I don't think it has eclipsed physical keyboards though. I make tons of mistakes on my iPhone 11 keyboard and have to backspace and retype, sometimes several times because the predictions are persistently incorrect. It's supposed to learn from my mistakes but I've been training it for a couple of months and it still hasn't figured out my typing habits.
I've accepted that it is what it is. The iPhone is a better phone than any phone with a physical keyboard. But a physical keyboard is incontrovertibly superior to a touch-screen one.
I guess for most people, probably myself included, the tradeoff is still worth it, because most of what we do with our phones benefits more from a larger screen, than it would from a physical keyboard.
But, if I had a job that required me to write messages all the time, I would certainly consider a physical keyboard again. In fact I would even consider carrying a second device with it.
That said, I don't think going back to physical is worth it anymore, I found that getting a slightly larger touch screen phone made the keyboard just big enough that my typing became sufficiently accurate that I can live with it.
Yes, people like them, which is why when they and “lets use half the available space for a physical keyboard” phones were on the market together, the latter got slaughtered by the former. Physical keyboard win for tactile feedback (touchscreen haptics aren't even close), but lose in adaptability (can't switch positions or layouts dynamically for different languages/contexts/emojis/gifs/one-handed use/handwriting/etc, usable screen space when the keyboard isn't in use, and, plus, the screen is still breakable but smaller, but now you also have a bunch of breakable mechanical parts.
Not me. I want a phone that has a bit of ruggedness to it, will fit in my pocket and leaves some room round the edge of the screen for me to hold the damned thing, without triggering some unwanted app or function.
1) successful consumer business
2) lose in the market so pivot to b2b
3) slow long decline
4) sell brand / assets to somebody else
5) new money results in a “hey we are going back to our roots” and launch products they originally were known for
6) finally go out of business for real, or sell remaining IP to a troll
[0] https://www.christenseninstitute.org/disruptive-innovations/
Motorola, IBM Thinkpad, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Fujitsu computers
They were starting to lean more towards consumer features in 2006 (reluctantly adding a media player!) but the iPhone forced them into the consumer market.
Instead of worrying about apps (previous war), they could invest in a Rust-based browser and WebAssembly for mobile devices, building on their security strengths. Allow the 'mobile' device to dock with USB-C to a desktop display and keyboard, and you've got a WFH story for security-sensitive apps/data. They have enough proprietary security software to sell on top of WebOS.
Convert Blackberry Messenger to IETF MLS (open-standard E2E encrypted group messaging) and enable interop with Matrix and other apps/platforms that embrace MLS, while (re)creating a business identity network. By focusing on open standards and honoring their heritage in email/chat and physical UX, they could provide a usable alternative for high-end users who favor productivity and security without lock-in. Yes, BB was once the king of carrier gardens, but Apple is now a garden to be escaped, not emulated.
There may be Firefox browser engineers recently on the market, who can hit the ground running with variations of the above strategy. LG, lead developer of OSS WebOS, does not compete with QNX or Blackberry. QNX remains an undervalued gem. A hybrid OSS+proprietary model can bridge BB past & future, but it requires vision from Blackberry, not only a new brand licensee.
QNX is doing fine in cars, shame it never really got a chance. The 2 screen Doom and rebooting drivers over the network showed some amazing stuff.
The only moat to keep users they had was their messaging app, but Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp killed it with interop. And it's not like their userbase was as valuable as, let's say, Bloomberg chat.
Give me a Q10 with a higher resolution display, better camera, USB C, and you got yourself a banger.
Sadly the Key2 physically was a step back from the comfort of the KeyOne. I hope this device actually stacks up, or they finally decide to make an official physical keyboard attachment for some other popular devices
I've given up on swipe typing. I have been using it for almost a decade and I still cannot type effectively with it. I am ready to go back to physical keys.
I swear swype typing seems to have gotten progressively worse since it's early days, I suspect as machine learning from public data is relied on more than personal mechanics.
And also as the pool of users became more diverse, especially older (fat finger users like my parents) and less tech knowledgeable (ie don't use shortcuts or "hidden" features like swiping the spacebar, etc).
I used to be able to rely on muscle memory to swipe, but now that just seems to beg for the wrong result.
I know I'd pay a premium for a blackberry or htc tilt-2 style physical keyboard.
At this point, I'd almost go back to pocket typing with a physical dialpad and T3, circa 2000 style.
One minute, I'm amazed when I've swyped a sentence using some of my favourite slang words [or even made up words / nicknames etc] and found it's been transcribed perfectly. The next, I'm staring in disbelief as it inserts some completely off the wall term like 'albatross' or 'dar es salaam' for a really everyday word.
Bad title, the original is "OnwardMobility Announces Agreements with BlackBerry and Foxconn Subsidiary FIH Mobile to Bring BlackBerry 5G Smartphones to Market" which I might summarize as "Foxconn Subsidiary Licenses Blackberry Brand".
This thread is pretty good though. Sometimes a lame article generates good comments.
> The maker of super-tough phones largely sells them to large business and industrial customers, but it also has products at all three major US carriers.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme...
I tried to do without a keyboard for two days, but I just can't do it, and got myself a new unit from Planet.
I guess I'm an old-skool kind of user, my primary app is termux + openssh for doing my mail and irc remotely, but the keyboard is good enough to do the occasional sysadmin and coding work - and that's not something you'd typically do on a blackberry.
I highly recommend this device. It has its flaws, but it's unike any other device available at this time.
Both the Gemini and the Cosmo look almost perfect as a portable terminal - the only thing I can see missing is usb-c power delivery for docking.
I have noticed they put MediaTek CPUs into their devices. Personally, I had bad experience with MT chips in various devices and they are putting me off to try out any of Planet PDAs. What is the Gemini performance in your opinion?
And others have; I'm typing this comment on a Gemini (Planet Computers).
Although being able to load GSIs on the Titan feels amazing!
Sounds like the ideal tradeoff. I've never seen one in real life however, so that tells me how big the demand for a physical keyboard is.
[0] https://www.zdnet.com/article/samsung-keyboard-cover-for-gal...
I was really impressed at how the mini BT keyboard 'just worked' on my odd setup of Ubuntu running on Apple hardware. It's pretty tolerable to type on --at least for shortish stuff like web searches and naming files, etc. and it goes for a week or two on a charge.
