It seems that the majority of folks who are anti trackpad here own Z devices. Why do you care ? Your dismay should be aimed the failure of BlackBerry to make Q without a screen large enough to render the trackpad redundant. Simply put, without more legacy conversions and continued BBOS sales in some markets BlackBerry may fold as a phone maker.
Exactly, 3/4 of replies are coming from Z10/30 users
I'm on Q10, and really dont want any trackpad nor action buttons to eat my real estate
Originally Posted by madcat72
This is a nice addon in the latest OS, but try doing this on handed.
you still needed to hold shift with the trackpad on BB legacy devices!!
Just because the BELT is coming back (or some facsimile) does not mean that it will clash with the gestures. Let's analyze further:
Call/End call buttons: Speak for themselves and each serve one purpose. Verdict: No clash with the gesture based OS.
Blackberry button: Can be used exactly like it is today in OS7. If you are in the browser and the cursor is on a link, pressing this button will bring up a list of relevant options, like "open link in new tab". Alternatively you can still use the touch screen to do this. Verdict: No clash with the gestures of the OS.
Back button: Will not do anything on any of the home screens (active frame screen, grid icon screen, hub). This button will only take the user back when they are an an app. Ex. in the broswer, hitting this buttin will take you back to the previous page. Verdict: No clash with the gestures of the OS.
Track pad: Can be used to select text and move around to different pages of the app grid. Verdict: No clash with the gestures of the OS.
With the above said, I don't get all the angst. If you don't want t use the belt and prefer the gestures, then no one is stopping you. Just like the Bold 9900. You can either use the touch screen or track pad to move around.
This is the way I look at it: on the Legacy devices the main issue with them was the OS. They fixed that issue with BB10. The track pad however was fine. Yes it may have broken down from time to time, but look at iPhone or Android; their physical buttons will break down as well. The way I see it, put it on the keyboard phones, or just one keyboard phone. That way, if you want it you can have it, and if you don?t want it, don't buy that phone. Either way you still get the same great OS, but with a familiar touch that will definitely come in handy. As everyone else has already said, it's not needed on BB10. While I agree, there are times when I myself would love to have a track pad (usually just for text selection). Odds are, if they put out a phone with a track pad, the track pad would be rarely used, simply because of the design of the OS. But for those who miss it, it would be nice to have on that rare occasion when it would come in handy.
Just because the BELT is coming back (or some facsimile) does not mean that it will clash with the gestures. Let's analyze further:
Call/End call buttons: Speak for themselves and each serve one purpose. Verdict: No clash with the gesture based OS.
Blackberry button: Can be used exactly like it is today in OS7. If you are in the browser and the cursor is on a link, pressing this button will bring up a list of relevant options, like "open link in new tab". Alternatively you can still use the touch screen to do this. Verdict: No clash with the gestures of the OS.
Back button: Will not do anything on any of the home screens (active frame screen, grid icon screen, hub). This button will only take the user back when they are an an app. Ex. in the broswer, hitting this buttin will take you back to the previous page. Verdict: No clash with the gestures of the OS.
Track pad: Can be used to select text and move around to different pages of the app grid. Verdict: No clash with the gestures of the OS.
With the above said, I don't get all the angst. If you don't want t use the belt and prefer the gestures, then no one is stopping you. Just like the Bold 9900. You can either use the touch screen or track pad to move around.
Perhaps not everybody will use the trackpad but I'm damn sure everybody will use the call and end call buttons once they have them.
Given the added device complexity and cost, one can only assume that they've run the numbers and done the focus groups and come to the conclusion that the upside is worth it. I have only two observations:
1) On keyboard devices, the trackpad makes some sense, since your fingers are spending more time in the keyboard region.
2) I hope they don't see a need to do this for full-touch devices (though a virtual touchpad that functions like the one in the Origami Browser on the Playbook wouldn't be bad, either).
I still see a lot of users with 3-4 year old BlackBerry handsets. If this makes a BB10 device more attractive to these users as an upgrade, who am I to judge?
@Thunderbuck - does the trackpad on some devices and not on others lead to "fragmentation" for bb10 devices? Will this affect devs at all in your opinion?
@Thunderbuck - does the trackpad on some devices and not on others lead to "fragmentation" for bb10 devices? Will this affect devs at all in your opinion?
Trackpad and buttons can be easily and cheaply replaced, the touchscreen not so much.
Sent from my iPhone using CB Forums
It is true.
My 9790 already repaired 5 times for the first year & 3 times for the second year of use both because of trackpad.
It's really annoying because I rarely using it since I also had an iPhone.
For touchscreen you may have to replace it If Only you Hardly dropped it.
I find this good news for some, as the trackpad helps a lot in the browser, because some things on a website, you need to hover over for more options, and can't click on it...
YES! Big step forward! Taking away the buttons on a keyboard phone was stupid! Big reason why I didn't get a Q10. Track pad is easier to use and no thumb on screen getting in the way. Plus the extra length equals what 10% or so bigger battery. Win, win.
I have not read the entire thread yet, but I think this is a good news, if true, for BBRY.
1. I do not understand why people have such a knee jerk reaction to the trackpad (and other buttons) bringing everyhting back to BBOS. I think what Chen is saying that he will bring a "belt" of function keys to "BB10", not returning to BBOS platform.
2. I am not sure if BBRY will add the "belt" to all BB10 device. Probably only to the qwerty ones (mainly for enterprise users). For the consumer market, which CB generally represents, Z series will be just fine, I guess.
3. I am sure that this was the result of Chen wooing the enterprise market, and I bet that almost everybody in that market wanted those buttons (and functions to come with them) back. I do not think it was a light decision only catering to the consumer market.
The question is whether or not BBRY has time and money to live long enough to begin to see the results of righting past wrongs.