Related
I have to say, as someone coming from a hard keyboard phone one of my biggest concerns was getting used to the on -screen kybd. It has been tough so far and hoping it gets better in the weeks and months to come (only been about a week so far). But I was pretty dissapoointed when I went on my buddies iPhone (3gs mind you, not even the 4) and his screen was MUCH better at accuracy for the kb. Such an important aspect of the phone utility its hard to overlook its importance...anyone else feel this way with iPhone experience?
Dillsnik said:
I have to say, as someone coming from a hard keyboard phone one of my biggest concerns was getting used to the on -screen kybd. It has been tough so far and hoping it gets better in the weeks and months to come (only been about a week so far). But I was pretty dissapoointed when I went on my buddies iPhone (3gs mind you, not even the 4) and his screen was MUCH better at accuracy for the kb. Such an important aspect of the phone utility its hard to overlook its importance...anyone else feel this way with iPhone experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, quite the opposite actually. Ive used touchscreens from every iphone, samsungs GS phones, and now the atrix. It is, at the very least, on par with the afformentioned phones. Perhaps slightly more responsive than some.
The digitizer is the same piece of hardware as the galaxy phones as well as the iPhone I believe so the inaccuracy comes down to the software. More specifically, the motorola keyboard isn't that great. Try downloading smart keyboard pro (there's a trial version) and using an iPhone or HTC skin and see how you fare. I find it to be much more accurate and better at correcting mistakes, similar to the iPhone's keyboard.
Dillsnik said:
I have to say, as someone coming from a hard keyboard phone one of my biggest concerns was getting used to the on -screen kybd. It has been tough so far and hoping it gets better in the weeks and months to come (only been about a week so far). But I was pretty dissapoointed when I went on my buddies iPhone (3gs mind you, not even the 4) and his screen was MUCH better at accuracy for the kb. Such an important aspect of the phone utility its hard to overlook its importance...anyone else feel this way with iPhone experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dinan said:
The digitizer is the same piece of hardware as the galaxy phones as well as the iPhone I believe so the inaccuracy comes down to the software. More specifically, the motorola keyboard isn't that great. Try downloading smart keyboard pro (there's a trial version) and using an iPhone or HTC skin and see how you fare. I find it to be much more accurate and better at correcting mistakes, similar to the iPhone's keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also love the fact you have the option of allowing or disallowing the keyboard to auto correct for you.
http://damnyouautocorrect.com/
Well I'm not sure why I seem to be missing more keys on atrix but its frustrating ...right now using GB kybd ...someone had posted how its possible to resize this KB in the settings butthat option is greyed out for me...would love someone to tell me why they think soso
I think auto correct helps me more tthat it hurts me, but obviously its a win some lose some I immagine
Dillsnik said:
I have to say, as someone coming from a hard keyboard phone one of my biggest concerns was getting used to the on -screen kybd. It has been tough so far and hoping it gets better in the weeks and months to come (only been about a week so far). But I was pretty dissapoointed when I went on my buddies iPhone (3gs mind you, not even the 4) and his screen was MUCH better at accuracy for the kb. Such an important aspect of the phone utility its hard to overlook its importance...anyone else feel this way with iPhone experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought my Atrix a few days ago, coming from an iPhone 3GS, and the first thing I noticed was that the Atrix keyboard is more responsive, and I fudge what I am typing much less than with the iPhone. All in all, since rooting, and setting up the Atrix how I want it, I have to say that I think it is a much better phone than the iPhone in every respect other than the current issue with speed, which hopefully is all AT&T, and not hardware related.
I agree with the originally poster. While the entire touch screen digitizer may be MORE RESPONSIVE and SENSITIVE, it is NOT more ACCURATE. I can type much more accurately on any 3X or 4X iPhone than on any Android phone. I don't really know if you can beat Apple when it comes to this. They make the hardware and the software so they have complete control...
I have found that it varies from phone to phone, my typing accuracy anyway. using the gingerbread keyboard on my Nexus 1 and Captivate, I get about the same speeds and accuracy.
It took a little while to get used to the Atrix but after I did, I was doing just as ggood, if not better on that screen.
Depended on how fast I tried to type for tthe most part though.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Dillsnik said:
I have to say, as someone coming from a hard keyboard phone one of my biggest concerns was getting used to the on -screen kybd. It has been tough so far and hoping it gets better in the weeks and months to come (only been about a week so far). But I was pretty dissapoointed when I went on my buddies iPhone (3gs mind you, not even the 4) and his screen was MUCH better at accuracy for the kb. Such an important aspect of the phone utility its hard to overlook its importance...anyone else feel this way with iPhone experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't say the iPhone's screen is any more accurate than anything else. The reason why the iPhone's seems to be more accurate at typing is because of the spell checking, letter prediction software. The iPhone will predict what you're letter you're going to type next and increase the size of the touch response area for that key. This means it'll overlap the keys around it registering the one it thinks you're really looking for. So in a sense, yes it's more accurate, only because it's increased the touch response area for just that key and very inaccurate when you want a different key. Luckily hitting the backspace on the letter it thought you wanted turns off the prediction.
dinan said:
The digitizer is the same piece of hardware as the galaxy phones as well as the iPhone I believe so the inaccuracy comes down to the software. More specifically, the motorola keyboard isn't that great. Try downloading smart keyboard pro (there's a trial version) and using an iPhone or HTC skin and see how you fare. I find it to be much more accurate and better at correcting mistakes, similar to the iPhone's keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using smart kb pro now and it may be fav yet..
Thanks for the suggestion
i always found the iphone keyboard more accurate unfortunately
and ive used many android keyboards (gingerbread, moto multitouch, etc..)
Dillsnik said:
I have to say, as someone coming from a hard keyboard phone one of my biggest concerns was getting used to the on -screen kybd. It has been tough so far and hoping it gets better in the weeks and months to come (only been about a week so far). But I was pretty dissapoointed when I went on my buddies iPhone (3gs mind you, not even the 4) and his screen was MUCH better at accuracy for the kb. Such an important aspect of the phone utility its hard to overlook its importance...anyone else feel this way with iPhone experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats a keybd? And whats a kb?
kkeo said:
I wouldn't say the iPhone's screen is any more accurate than anything else. The reason why the iPhone's seems to be more accurate at typing is because of the spell checking, letter prediction software. The iPhone will predict what you're letter you're going to type next and increase the size of the touch response area for that key. This means it'll overlap the keys around it registering the one it thinks you're really looking for. So in a sense, yes it's more accurate, only because it's increased the touch response area for just that key and very inaccurate when you want a different key. Luckily hitting the backspace on the letter it thought you wanted turns off the prediction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is why thickbuttons is a good keyboard for those that are weaning off iphones.
The iPhone touchpanel may not be any more accurate or precise, but the iPhone keyboard has some enhancements made to it to improve typing accuracy. It predictively resizes the touch area for certain keys based on the probability that those keys will be next to push. You don't see the keys get bigger visually, but the "active touch area" of those keys does get bigger.
For instance, if you started typing a word and pressed "B" as the first letter, the active area of keys "a" "e" "y" and so forth would get bigger, while the active area of "x" and "p" would get smaller. This leads to a higher overall probability of getting the next keypress correct.
There is a lot more going on here while typing than simply relying on the accuracy of the keypress.
Source: http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2009/08/07/virtual-keyboards-on-iphone-and-android/ - Read "Dynamic Key Reszing" in the article. I thought the article that I read this in was fascinating. Having worked on some ITO panel designs and devices it opened some new insights for me.
tl;dr - Touchpanel accuracy != typing accuracy
EDIT- Just read kkeo's post above. Guess I should read more thouroghly before replyinh lol
We're just splitting hairs here.
live4nyy said:
We're just splitting hairs here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah but the iphone side of the hair is better right? i mean it has to be, steve jobs said so
Dillsnik said:
Well I'm not sure why I seem to be missing more keys on atrix but its frustrating ...right now using GB kybd ...someone had posted how its possible to resize this KB in the settings butthat option is greyed out for me...would love someone to tell me why they think soso
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download the paid version. It opens up all options
Yeah, it's usually software, but honestly, Apple has one of the best software keyboards in the industry. I'm only using the built-in one because others don't take advantage of all the screen real estate, though I'll try Smart Keyboard.
Pirateghost said:
yeah but the iphone side of the hair is better right? i mean it has to be, steve jobs said so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Steve Jobs don't lie
Im currently on a Vibrant running the mighty Bionix after taking my phone on a rom marathon all the way to 2.3.5 and back.
Ive realized touch screen keyboards annoy the crap out of me and I rather use a qwerty keyboard... Samsung will soon be releasing the Galaxy M Pro and Motorola will release the Pro+ - both qwerty Android phones... Which one would you choose? Ive never owned a Motorola smartphone so I dont know how they are in terms of build quality and xda ROM development.
Just get a blackberry. Android qwerty phones are pretty terrible tbh. The new os7 blackberries are battery smooth... Tried them yesterday, and was a bit shocked bh...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I agree with N8ter. If you must have a qwerty keyboard, get a BB.
BB OS is way tooo primitive for me, hence why the Android qwertys are appealing to me.. perhaps the new ones coming out may be better? What makes the older ones terrible?
JD76 said:
BB OS is way tooo primitive for me, hence why the Android qwertys are appealing to me.. perhaps the new ones coming out may be better? What makes the older ones terrible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spoken like someone who hasn't uses a bb7 device, or even a bb6 device.
Enjoy those terrible keyboards android phones. Rim has patented their keyboards so the chances of getting one as good on an android phone is slime to none.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
i had a motorola droid and i it was a great phone. the build quality and feel of the droid was so much better than the vibrant. i havent tried a newer motorola, but i wish tmobile would get a powerful motorola phone. oh yeah, the gps worked perfectly on the droid.
Landscape keyboards are kinda bad. Plus its impossible to get a consistently high typing speed on them (4 me). So much reach needed so often.
Problem I had with the droid ii keyboard was how stiff the keys were. It was really incredible feeling like I had just left the gym after typing on one of those...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I had a my touch slide 3g and loved it and could type faster on that than I can on the Vibrant. Maybe check out the new slide and see what you think. And I have to agree with others here if you want a portrait keyboard get a blackberry.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Love touchscreen keyboard,
but is Motorola have a better sound quality based on its crystaltalk?
I own 2 AT&T Fuzes (HTC Touch Pro). Bought 1 on 11/8/208. The day it was released in the U.S.
I owned an AT&T Tilt 2 (HTC Touch Pro2) for a little more than a year.
and now I own an LG Quantum.
With all 3 devices, the slide out keyboards worked well and it's easy to get to all the keys. Just use your left thumb for the left side of the keyboard, and your right thumb for the right side of the keyboard. Doing that will avoid any reach issues. Take some time to get used to and learn any odd key placements and you should be able to pump out text at a more rapid rate than with an on screen keyboards where there is no real tactile feel aside from a vibration.
With the suggested words list in Windows Phone 7, I am finding that I use the slide out keyboard much less than with the other devices. With it, I am entering text as fast as I used to with swype.
You might also want to wait until Tuesday when the masses get Mango. It's supposed to have speach to text for text messaging and will read them to you as well. Much better and safer when driving. In most or many states it's illegal to text and drive, not that the law has stopped anyone from doing it though.
Okay, I posted a very similar thread in the Epic 4G section. I don't often come to this forum.
It seems to me that looking at all of the new releases, with the possible exception of the Motorola Droid series (although it seems the Droid Razr is getting more hype than the Droid 3 did, so it may not even count as a flagship), is the era of flagship physical keyboard phones dead?
Noteworthy to me is the fact that other than the Desire Z (and the Desire HD was arguably the flagship of its time, although IMO the Z was a better phone), there have been no new keyboard flagship phones from HTC or Samsung or most of the smaller makers.
What do you think is the future of keyboard phones?
So far all of them seem to be decidedly mid-range devices, not phones that set the bar, so to speak.
G3. Can't have a google dev phone without a keyboard yet.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
Samsungs Captivate Glide looks very promising
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/samsung-captivate-glide-and-doubletime-hands-on/
but for now just in the US..
I was a Keyboard Smartphoner from the beginning, but now, I think on the bigger screens its more easier to type fast on a virtual keyboard.
Maybe my next Phone is no more equipped with a hardware keyboard.
first fact for this is the wight and the design.. 180g and 15mm is not so "smart"
kabauterman said:
Samsungs Captivate Glide looks very promising
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/samsung-captivate-glide-and-doubletime-hands-on/
but for now just in the US..
I was a Keyboard Smartphoner from the beginning, but now, I think on the bigger screens its more easier to type fast on a virtual keyboard.
Maybe my next Phone is no more equipped with a hardware keyboard.
first fact for this is the wight and the design.. 180g and 15mm is not so "smart"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish it would be more "mainstream", have a 720p screen and LTE support. I'll stick with my Desire Z for now.
i don't get the race to the flattest phone in the world, i would say give some extra fat for all those extremely flatty things and slap bigger battery in them.
Desire Z feels like a phone, i like the way its think, not too thick, and im fine whit the weight, people can't carry 200 grams whit em anymore?
There's Droid 4 coming, 5row qwerty, looks promising, hope they include atleast 1,2Ghz cpu. But at this moment i don't think im going to change to a new phone within a year. Ill hope HTC comes up whit 5 row G3.
Whippler said:
i don't get the race to the flattest phone in the world, i would say give some extra fat for all those extremely flatty things and slap bigger battery in them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not too big on super thin either -idk what's with this trend.
So far mostly mid-range phones - Glide is a midrange; the Galaxy Note or HTC Rezound are more like top-end.
I personally prefer something a little thicker and heavier in my hands ;D
Jokes aside, the heaviness of the phone gives me the feel of a better build quality, as opposed to the cheap feel of the S II, which my gf has. So light it weighs next to nothing...
feels like the wind can just blow it away...
Yes i hate thin light phones! I want a brick phone damn it! Give me a big screen a good keyboard (im thinking G1 style but full width) and a nice thick heavy battery that will last all day. Oh and i want one of them fancy induction chargers built into the case. And a nice creditcard chip thingy.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
shortlived said:
Yes i hate thin light phones! I want a brick phone damn it! Give me a big screen a good keyboard (im thinking G1 style but full width) and a nice thick heavy battery that will last all day. Oh and i want one of them fancy induction chargers built into the case. And a nice creditcard chip thingy.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like a Galaxy Note with a Desire Z style keyboard?
walropodes said:
Like a Galaxy Note with a Desire Z style keyboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG that would rock my socks. I wonder, is there maybe a proper sized BT keyboard and a case?
Check Adapt ADK-100 Micro Keyboard (Amazon ASIN B003ZWGEW8) saying it's exactly the size of an iPhone 4. this is a comparison with the HD2: images.mobilityminded.com/2010/07/IMG_4444.jpg
Also discussed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1327124
My opinion is riding a subway,bus etc. Qwerty wins. Physical buttons will always be superior and more versatile/precise.
I do think phones are crafted by trends, had the G2 originally been launched with a tighter spring, this phone would have sold like crazy.
Although I'm happy with my phone as I think its funny when I catch people looking at my phone wondering which one it is or why my screen is green.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I'll stick with the Z for a long time before I move to something without a keyboard!
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
sauron0101 said:
Okay, I posted a very similar thread in the Epic 4G section. I don't often come to this forum.
It seems to me that looking at all of the new releases, with the possible exception of the Motorola Droid series (although it seems the Droid Razr is getting more hype than the Droid 3 did, so it may not even count as a flagship), is the era of flagship physical keyboard phones dead?
Noteworthy to me is the fact that other than the Desire Z (and the Desire HD was arguably the flagship of its time, although IMO the Z was a better phone), there have been no new keyboard flagship phones from HTC or Samsung or most of the smaller makers.
What do you think is the future of keyboard phones?
So far all of them seem to be decidedly mid-range devices, not phones that set the bar, so to speak.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to have missed the HTC DOUBLESHOT:
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Phones...px?cell-phone=T-Mobile-myTouch-4G-Slide-Black
I moved from the Desire to the Desire Z.
To me, a thin keyboard-less phone like the Desire is like an Aston Martin with a 1 litre engine in it. It may look nice but, it's missing the grunt to really get things done (functionality wise rather than cpu!).
With the Desire Z, I can snap open the keyboard and get far more screen real estate without having to have a software keyboard popping up. I can also do common tasks like copying and pasting faster and easily switch apps with shortcuts. I can pretty much touch type on my phone now, while walking for example without looking down.
Of course, we all know this, I just wish the public would realise the advantages of having a keyboard and then manufacturers would make more of an effort. Maybe if we all lectured friends, we can force a tipping point!
kabauterman said:
Samsungs Captivate Glide looks very promising
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/samsung-captivate-glide-and-doubletime-hands-on/
but for now just in the US..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well and at&t at that. Ugh.
The Glide has already been out in Canada for a couple weeks or so. Although Rogers is just as bad as AT&T probably.
Well, you got me there. Me and my brother enjoy the feel of keyboards on our phones. My G2 came across an lcd problem and my sister got me a G2x, good phone but couldn't enjoy the LG,since I'm an htc guy. Sold it,got a sidekick 4G, didn't like the way samsung made it. Sold that, bought a new LCD, fixed my G2. At the end of the day, I'm a Qwerty keyboard HTC guy. As for my bro, a HTC mytouch guy, he loves the Mytouch Slide 4G. We both came from a G1. I'm praying for the G3. *fingers crossed*
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
What I'm hoping for in the next year:
1.2 ghz dual core minimum
5 inch screen (4.5 inch minimum)
Qwerty 3-4 row I don't care
Hdmi out
Not samsung (wii controller won't work)
Must have decent battery life, most liekly ill be buying another fat mugen lol
preferred htc but its not really a big deal to me
Don't care about thick or thin
Honestly the desire z handles everything but the screen size and hdmi out want my n64 on the big screen! I'm hoping for gamecube/dreamcast emulators in the next years. These overclocked dual cores can easily handle it.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
scottmog said:
What I'm hoping for in the next year:
1.2 ghz dual core minimum
5 inch screen (4.5 inch minimum)
Qwerty 3-4 row I don't care
Hdmi out
Not samsung (wii controller won't work)
Must have decent battery life, most liekly ill be buying another fat mugen lol
preferred htc but its not really a big deal to me
Don't care about thick or thin
Honestly the desire z handles everything but the screen size and hdmi out want my n64 on the big screen! I'm hoping for gamecube/dreamcast emulators in the next years. These overclocked dual cores can easily handle it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You couldn't PAY me to use a phone with a 5" screen. Screen ***ABSOLUTELY MUST*** be UNDER 4". Any bigger than that and it isn't a phone -- its a tablet, and no, I'm not interested in holding a tablet up to my head to make a phone call.
dhkr234 said:
You couldn't PAY me to use a phone with a 5" screen. Screen ***ABSOLUTELY MUST*** be UNDER 4". Any bigger than that and it isn't a phone -- its a tablet, and no, I'm not interested in holding a tablet up to my head to make a phone call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, wasn't really asking for anyones opinion. Some people just don't like big phones, I love big phones and surf the internet and play games quite often. I don't wear tight jeans too lol, so 5 inch phones would not really be to big.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Just think about it - the development and resources that go into a simple glass slab is pretty simple. The magic formula, if you wish, has already been brought to the table since 2007 - a black slab with a screen on top.
But a Hardware Keyboard phone, that's another story. In all the reviews of QWERTY phones, you see how they judge the feel, the grip, the resistance, the ease of use, the placement of keys. It's a whole domain of mobile phone research.
What the Desire Z brought new was it's „Z” sliding factor, which allowed it to be very slim compared to other QWERTY phones, especially „dumb phones” such as Nokia's C6.
The fact that HTC has expertise in this domain has been proven with the Touch Pro, the Touch Pro 2 and also the Desire Z. You can't argue the fact that 90% of the reviews praised the keyboards on these devices, although some caveats, such as the Desire Z not having a separate numbers row, haven't gone unnoticed.
Apart from the sliding mechanism, think about space. I saw the photos of the dismantled iPhone 4S. The battery in that thing takes about 80% of its space. The motherboard is tiny! I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar in our phones, too. Add in the complexity of a keyboard slider and you've got yourself a compromise a company with a rough financial year such as HTC isn't really willing to take.
To add new, more powerful components, you need space for heat to dissipate. You need space for fancier processors (LTE, new imaging chip, better GPU, etc) and that's already hard when you want to supply a battery which allows the user to enjoy the phone for more than three hours before it's dead. With the complexity needed to add a keyboard, you lose precious space which would be better off filled with mAh's rather than hinges and keys.
This is my take on it. What do you guys think?
You forgot about one little beauty.... S730/S740 aka Rose...
That was a beautiful thingy
Sent from my HTC Desire Z using XDA
I think it all boils down to this: no qwerty phone was a real moneymaker for them, so they'll just focus on more successful form factors.
It's a pitty, and I hope HTC will have a change of mind on this.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z using Tapatalk 2
I agree with HTC, DZ is enough massive phone, and mostly by metal casing, but people want more moblity. Personally I don't use my keyboard that much, but it's good feature anyway. Maybe one succesor could be released, but if not, they should release update for us. Comparing today's screens, touch input keys are almost as big as our's, so it's good standing.
Guys, we already have a thread about this lol! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1609162 I know we are all upset/frustrated by this news but let's remain calm and rational please
sino8r said:
Guys, we already have a thread about this lol! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1609162 I know we are all upset/frustrated by this news but let's remain calm and rational please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't announcing the fact, I was trying to find a reasonable explanation for this, given that HTC has not stated one clearly.
Anyhow, one thing is for certain - HTC's devices will remain top of the line. I, for one, hate Samsung's plasticky design, it feels cheap. HTC phones feel good in hand, and you can touch the quality.
And don't even get me started on the screens.
You have another post talking about same issue.
Enviado desde mi HTC Vision usando Tapatalk 2
..
I have a Wwildfire S and a GT 7.7, and still my mobile office is the DZ, just because it's so easy to use the sliding KB. There is no comparison between writing a lot of emails on a phisical KB and writing them on an onscreen KB, no matter how evolved the onscreen KB is.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z using Tapatalk 2
I never would buy an Android phone without hardware keyboard. A haptic keyboard doesn't compare to a touchscreen one even with swift or something like that when is comes to input of lage texts.
For a word or so a touchscreen keyboard is OK. But if this will becomes true and HTC does not produce keyboard phones any more, there are other nice alternatives out there..
Mike
HTC was my first choice on the smartphones. Then I decide to renew my phone I will buy Motorola Droid 4. I like touchscreens with physical keyboards.
Sent from my Desire Z flashed Virtuous G-Lite ROM 2.0.1
I love my hercules, but if I need to write sweet, thoughtful emails. Which one do you think I use?
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
bogdan5844 said:
Just think about it - the development and resources that go into a simple glass slab is pretty simple. The magic formula, if you wish, has already been brought to the table since 2007 - a black slab with a screen on top.
But a Hardware Keyboard phone, that's another story. In all the reviews of QWERTY phones, you see how they judge the feel, the grip, the resistance, the ease of use, the placement of keys. It's a whole domain of mobile phone research.
What the Desire Z brought new was it's „Z” sliding factor, which allowed it to be very slim compared to other QWERTY phones, especially „dumb phones” such as Nokia's C6.
The fact that HTC has expertise in this domain has been proven with the Touch Pro, the Touch Pro 2 and also the Desire Z. You can't argue the fact that 90% of the reviews praised the keyboards on these devices, although some caveats, such as the Desire Z not having a separate numbers row, haven't gone unnoticed.
Apart from the sliding mechanism, think about space. I saw the photos of the dismantled iPhone 4S. The battery in that thing takes about 80% of its space. The motherboard is tiny! I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar in our phones, too. Add in the complexity of a keyboard slider and you've got yourself a compromise a company with a rough financial year such as HTC isn't really willing to take.
To add new, more powerful components, you need space for heat to dissipate. You need space for fancier processors (LTE, new imaging chip, better GPU, etc) and that's already hard when you want to supply a battery which allows the user to enjoy the phone for more than three hours before it's dead. With the complexity needed to add a keyboard, you lose precious space which would be better off filled with mAh's rather than hinges and keys.
This is my take on it. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your take on it makes absolutly no sense what so ever with past history and current.
Reread it.
I miss my BlackBerry keyboard. Does anyone think that BlackBerry can bring the qwerty back, or is it doomed?
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
Borderpatrol1987 said:
I miss my BlackBerry keyboard. Does anyone think that BlackBerry can bring the qwerty back, or is it doomed?
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I know is that I'm buying this phone the very first day that I can. I'm still rocking a Droid 4. It's sooo ****ty and old and broken, and I just recently dropped it and cracked the screen. I thought my love affair with QWERTY phones was over, and was even looking at that Galaxy keyboard case thingy, until I heard rumors about this last month. Now I'm news.googling blackberry venice everyday for more information.... really ****in' excited to care about having a smartphone again
I hope it sells well and shows other companies that there is definitely a market out there for QWERTY phones. From what seems to be general knowledge, manufacturers killed QWERTY phones primarily due to the increased costs associated with repairs and such of the keyboard, and NOT due to lack of public desire!
Oh I hope so. I have been saying for years as Blackberry started to lose marketshare to Android and iPhone that they need to adopt Android so they could pick up the people who wanted hardware keyboards. Looks like they can put that to the test finally.
Now, if it does take off, I'd like to see Motorola bring back the Droid/Milestone based on the X line... unlocked, and sliding landscape.
Seems like it's too narrow to hold comfortably and type with two thumbs, no number row, etc.. They really should have slid landscape style like droid 4, even droid 4 keyboard looks bigger than this venice keyboard, yet venice overall looks bigger. If they'd done that, I think it would revive qwerty, the way it is, I'd say maybe helps, maybe hurts. Still want to hold it in my hands for myself and decide tho.
enigma9o7 said:
Seems like it's too narrow to hold comfortably and type with two thumbs, no number row, etc.. They really should have slid landscape style like droid 4, even droid 4 keyboard looks bigger than this venice keyboard, yet venice overall looks bigger. If they'd done that, I think it would revive qwerty, the way it is, I'd say maybe helps, maybe hurts. Still want to hold it in my hands for myself and decide tho.
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I was never a fan of the landscape qwertys. I always found them to awkward to use. I prefer portrait.
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I'm still rocking my Galaxy Relay on CM11. It's exciting to finally have a reason to get a new phone! And yes, I really do think this could revive the QWERTY phone. One major problem with previously released QWERTY phones is that none of them were true flagships. Relay is still one of the best out there, but stacked against the s3 (which came out at the same time), it was clearer an inferior device (only 480p screen, lesser camera). This will be the first time in a long time that a keyboarded phone is not just a compromise and is a full-fledged flagship. I think competitive pricing is key here. $499 would sell a lot of these.
Also, on the subject of landscape vs portrait keyboard, I have always used landscape, but I'm keeping an open mind with this one. Most landscape QWERTYs were super small anyway, so with the Priv's size might actually be as big as the landscape keyboards we're already used to.
Zer0.exe said:
I'm still rocking my Galaxy Relay on CM11. It's exciting to finally have a reason to get a new phone! And yes, I really do think this could revive the QWERTY phone. One major problem with previously released QWERTY phones is that none of them were true flagships. Relay is still one of the best out there, but stacked against the s3 (which came out at the same time), it was clearer an inferior device (only 480p screen, lesser camera). This will be the first time in a long time that a keyboarded phone is not just a compromise and is a full-fledged flagship. I think competitive pricing is key here. $499 would sell a lot of these.
Also, on the subject of landscape vs portrait keyboard, I have always used landscape, but I'm keeping an open mind with this one. Most landscape QWERTYs were super small anyway, so with the Priv's size might actually be as big as the landscape keyboards we're already used to.
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Your right about the price. If they try to go premium flagship, it will never sell. Why buy from a has-been when I can go with a hot name. If they undercut everyone on price, it will sell in droves.
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http://www.androidauthority.com/blackberry-ceo-john-chen-showcases-blackberry-priv-644712/ Welp, one thing was confirmed by John Chen and that's that the keyboard CAN in fact be used as not just a scroll wheel but a full blown mouse/ pointer! Certainly makes up for the lack of stylus for precision selection. Hype!
P.S. I find it adorable that Mr. Chen still didn't quite know how to use Android. Practice makes perfect, Mr. Chen!
I'd rather have a BB Classic. This seems gimmicky IMO. It won't sell well. BB fans love blackberries, not wannabe androids. I LOVE BB but since my curve 8900, I haven't felt the phone is productive enough to match my needs. Its sad really... I'd much rather own BB than Android
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