[Marcin Dabrowsky]

Everyone continue to repeat "there isn't a market for pkb" or "no one really wants physical keyboards"...

HOW do you know that when no one is building them?

There wasn't a market for an all touch until it was built. History and trends tend to repeat themselves and I truly believe that if BlackBerry builds a SOLID device without issues at launch it will be a huge winner.

Will it sell the kind of numbers Sammy or LG sells? No, but it will certainly outsell all current berries put together - IF executed properly with a good advertising campaign.

Please, though, for the love of Christ BlackBerry, QUALITY CONTROL the phones! Look what happened to the HTC M9. Bugs at launch, everyone wrote about them and bashed the phone. Firmware update fixed most if not all issues but it was too late the damage had been done.

I wish you the best BlackBerry because I really like you. Having said that if there is no BB10 option I will be staying away, and if there is a sign of BBOS EOL I will sell my passport while it's still worth something and go with either win or ios. Can't stand Google.

Good luck!!

Posted via Silver Passport.

[6stringriffs]

I checked the Apple Online Store, even when through the Apple Store, Upper East Side today just to make sure, there is no such accessory available in the Apple Store.

Here:
http://www.amazon.com/Typo2-Keyboard...UvbUpU11869715

Perhaps not in your Apple store but available where accessories are sold

[anon(6038817)]

I think the Venice (or whatever it ends up being called) will be the most successful BlackBerry device since the Bold 9900.

I believe it will outsell any BB10 device, including the Z10.

The simple fact is that people are familiar and comfortable with Android and that's what they want.

Add some of BlackBerry's security and productivity features along with their best-in-class keyboard - in a slider form factor that doesn't compromise on screen real estate - and they very well may have created one of the most complete, versatile smartphones ever.

Never before have we seen a smartphone that has the potential to appeal to so many different styles and tastes in a single device.

If course, they have some negative brand perception to overcome, but if they can hit the right marketing message, with the full support of the big 4 U.S. carriers, I think they will finally win back some of the market share they've lost.

Posted from my Q5 via CB10

[nuntym]

By the way OP, I disagree with you 100% and don't appreciate what you did here.

LOL

Posted via CB10

[MichaelBlackbourn]

I think BB could also lean their message away from the 'professional' a little.

Fixed gear bikes
Flannel shirts
Beards and mustaches
Pabst blue ribbon
Hardcover books

All signs of the modern hipster who like 'authentic-throwback' style stuff.

That Silver Edition Passport had the right idea.. Had the look of old Nikkor or Leica cameras... Stick with that style and keep having the pkb... Go hipster.

[allbetsareoff29]

I'm all for innovation and am happy that BlackBerry is trying to stay relevant and get back into the game with physical keyboard. Even the slider idea is kind of refreshingly new in a retro kind of way.

However, Lord oh mighty, who's idea was it to put a curved screen into that thing? Haven't we learned anything from Samsung? Curved screen might sound awesome on paper, but it's just a fad / gimmick trying to be flashy and ride the hype wave. Big mistake IMO. BlackBerry was never the one to jump on the latest craze / trend. That's what I like(d) about it. No fancy flashy bs, just true and tried features that withstood the test of time - perfected by blackberry.

The newest upcoming fad is/will be 4K resolution screens. Another idea that might sound awesome on paper, but is utterly useless and counter-productive. I have a 27inch ASUS 4K monitor at home and that thing is beautiful. But cramming 4 thousand pixels horizontally into a 7inch screen is flat out dumb. Human eye won't be able to tell the difference between that and 1080p screen. The pixel density is just too high. And while yes, if you put your eyeball onto the screen, you will be able to see individual pixels, what benefit will that have? Ok the picture might clearer and sharper, but I'd rather watch netflix on an old 20inch CRT monitor/TV than 7inch 4K screen. Furthermore, minuscule picture quality improvement will come at high premium (pun intended). Manufacturing that high of a pixel density screens will be more costly, and the price tag will just be passed down onto the consumer. Additionally, 4times the resolution = 1/4 battery life. No thanks!

Which brings me to my biggest (potential) gripe about BlackBerry and the slider renders. Non-removable battery?!?!?! WTF.
Personally, the reason why I like(d) BlackBerries was the "no-nonsense, no cutting corners" build quality. It started with a rock solid keyboard, always including SD card slots, and ended with removable battery. What a simple,yet effective concept. My apple friends make fun of me and my BlackBerry...until they are wall/outlet bound for 2 hours as their phones recharge, while I open the back cover, swap a low battery for fresh one and am good to go, at 100% within seconds.
The charging bundle was a great touch from BlackBerry and that's the kind of innovation that I would love to see from blackberry. Not only could the bundle charge your battery separately when out of the phone, but the marketing team made a truly stellar decision to sell the bundles WITH a spare battery -for something like 25 bucks total. Brilliant.
Unfortunately, the charging bundle was cheaply made and throughout 2 years, I went through 3 of them as each of them eventually broke (the charging female connector would start to wiggle and eventually break off completely from the unit)

But still. BlackBerry was always the "german car" of phones where everything has a screw and all parts fit together nicely and are essentially replaceable relatively easy more-or-less. The competition phones were (and still are) a cheap temporary Chinese junk toys that are made of thin plastic and mismatching parts that are just hot glued together, built for "one-time" use, intended to be thrown away after one year.

I exaggerated a little in that metaphor but that's what, to me, made BlackBerries awesome and why I've been a crackberry addict for over 8years. That's what I want, that's the reason why I don't care for iSucks or andRobots, and that's the kind of innovation I would hope and like to see from BlackBerry yet again.

Posted via CB10

[jojo beaconsfield]

Here:
http://www.amazon.com/Typo2-Keyboard...UvbUpU11869837

Perhaps not in your Apple store but available where accessories are sold

I can't believe they are still for sale,but it's there,lol

[dwane31]

DOA

[Gajja]

Yes I think it's got a lot of positive things in it's favour. In line with Mr Chen's target market of the privicy-valueing (celebs, banks, hospitals, military, etc.) the total world market is a bit specialist and does not include the likes of your average Joe on the street like me and (you?). So maybe not a big volume device, but hey, no problem there. I actually started off thinking a slider would be a rubbish idea, but after thinking about it I can actually see it's a good thing. There will be people who cannot see that, and clamour for the status quo, but that's not progress or innovation is it? Good luck to the Slider :-)

[John Villareal]

I'll wait and see where the "chips" fall.... still a lot of rumors and assumptions going on.

But I will say I'm much more hopeful about the Slider than I was about the Passport.

I tried checking out our sister site AndroidCentral... doesn't seem to be very much excitement over there. And here on CrackBerry I'm not even sure how popular the form factor or the move to Android is.

I see some positive comments on Android Authority website.

Posted via BlackBerry Z10  

[wilber1]

Its survive or fail time for Blackberry Android OS 10 or whatever and am hoping of course the slider sells the most however if it fails RIP .

[m3mb3rsh1p]

I held an S6 edge yesterday and noticed that it looks narrower than other flagships. Maybe that's the only positive of the curved screen: it might make the phone seem easier to handle.

I agree with the points raised by allbestareoff29 but I suppose there's something about being "right up there with the best of them" that should bring in more customers.

Android ruined technology with it's wanton one-upmanship based on specs and BlackBerry probably suffered the most with people thinking that "it only has two cores" or "it doesn't have 1080p" etc. With the slider, there will be nothing to complain about AT ALL. Not even "There aren't enough apps"

The slider has it all. Our Chief Chen basically said, "Okay, you want full Android compatibility? Then that's what we'll give you." "You want top-of-the-line specs? Check!" "Now you have no excuse for not trying out our industry-leading security features as well as the physical keyboard that defines the BlackBerry experience"

As much as I hate the curved edges, I have no doubt that the general tech review site would have held it against BlackBerry for no good reason.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I held an S6 edge yesterday and noticed that it looks narrower than other flagships. Maybe that's the only positive of the curved screen: it might make the phone seem easier to handle.

I agree with the points raised by allbestareoff29 but I suppose there's something about being "right up there with the best of them" that should bring in more customers.

Android ruined technology with it's wanton one-upmanship based on specs and BlackBerry probably suffered the most with people thinking that "it only has two cores" or "it doesn't have 1080p" etc. With the slider, there will be nothing to complain about AT ALL. Not even "There aren't enough apps"

The slider has it all. Our Chief Chen basically said, "Okay, you want full Android compatibility? Then that's what we'll give you." "You want top-of-the-line specs? Check!" "Now you have no excuse for not trying out our industry-leading security features as well as the physical keyboard that defines the BlackBerry experience"

As much as I hate the curved edges, I have no doubt that the general tech review site would have held it against BlackBerry for no good reason.

Does it have a finger print scanner.... is it water proof.... Does it have rapid charging.... does it have the Adreno 430 GPU...... does it have the latest 810 CPU.......does it have a 4K display....does if have an all aluminum carved body.... does it have UH-OH free replacement protection.......

Don't fool yourself into believing that there will be NOTHING to complain about or that could be missing. This will be a Flagship device, but it will not be top of the line - so BlackBerry is going to need to be very careful NOT to price it at the top. It's key to possible success will be that it has a KEYBOARD - so we'll find out how important is that?

But also we need to see these and have a few reviews done.... Is it a quality built device (or is it as it appears, kinda a generic LEAP type device). Is this a consumer phone - or is the BlackBerry Experience still suppose to be part of BES? Do all the BlackBerry features affect performance or battery life in any way?

I just think we need to see more before we start jumping up and down for joy.

[jallister]

Here:
Amazon.com: Typo2 Keyboard for iPhone 6: Cell Phones & Accessories

Perhaps not in your Apple store but available where accessories are sold

I knew they were available to buy, that's not what I'm debating. My agurment was that Apple never supported nor sold a physical keyboard case for the iPhone. Your orginal comment said that since there cases were sold in Apple Stores there must be a market for physical keyboard smartphone. They were never sold in Apple Stores, and the market for them is very small to non exantance

[m3mb3rsh1p]

Does it have a finger print scanner.... is it water proof.... Does it have rapid charging.... does it have the Adreno 430 GPU...... does it have the latest 810 CPU.......does it have a 4K display....does if have an all aluminum carved body.... does it have UH-OH free replacement protection.......

Wow. There's always something to complain about in the specs race, isn't there?

[wincyUt]

Let's not count the chicks before the eggs are hatched. I hope you are right OP.

[Etzer]

Wow. There's always something to complain about in the specs race, isn't there?

It has nothing to do with finding something to complain about. It's about being competitive. The BlackBerry brand is toxic. The average smartphone owner doesn't really care about security enough to make security a lone selling point. So what will make people consider BlackBerry if not specifications parity and affordability? The Android landscape as of late has many affordable devices with top of the line specifications. The keyboard isn't enough; it's about the whole package. To summarize, they can't half-*** the Slider if they're serious about getting consumers back on board.

Posted via CB10

[jojo beaconsfield]

this new BB is so out of touch,just look at the Leap,big downer and now this,we'll see,lol

[SparkyBC]

Essentially a s6 Edge with a slide out keyboard. Sure it will sell in SMALL numbers not anywhere the amount to try and stop the bleeding. Blackberry is a TAINTED brand. People won't care if it's a good phone, the name is enough for people to run the other way. Don't think for a moment carriers or retailers will be convincing you to buy the android version let alone a bb10 version if they go that route.

It will be another DOA device.

[mulderlr]

And as soon as android on this slider is rooted, it will be the complete end of the only thing left blackberry is even known for which is security.

Typed from my AT&T passport

[shupor]

I tried checking out our sister site AndroidCentral... doesn't seem to be very much excitement over there. And here on CrackBerry I'm not even sure how popular the form factor or the move to Android is.

I find quite the contrary here The Android-powered BlackBerry Venice slider is starting to look real | Android Central

Surprisingly enough, it appears a lot of non-bb users are excited about the Venice

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I find quite the contrary here The Android-powered BlackBerry Venice slider is starting to look real | Android Central

Surprisingly enough, it appears a lot of non-bb users are excited about the Venice

Thanks for the update... seems they posted that story after I posted my comment. I didn't see a main story at that time and was not very much in the forums on it.

It is nice to go over there and see some old CrackBerry members..... And Bla1ze has a twin named Chris.

[lift]

LOL

Don't laugh at me because I don't think you even know what I was talking about.

[Bbnivende]

No way will I switch to Android. I'll cross over to the Apple side before I'll run Android on one of my devices.

You seem to be almost alone if you live in the USA .

http://files.ctctcdn.com/150f9af2201...442c2ceb10.pdf

[markmall]

My battery issues on my Passport are making me long for the days of the removable batteries.