t.
    07-08-14 06:36 AM
  11. matt0135's Avatar
    I think the op has a valid claim but I would argue that there still is a difference between the passport and the other phones in the picture. The fact that the passport is wider suggests that it will be able to view more data width wise. This is valuable for spreadsheets as they can get pretty wide (as well as long).

    With that being said I'd rather be able to see more width and scroll down for length then having to scroll down for length and scroll sideways for more width. I'm sure with even wider spreadsheets you would still have this scroll sideways with the passport but it would be less so than with the competitors.

    Posted via CB10
    ronfc likes this.
    07-08-14 06:37 AM
  12. serbanescu's Avatar
    I think the op has a valid claim but I would argue that there still is a difference between the passport and the other phones in the picture. The fact that the passport is wider suggests that it will be able to view more data width wise. This is valuable for spreadsheets as they can get pretty wide (as well as long).

    With that being said I'd rather be able to see more width and scroll down for length then having to scroll down for length and scroll sideways for more width. I'm sure with even wider spreadsheets you would still have this scroll sideways with the passport but it would be less so than with the competitors.

    Posted via CB10
    If width is a priority, the competition would have the advantage - just put a "classic" phone (aka an iPhone or a Galaxy) in landscape mode and it will show more columns than the Passport.

    What Passport may bring to the table is a better overview of the spreadsheet - the total information available at a glance seems to be superior to the one presented by the classic form factor offered by the likes of Apple and Samsung.
    07-08-14 06:45 AM
  13. walt63's Avatar
    I guess BlackBerry also forgot to mention that Microsoft Office isn't compatible with BlackBerry, and Docs to Go is a vastly inferior experience versus Office on Android/iOS.

    Posted via CB10
    I think you meant to say that Microsoft Office doesn't have an app for BlackBerry. What you said can be read entirely different. I open Office files from OneDrive on my Z10 all the time without any issues. DTG is pretty good considering that it's built-in to the BB10 software. Better than the stock document app for iPhone.



    Posted via CB10
    Shadowyugi and Flatman like this.
    07-08-14 07:29 AM
  14. endevour's Avatar
    With the special key keyboard showing, you still have like 1440 * 700 px left for content. (more than a whole Z10/Z30,...)
    Not bad at all! Things might be changing or have already been addressed. All we saw until now are
    pre-preproduction units, dev os'es and stuff made, so developers can do their work.
    Just saying...
    THBW likes this.
    07-08-14 07:35 AM
  15. II ARROWS's Avatar
    With the special key keyboard showing, you still have like 1440 * 700 px left for content. (more than a whole Z10/Z30,...)
    Not bad at all! Things might be changing or have already been addressed. All we saw until now are
    pre-preproduction units, dev os'es and stuff made, so developers can do their work.
    Just saying...
    But less then a Galaxy Note...
    07-08-14 07:37 AM
  16. 018125's Avatar
    I think you meant to say that Microsoft Office doesn't have an app for BlackBerry. What you said can be read entirely different. I open Office files from OneDrive on my Z10 all the time without any issues. DTG is pretty good considering that it's built-in to the BB10 software. Better than the stock document app for iPhone.



    Posted via CB10
    No, I meant exactly what I said. Thanks.

    This thread is about BlackBerry advertising a better Spreadsheet experience versus the competition.

    Posted via CB10
    anon(4044683) likes this.
    07-08-14 07:45 AM
  17. Q10Bold's Avatar
    So, while I'm glad they are finally showing off their phones' features instead of making ads of people moving from one side of the screen to the other, I think they kind of forgot a certain aspect of their point about spreadsheets. Let me ask you guys, do you type text or numbers more in spreadsheets? I don't know about you, but when I use spreadsheets, most of what I'm inputting are numbers, and when I'm setting them up, I use a lot of symbols for equations... So basically, this is what BB is advertising:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	blackberry-passport-spreadsheet-productivity.jpg 
Views:	3287 
Size:	90.3 KB 
ID:	283766

    But this is more like how it'll actually look thanks to them removing the alt key and the symbols from the keyboard:
    BB advertises the Passport more efficient than competition in using spreadsheets...-passport-spreadsheet.jpg

    Now yes, before you say anything, the other phones will need their virtual keyboards too in order to input text. You are 100% right, blame this on me being too lazy to overlay those virtual keyboards as well, lol. But just using your imagination, you can see where their virtual keyboards would end up, and honestly, there's really not much difference between them... Except the other two phones will have one keyboard taking up room on the phone while the Passport will have two... I'm pretty sure if they made any waves with this ad, the competition will come up with this as well. I can't be the only one who thought of this...

    And just in case any of you guys are wondering, I've made a comparison of how the phone would have looked had they included a full keyboard on it, it's not at all much of a difference:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	passport-kb-comparison.jpg 
Views:	2686 
Size:	159.7 KB 
ID:	283769
    Now imagine that, WITH all of the same added capacitive touch features they are advertising for the Passport... I've replaced the "sym" key with a dedicated period button because with the gesture controls on the keyboard, you can simply swipe down to bring up the menu with the lesser used symbols on it, like what the sym key used to do. While the more commonly used symbols and numbers are printed right there on the keyboard. Please tell me I'm not crazy in thinking that this would have made for a perfect combination of new innovation in the keyboard (capacitive touch gestures) and the practicality of the old keyboard, and the difference in size is so small, I doubt anyone would notice...

    Oh well, yes, I'm not praising every single decision BB has made, I'm such a troll and crybaby, etc. etc.
    You are right! Thats why Im gonna pass the passport!
    07-08-14 07:50 AM
  18. skibnik's Avatar
    If width is a priority, the competition would have the advantage - just put a "classic" phone (aka an iPhone or a Galaxy) in landscape mode and it will show more columns than the Passport.

    What Passport may bring to the table is a better overview of the spreadsheet - the total information available at a glance seems to be superior to the one presented by the classic form factor offered by the likes of Apple and Samsung.
    You may have a wider view in landscape mode but when the virtual keyboard is being used all that extra room is gone.



    Z30 and loving it!
    07-08-14 08:28 AM
  19. serbanescu's Avatar
    You may have a wider view in landscape mode but when the virtual keyboard is being used all that extra room is gone.



    Z30 and loving it!
    Unfortunately, the same goes for the Passport.
    07-08-14 08:34 AM
  20. ronfc's Avatar
    It would be fair if the OP also added the virtual keyboard on the iPhone and the Galaxy device. Then, we will see..

    Cave, cave, moderator videt
    dracolnyte and Elite1 like this.
    07-08-14 08:35 AM
  21. iBelieveInBB's Avatar
    I don't know about you, but when I use spreadsheets, most of what I'm inputting are numbers, and when I'm setting them up, I use a lot of symbols for equations... So basically, this is what BB is advertising:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	blackberry-passport-spreadsheet-productivity.jpg 
Views:	3287 
Size:	90.3 KB 
ID:	283766

    But this is more like how it'll actually look thanks to them removing the alt key and the symbols from the keyboard:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	passport-spreadsheet.jpg 
Views:	3278 
Size:	96.6 KB 
ID:	283768
    I am not sure that is EXACTLY how it is going to look. I agree that it will take up extra space on the screen and that I think it could have been done much better but the virtual keyboard will only display characters that you need for the particular function you are performing. So, there likely will only be one row of numbers with the symbols you need for equations and it will probably not be taking up THAT much room. That being said, I still think its stupid but there is no real way to know until we have actually used it.
    07-08-14 08:40 AM
  22. bobshine's Avatar
    Well I guess the virtual keyboard won't be there when you view the spreadsheet right? Cause that's what I hate the most about rectangular phones.... you don't see much even with the keyboard gone.

    I don't really care what it shows while I am typing... I am typing in a minuscule rectangle. actually if they blow that rectangle larger, it would be great !

    Posted via CB10
    tmf06 likes this.
    07-08-14 08:44 AM
  23. endevour's Avatar
    Hm why not put a Q10 next to it. I think that might be a good one to compare to in terms of space and screen real estate on a rectangular screen.
    After all you will see how it works for you once you've tried it yourself .
    07-08-14 08:49 AM
  24. II ARROWS's Avatar
    It would be fair if the OP also added the virtual keyboard on the iPhone and the Galaxy device. Then, we will see..
    Then we will see what? That is comparing a phablet with two phones?
    Compare that with the Galaxy Note, not the Galaxy S4.
    Then you can add the virtual keyboard on the Galaxy Note. You'll see that the screen is bigger, even with keyboard enabled.
    07-08-14 09:02 AM
  25. II ARROWS's Avatar
    I don't really care what it shows while I am typing... I am typing in a minuscule rectangle. actually if they blow that rectangle larger, it would be great !
    You may need to see other values while typing.
    07-08-14 09:03 AM
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