[Thunderbuck]

I'm still really confused as to what any of you are looking for in terms of an "upscale look" for a touchscreen phone. There's only so much you can do, and there's a school of thought that runs along the lines of: the less attention it draws to itself, the better the design.

The Storm actually had a nice look, with its chrome accent and brushed-aluminium battery door. Is that what we're looking at? I liked the Porsche-ish London image that leaked last year, but there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for that one.

Now, they HAVE said there will be distinctive colors, which might just be an eyecatcher. There are few handsets these days that aren't black, white, or grey.

[TheScionicMan]

I'd like to see smartphone makers go with radical differentiating designs, much like the makers of flat-screen TVs are doing... They're not. It's what's inside that counts. If you're staring at the back of your phone... you're doing it wrong...

[Masahiro]

Seeing as how none of us know what the final production model will look or feel like in our hands, I find it rather premature to be considering design changes. Besides, the main thing to differentiate all the different touch screen slabs will be the OS UI.

[kdna]

The leaks HAVE to be fake. They are misinformation. I thought RIM was on lockdown ever since they announced the BB10 delay.

There is too much at stake for the company and the BlackBerry 10 platform to allow for moles and leaks.

I agree, the BB10 super phone cannot be cheap like Android, or bland/redundant as an iPhone. It must be thin, refined, easy to hold and use in one hand and eye-catching.

-0

[itmccb]

The leaks HAVE to be fake. They are misinformation. I thought RIM was on lockdown ever since they announced the BB10 delay.

There is too much at stake for the company and the BlackBerry 10 platform to allow for moles and leaks.

Supposedly, so was Apple and right after they said that, that we got a chassis. Then a face plate. Then a dummy. Then prototype with a dead battery. And tons of little miscellaneous details in between.

[shemaree09]

I'd like to see smartphone makers go with radical differentiating designs, much like the makers of flat-screen TVs are doing... They're not. It's what's inside that counts. If you're staring at the back of your phone... you're doing it wrong...

Sorry, but your average smartphone user doesn't care about processors, ram, or memory. They want to know if it has certain apps, has a great camera, and how cool it is. Trust me, if you asked any random person the specs of their phone they probably couldn't tell you.

Just look at some Mac users. Even though you can a build a PC with the same specs or better for a lower price they don't care. Its about ease of use and aesthetics. They don't care that their $1500 computer doesn't even have something as simple as an HDMI port.

And I'm not trying to turn this into a PC/Mac war. I'm just trying to make a point. What's under the hood is not always the best marketing strategy to the masses.

[Clinto]

For everyone out there who thinks the London is just a "decoy"...

Check out the first image brought to us by Crackberry Kevin way back in January. Then check out the real picture taken by someone that was leaked just a few weeks ago.

You can call it a decoy.. But just like the i-phone 5 leaks that were dead on real pics... I don't call this leak just spculation... I call it proof. Proof of what was leaked back in January. BlackBerry IS going to build this phone and I think it is a huge mistake..


This is the "leak" from January:




And here is the proof that it is getting built from September:
Attachment 117081


If they would just simply take the low grade/cheapened/Android looking plastic off and insead use either metal or glass just like the Bold 9900, I think it would then look like a REAL BlackBerry!

[christenmartin]

I'm still really confused as to what any of you are looking for in terms of an "upscale look" for a touchscreen phone. There's only so much you can do, and there's a school of thought that runs along the lines of: the less attention it draws to itself, the better the design.

The Storm actually had a nice look, with its chrome accent and brushed-aluminium battery door. Is that what we're looking at? I liked the Porsche-ish London image that leaked last year, but there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for that one.

Now, they HAVE said there will be distinctive colors, which might just be an eyecatcher. There are few handsets these days that aren't black, white, or grey.

i agree totally. i don't know what you can do cosmetically with a phone. at some point form gives way to functions. i think bb whole theme is function over form. sophisticated look with high function i think is what they're going for which i think would be a positive step.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9860 using Tapatalk

[Masahiro]

If they would just simply take the low grade/cheapened/Android looking plastic off and insead use either metal or glass just like the Bold 9900, I think it would then look like a REAL BlackBerry!

How do you know what materials the phone is made of?

[Clinto]

It's shown on both pics that I posted above. Black Plastic.

[Masahiro]

It's shown on both pics that I posted above. Black Plastic.

No it's not. It just shows a black, non-glossy material. It could be the same material the back of the Playbook is made of for all we know.

[Clinto]

No it's not. It just shows a black, non-glossy material. It could be the same material the back of the Playbook is made of for all we know.

Which is why I won't buy a Playbook even if it does finally come in a 10" version. And is also why milllions of people chose the beautiful I-Pad over the Playbook..

It is made a black plastic... Where as the I-pad is made of upscale materials just like the Bold 9900.. Glass and metal.. Noooo Plastic..

BlackBerry NEEDS millions and millions of i-phone users to convert to BB 10 if they want to survive. And they aren't going to accomplish that by using Black Plastic for the materials on their phone.

[Masahiro]

Which is why I won't buy a Playbook even if it does finally come in a 10" version. And is also why milllions of people chose the beautiful I-Pad over the Playbook..

It is made a black plastic... Where as the I-pad is made of upscale materials just like the Bold 9900.. Glass and metal.. Noooo Plastic..

BlackBerry NEEDS millions and millions of i-phone users to convert to BB 10 if they want to survive. And they aren't going to accomplish that by using Black Plastic for the materials on their phone.

I'm sure there are other reasons why the iPad is more popular than the PB (or any other tablet on the market for that matter) other than the back of it. I love the material, by the way. It feels tough and high-grade, and it gives me plenty of grip. The same applies for my 9900.

Aesthetics should also come after practicality (ideally). Glass, while it looks nice on the iPhone4, is a liability that is prone to breaking from falls. It is also a fingerprint magnet, and cannot be molded into many different shapes. Metal can cause signal issues, and will also be problematic for charging contacts (the contacts on the 9900 are surrounded by a little plastic pannel). It can also cause allergies in some people, depending on the type of metal. Plastic, on the other hand, may look "cheap" (and it is actually cheap), but it's less brittle than glass, gives you more grip than metal if it's rubberized, and won't be as signal-disruptive (why do you think the iPhone5 doesn't have NFC?). Another important aspect is that it is light weight. The main downside of plastic, which is its low melting point, hardness and ultimate strength, shouldn't really be an issue based on average useage unless you accidentally drop your phone into a volcano. The point is, there is no "perfect" material to make phones out of. Otherwise, every phone would be made the same way.

Not to mention, we still don't have any definite proof of what materials will be used in BB10. We can only take a guess based on leaked or low-quality photos that might not even be real for all we know.

[Clinto]

I completely respect your opinion Masahiro. One thing about the i-phone.. I don't think it's the metal band that is preventing them from putting NFC on it because the Bold 9900 has even prettier metal band going around it's bezel yet it has NFC on it.

But much to the point that made about having the rubberized plastic feeling good and creating a nice user experience... I guess some people just want function over form..

But in my humble opinion.. Considering the state that RIM is right, they are going to die and Crackberry will go the way of Palm Central if BB can't convert millions and millions of i-phone users into BlackBerry users. And I guarantee you that the looks of this London phone is not going to stop anyone in their tracks in the stores. No one is going to look at and say "there is a nice looking phone, I think I'll look at that one".. No one will say that and BlackBerry is going to shoot themselves in the foot and miss all of those millions of potential customers around the world.

I really, really fear if they make the London look like what has leaked on the above pics, it will be the death of BlackBerry. This full screen phone is the most important device BB is introducing in 2013, and I for one think BlackBerry needs to make it beautiful so it stops people in the store and they stop to pick it up and try it out the awesome BB10 software. And if millions upon milllions people don't pick that phone up in the store, BlackBerry will die...

Crackberry Keven touched and tested the London and his description of the looks??? "Understated".. What a let down.. This pic is the London and BB is making the mistake of the century.

Just my opinion..

[kbz1960]

Ain't it kind of late to change now?

[Clinto]

Ain't it kind of late to change now?

That right there @kbz1960 is literally the $5 Billion question!

[Masahiro]

I completely respect your opinion Masahiro. One thing about the i-phone.. I don't think it's the metal band that is preventing them from putting NFC on it because the Bold 9900 has even prettier metal band going around it's bezel yet it has NFC on it.

It's not that. Check out this link: Why the iPhone 5 Does Not Have N.F.C.. Essentially, the all-metal casing would have blocked the NFC signal. This isn't a factor for the 9900 because the NFC antenna is attached to the back of the battery door, which is plastic. It has nothing to do with the metal bezel.

Ultimately, this is an example of form over function if it's true. So the question is, which path should BlackBerry take? Consumers might want a thinner phone, but what if that came at the cost of a removable battery and door? Physical keyboard or larger screen? What kind of materials? How big should the battery be?

You can argue that the popularity of iPhone is evidence of consumers' preference for form, but Androids like the S3 with removable batteries and whatnot are very popular as well. Plus, design is only one piece of the puzzle that doesn't take into account the actual software or eco system.