1. GreenKnight's Avatar
    Folks I was just wondering whether virtual keyboard is the future for blackberry? I mean are the short cuts that come with physical
    Keyboard worth the trade off for a smaller screen size? I have used virtual keyboards on both iPhone 4 and windows phone 7 and they both have fantastic accuracy and auto correction. Besides as we now know that the first QNX powered phone will be a touch screen device, I would think a lot of bb users here would switch to the qnx powered bb.

    What do u guys think? Here's to hoping that bb develops a fantastic virtual keyboard for the first QNX phone just like Microsoft did for WP7.
    07-02-11 05:28 PM
  2. araLe-tot's Avatar
    I have only ever successfully used a touch screen on a BB. I went from Storm to Torch. The Torch physical keyboard doesn't work for me and I have nothing else to compare it to BUT typing quickly on my Torch's virtual keyboard reminds of of little foot steps running on a cobbled street.

    Aren't the keyboards part of their brand identity though? I, too, support RIM's future endeavors!
    07-02-11 05:39 PM
  3. GreenKnight's Avatar
    I have only ever successfully used a touch screen on a BB. I went from Storm to Torch. The Torch physical keyboard doesn't work for me and I have nothing else to compare it to BUT typing quickly on my Torch's virtual keyboard reminds of of little foot steps running on a cobbled street.

    Aren't the keyboards part of their brand identity though? I, too, support RIM's future endeavors!
    I agree with your brand identity comment but apparently it's not serving them too well. Even though 9900 is a fantastic device people won't get in line to buy it when it is released. Sadly qwerty phones don't excite a lot of customers anymore. I personally don't mind virtual keyboard as long as it is accurate. From experience i can say that i typed faster on WP7 keybord than on my bold b/c I didn't have to press each key and predictive text would suggest the word half way through. I think I m ready to embrace the future.
    07-02-11 05:51 PM
  4. jebulls's Avatar
    I don't think they will stop with they physical kb. Thats the only thing going for them right now. If it were not for that i think I would have gone to a different platform! But if they want to compete with iOS and android they need a good touchscreen with an app friendly os!
    AbuYazeedUK likes this.
    07-02-11 05:53 PM
  5. daveycrocket's Avatar
    Virtual keyboards can be a nightmare which is my experience with my HTC Hd2 windows phone, I find myself connecting to my pc to send sms. I hope that BB always has the option of a physical keyboard, this is one major reason for me to buy BB for myself, wife and daughter. We also, except my wife, want a touch screen. My wife was recently involved in a serious car accident, had she had a touch screen only she would not have been able to operate it to call for help, with physical keys you can feel where you are on the keyboard and call for help. Just a practical point.
    07-02-11 06:02 PM
  6. sleepngbear's Avatar
    Folks I was just wondering whether virtual keyboard is the future for blackberry? I mean are the short cuts that come with physical
    Keyboard worth the trade off for a smaller screen size? I have used virtual keyboards on both iPhone 4 and windows phone 7 and they both have fantastic accuracy and auto correction. Besides as we now know that the first QNX powered phone will be a touch screen device, I would think a lot of bb users here would switch to the qnx powered bb.

    What do u guys think? Here's to hoping that bb develops a fantastic virtual keyboard for the first QNX phone just like Microsoft did for WP7.
    I'm thinking as long as QNX phones are touch screen only, I won't be switching to QNX. The OS7 phones should get the BB faithful by for another year two.
    07-02-11 06:07 PM
  7. araLe-tot's Avatar
    I agree with your brand identity comment but apparently it's not serving them too well. Even though 9900 is a fantastic device people won't get in line to buy it when it is released. Sadly qwerty phones don't excite a lot of customers anymore. I personally don't mind virtual keyboard as long as it is accurate. From experience i can say that i typed faster on WP7 keybord than on my bold b/c I didn't have to press each key and predictive text would suggest the word half way through. I think I m ready to embrace the future.
    I hope they stick with their current identity. I have recently discovered that the way they do it fits me like a glove. My friends have predictive text set up on their BB's. I don't know what typing on WP7 is like but Google has revealed some sort of slider phone with keys that are spaced quite nicely. I just like the fact of the one-handedness of BB typing coupled with a quick thumb press on the screen to complete the word and then press Enter on the screen since it's so close then back to the trackpad or back button to do something else.

    Creates a mental image of a Monarch butterfly collecting milkweed and then wafting off to the next batch. Elegance my dear Watson.
    07-02-11 06:07 PM
  8. CGI's Avatar
    Blackberry has too good of a keyboard to abandon it... plus they have a loyal fan base who prefer it... myself included.

    But, touch phones will reign supreme for the majority.
    07-02-11 06:14 PM
  9. GreenKnight's Avatar
    Blackberry has too good of a keyboard to abandon it... plus they have a loyal fan base who prefer it... myself included.

    But, touch phones will reign supreme for the majority.
    I agree that they don't have to abandon the form factor(too many people love it). But QNX probably needs a bigger screen to run in it's full glory. Wonder whether they will continue with all the different models for QNX as they do now.
    07-02-11 07:34 PM
  10. anon(1723145)'s Avatar
    Folks I was just wondering whether virtual keyboard is the future for blackberry? I mean are the short cuts that come with physical
    Keyboard worth the trade off for a smaller screen size? I have used virtual keyboards on both iPhone 4 and windows phone 7 and they both have fantastic accuracy and auto correction. Besides as we now know that the first QNX powered phone will be a touch screen device, I would think a lot of bb users here would switch to the qnx powered bb.

    What do u guys think? Here's to hoping that bb develops a fantastic virtual keyboard for the first QNX phone just like Microsoft did for WP7.
    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-02-11 07:53 PM
  11. _StephenBB81's Avatar
    If blackberry lost their keyboards I'd hold onto the newest possible keyboard based blackberry until some other manufacturer made a quality keyboard device,

    I'd also keep my eye on the used market to get a back up or 2, I do not ever see myself wanting a full touchscreen phone, I type far to many emails, and use the short cuts.

    Just like I would never give up my keyboard on my laptop

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    CGI likes this.
    07-02-11 07:58 PM
  12. enb123's Avatar
    Their keyboard is brilliant and they should never ditch it entirely.

    What I wish they had done was issued the Torch to all carriers. It seems like the best of both worlds!

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    kbz1960 likes this.
    07-02-11 08:01 PM
  13. GreenKnight's Avatar
    If blackberry lost their keyboards I'd hold onto the newest possible keyboard based blackberry until some other manufacturer made a quality keyboard device,

    I'd also keep my eye on the used market to get a back up or 2, I do not ever see myself wanting a full touchscreen phone, I type far to many emails, and use the short cuts.

    Just like I would never give up my keyboard on my laptop

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    C'mon....are you saying you wont even consider the new QNX blackberry. RIM is not gonna be very happy
    07-02-11 08:09 PM
  14. Ferretling's Avatar
    I don't like virtual keyboards and I hate predictive text. It's rarely the word I want and by the time I select the word I want I could have typed the damn thing. I'm rather with deRusett on this one. I would deal with a touchscreen device as long as I could use it with the keyboard and trackpad instead. But taking away the keyboard would have me looking for a new brand.
    Charlieo132 and kbz1960 like this.
    07-02-11 08:29 PM
  15. southlander's Avatar
    My guess is the first QNX phone will be all virtual KB and the OS7 devices wiill of course be in the market and have real keyboards. RIM might then play it by ear and push out multiple forms for the QNX phones or just stick with all virtual if the first device is a hit. I personally think at some point we are going to see some Android phones that do physical KB's well like RIM and perhaps spawn a resurgence in demand for that form. Right now they are still all too busy chasing Apple to care. The glass slab is not necessarily the end all be all form.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    keypad likes this.
    07-02-11 08:30 PM
  16. GreenKnight's Avatar
    There is also another advantage. I read somewhere that developers love developing for iOS because there is only one form factor. They don't have to develop the app to be compatible with multiple form factors with different screen sizes and buttons.
    07-02-11 09:10 PM
  17. Ferretling's Avatar
    There is also another advantage. I read somewhere that developers love developing for iOS because there is only one form factor. They don't have to develop the app to be compatible with multiple form factors with different screen sizes and buttons.
    Which is only an advantage if everyone likes that one form factor. Honestly, I hate it.
    07-02-11 09:17 PM
  18. BergerKing's Avatar
    There is also another advantage. I read somewhere that developers love developing for iOS because there is only one form factor. They don't have to develop the app to be compatible with multiple form factors with different screen sizes and buttons.
    Regardless, one size doesn't fit all. There is room for both kinds of keyboards. A total abandonment of a well-engineered physical keyboard would be a crying shame. I hate virtual keyboards on a phone with a thermonuclear passion, because I don't have styli for fingers and I fully intend to retain my humanity. On a tablet, they're ok, mainly because they are larger and easier to work with. But a small screen for typing just doesn't get it done for me.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-02-11 09:19 PM
  19. lssanjose's Avatar
    I'm glad some companies keep keyboards around for other platforms. Right now, I'm dealing with a non functioning section of my screen. I love virtual , but there are drawbacks. This isn't to say physical ones are without their quirks

    Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
    07-02-11 09:22 PM
  20. ADGrant's Avatar
    If RIM abandons the physical keyboard, I will abandon RIM.
    07-02-11 09:30 PM
  21. GreenKnight's Avatar
    This is very interesting. Hope RIM has a qwerty QNX bb in the pipeline. That being said I am definitely open to all touch QNX BB. I just wish something good comes out of the kitchen. I certainly don't wanna leave RIM.
    07-02-11 09:38 PM
  22. GreenKnight's Avatar
    Something interesting I came across..... Patent on virtual keyboard
    Microsoft patents tactile touchscreen - Techworld.com
    07-02-11 09:51 PM
  23. Ferretling's Avatar
    Something interesting I came across..... Patent on virtual keyboard
    Microsoft patents tactile touchscreen - Techworld.com
    I don't want to think about the battery life this would take, or the amount of work it will be for the processor. So not only will it have to mimic the feel of a physical keyboard, but it will have to mimic the movement of one. I am not certain we have the processor capability in phones to have that sort of thing responding to someone who texts constantly and really, really fast. And even if it can, how many texts can you send before the battery keels over? How well would it work with multitasking? And how would it react to accidental touches?

    I don't think it's a terrible idea, but I'm not sure a phone is the best application.
    07-02-11 10:04 PM
  24. BoldtotheMax's Avatar
    Don't care how many blogs come out, or rumors about BB stating no more physical KB's.....RIM will never abandon their awesome querty KB's, not now, not in the future. Far to many people still love that form style, myself inculded....

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-02-11 10:07 PM
  25. berryaddictnoza's Avatar
    As long as I need a work phone, I'll stick with a psychical keyboard, even with the smaller screen. I use my BB keyboard a lot (project data, messaging, notes, ect). it's one of the main reasons I still use a BB. I agree with the other poster about predictive text, I dislike it and don't need to use it with my BB.
    I admit, if I ever retire, I wouldn't need a psychical keyboard phone and would likely get a touchscreen phone. But the way the economy is, looks like I'll be rockin' a BB for a while!
    07-02-11 11:02 PM
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