[TCB on Z10]

This is an interesting positive article as this Canadian news agency has never been supportive of BlackBerry. For example, it long ago dropped the BB10 version of its app whereas American NYT and WSJ continue to this day.
Typing in 'the zone': Why the physical QWERTY keyboard still matters to some - Technology & Science - CBC News

BB, Still the One

[anon(3732391)]

A renaissance??? Far Out! I love festivals.
Anyone know who....besides the Grateful Dead , will be playing???

[TCB on Z10]

A renaissance??? Far Out! I love festivals.
Anyone know who....besides the Grateful Dead , will be playing???

A new group called FU7

BB, Still the One

[z10Jobe]

A new group called FU7

BB, Still the One

I prefer Bite Me or Get Bent. More edge, great riffs and the right attitude.

The CBC article is a good read.

Posted via CB10

[gebco]

I didn't see where the article mentions that the Mercury runs Android.

[anon(9721108)]

Good read.

Kevin "gets it."

-sent from a beautiful Bold 9900

[thurask]

Oh wow, Kevin remembers we exist.

[Bbnivende]

Where is Kevin's hands on Mercury review in CrackBerry . Did I miss it?

Posted via CB10

[FF22]

Where is Kevin's hands on Mercury review in CrackBerry . Did I miss it?

Posted via CB10

Kevin is considering buy the Washington Post from Bezos!

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I didn't see where the article mentions that the Mercury runs Android.

Why would it need too? This article is more about the keyboard, the Hands on article they link to was more about the overall phone... and Android.

[BB-JAM215]

I didn't see where the article mentions that the Mercury runs Android.

And they didn't mentioned it is being manufactured and distributed by TCL.

[BB-JAM215]

Where is Kevin's hands on Mercury review in CrackBerry . Did I miss it?

Kevin is quoted as saying "There's no demand for physical keyboards. There's only demands for BlackBerry,"

[anon(2313227)]

Oh wow, Kevin remembers we exist.

Kevin Who?

[BB-JAM215]

Kevin Who?

As it says in the article CrackBerry Kevin (Michaluk) is now Chief Media Officer for Mobile Nations which CrackBerry and Android Central are part of.

[spantch101]

As it says in the article CrackBerry Kevin (Michaluk) is now Chief Media Officer for Mobile Nations which CrackBerry and Android Central are part of.

I think he was being sarcastic...

[CrackBerry Kevin]

Hey All,

Yeah... this was a fun interview! I wasn't *entirely* happy with the way my quotes turned out (but mainly all good). Spoke to Haydn for like 45 minutes. My exact quote would be "There's no demand for physical keyboards on smartphones, only for BlackBerrys with physical keyboards". That's actually a quote I've used a lot over the years which I borrowed from a friend who works at Samsung who told me that. Samsung tried to build some keyboard smartphones and quit - they know it's a game BlackBerry won.

I also took Haydn through all of the points as to why BlackBerry keyboards still have demand based on this article I wrote in 2014:

Why there's still demand in 2014 for phones with physical keyboards | CrackBerry.com

Of course, he only focused on the two most minor points - older population and long fingernails (kinda ticked about that).

Overall though, I'm pretty excited for the Mercury. May need to come out of CrackBerry Kevin retirement for it and have some fun.

I played with it back at CES in Las Vegas. Immediately was smitten. Beautiful device - looks nice just sitting there. Keyboard was easily usable. Not going to be the BEST BB keyboard ever, but it takes up a minimal footprint and the screen size was still quite big. Can still type on the touchscreen if you don't need/want to use the keyboard in a given scenario. Really loved it.

Timing is kind of good too. It's weird, but we're in a spot right now in mobile tech where everybody's poopoo stinks. Apple ticked off lots of people with iPhone 7 and killing the headset port. Samsung has the Note 7 debacle. A lot of these other Asian-based handset manufacturers just aren't driving any real emotion / love from customers. It sort of feels like 2017 is a year where anything can happen and a nostalgia play like the Mercury will totally find it's audience. For BB users past and present, it's a feel good phone that should perform well too. Kind of reminds me how Nintendo just brought out the Nintendo Classic. This is BB building a phone for the audience who's first smartphone was a BBRY and there's an updated and better model to try now.

Instagram Photos:

CrackBerry's 10th Anniversary Coming up next month... so you never know... between that and Mercury... feeling genuinely excited again. It's a good feeling to have!

[BB-JAM215]

Kevin,
How did you find the Mercury keyboard was compared to the PRIV in terms of feel and size?
Did you compare the overall size of the Mercury?

[Uzi]

Nice to see you back!

[anon(9721108)]

My PKB 9900 just got its validation ^_*

[tdyhedge]

Of course, he only focused on the two most minor points - older population and long fingernails (kinda ticked about that).

....

CrackBerry's 10th Anniversary Coming up next month... so you never know... between that and Mercury... feeling genuinely excited again. It's a good feeling to have!

So you say you're growing older and have long fingernails?? And as for the anniversary, please don't grow out your hair again. Once is enough. Lol

[CrackBerry Kevin]

Lol. Nah... Read my 2014 article.

My point there was actually that I'm a pretty good tech sugar son to my mom, who's getting older, and between me furnishing her with BlackBerrys and iPhones over the years, she prefers her BlackBerry. Part of it is with her shaking hands, it's much easier to type on the BlackBerry because she can get her finger in the right spot before she pushes down (vs. touchscreen where what she taps is what she types). Also, I learned from my wife about the long finger nails years ago.... can't tap the nail on glass (needs skin touch for capacitive), but when you flatten out your finger tips on a touch screen you cover up the keyboard and can't see where you're typing. Two minor points that still justify hardware keyboards, beyond the obvious benefits of being better to type on while "doing stuff", or typing things like passwords/proper names, etc. which prediction tends to screw up.

[Thud Hardsmack]

A renaissance??? Far Out! I love festivals.
Anyone know who....besides the Grateful Dead , will be playing???

Yes. Guess who.

[abwan11]

Tech is in a weird spot. The computer is dead, physical input is a problem, social media is killing interactions, the phone doesn't make calls and sets itself ablaze. F...it I'm done.

Posted via CB10

[CrackBerry Kevin]

Kinda just nailed it right here....

Tech is in a weird spot. The computer is dead, physical input is a problem, social media is killing interactions, the phone doesn't make calls and sets itself ablaze. F...it I'm done.

Posted via CB10

[BigBadWulf]

CBK, it's great to see ya back! LoL @ the quote. I was wondering if you'd lost your mind, away from the addiction. I hope for BlackBerry, this becomes a resurgence.

Start growing those nails, mister!