If they'd focus on flagship-grade Android with Blackberry-style physical keyboards I'd be all over them. The Androids that have physical keyboards all have miserable hardware otherwise.
As it is, it's just a matter to which patent troll buys them for their IP portfolio.
I've got a bluetooth slide-out keyboard case for my galaxy. It obviously does make the phone thicker but being a case it's easy to remove on days when I have less pocket room.
I've considered them, yes. I have trouble finding any that fit my phone (HTC M8).
So while they're a good option, there are still a few advantages a built-in one would have and it would be nice to have a model that has a built-in keyboard without crapping out on other features.
When I first read about this I didn't want to believe it was as bad as the article made it sound. Unfortunately, it appears they were accurately reporting the contents of the blog post on the Blackberry website. I really like my Q10, but I fear its successor will not be a Blackberry, even if the company still exists by then.
AFAICT the only customer base RIM still has is companies. Who got VERY BIG EARS some time back when rumours were flying of dual-OS Crackberries (with Android as the 2nd OS). Where are those devices? I'm pretty sure they'd sell by the shitload - employers could keep their beloved central management for the Crackberry side of things, the sheep would get their beloved "apps", everyone would be happy about the good keyboards.
Heck, even I might be tempted to no longer refuse a company Crackberry if I could some personal use out of it.
The real issue is that most people[1] who've used a good touch keyboard[2] strongly prefer them to mini-chicklet keyboards, and both Android and iOS are starting to get better about "easily integrates in Enterprise" and "centrally managed".
The only thing Blackberry is best at is something the users give no shits about, and in (almost, depending on keyboard feels,) every other way they fail at something basic the user DOES care about.
[1]: The exceptions exist, and tend to be VEHEMENT, granted.
I'm one of the vehement ones. I use my phone primarily as a (written) communications device, so I'm willing to give up stuff I don't care about for a keyboard. I will note that I am getting into fitness monitors, and not having an Android or iOS really limits the options.
I find Swype+Dragon to be way faster and easier than Blackberry keyboards. The BB keyboard is too small for my fingers and I find the typing much slower than Swype. If I were stuck with a Blackberry, I'd want it to be one of the touchscreen ones - the larger soft keyboard is at least a little better than the physical keys, for me.
Of course, if I were stuck using a phone for any extended text entry I'd want a near-full-size bluetooth keyboard.
My exposure to anything but dumbphones is very, very limited, but I can say that the default onscreen keyboard HTC delivers with their Wildfire phones (2 generations, as I tend to xmas-present those to SWMBO) and that comes with CM10 are PURE UNADULTERATED SHIT, as is the 'droid "hacker's keyboard" appthing. Never used an Apple iThing, so no idea 'bout that - but if it's even WORSE than the 'droid stuff I've tried, ohdearfuckinggod.
I'm not familiar with HTC or Droid's soft keyboards, but that sounds similar to the default Android keyboard circa 2010, which was only marginally better than the iOS one.[1] If they haven't updated their default to the current Android Default, or to something even better like Swype, yikes. But luckily it's Android, you can just install a different keyboard.
Swype is great. Fast, simple, easy, accurate, and has really good voice recognition if you just want to talk to the phone instead of using your finger.
[1]: The main difference being that the Android one let you long-press for alternate characters and swapped the key to show you if the letter was going to be capitalised.
Another factor is that the predictive aspect on my Q10 is pretty good. I rarely type more than a few letters of any word before it is suggested at the bottom of the screen. When I am forced to convert to Android, I'll look for an app that mimics what I'm used to.
My every experience with Swype has been that it's an actively malicious presence; it's not just not helping, it's counterproductive in that infuriating way that only "not quite smart enough" stuff is. I'm not convinced there IS a "smart enough" when it comes to getting my thoughts into a device other than machine telepathy. Overall, I'd much rather the damned thing be stupid and make me rely on my own data entry skills.
Re Dragon/speech to text: The only time I should ever be talking into my phone is when there's a human on the other end, or if I'm crazy enough to be making an outbound call while driving.
Talking to someone over a cellphone (particularly hands-free) is obnoxious enough to everyone else that I'm loath to do it outside of the privacy of a car or my house (And if I'm in my house, I use real computers with uncrippled interfaces, or real phones). The whole point of using a text input on a phone is that you're NOT boring other people to tears with your inane (to them) conversation about what kind of juice to pick up or why you're late or whatever. Arguing with my phone about what website it should open has got to be even worse (I can't spell or pronounce all kinds of funny words, so don't tell me it'll understand me - sometimes even my partner doesn't understand me), and raises potentially more significant privacy questions.
I am one of those, and I don't believe that's the case. The flagship-grade androids that had QWERTY's sold very well and then they stopped making them because reasons. Hell, the Droid 4 sold well where it was available with subsidy in spite of having serious problems like an absurdly power-thirsty 4G radio.
The choice was made by a few major manufacturers in spite of market data, probably because they were trying to go after iphone-like money and margins.
I have tried swiftkey, swype, ASOP Android, Google keyoard proper and a few others. Right now I'm using swiftkey with the prediction turned down (useful but not enough to trust with default autocomplete) just to have a decent number row. Once in a while I go back to my droid 2 that now serves as a clock radio, and the physical keyboard always is superior-- and the droid 2's keyboard wasn't even the best out there.
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(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-26 05:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-26 05:39 pm (UTC)As it is, it's just a matter to which patent troll buys them for their IP portfolio.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-26 06:17 pm (UTC)I've got a bluetooth slide-out keyboard case for my galaxy. It obviously does make the phone thicker but being a case it's easy to remove on days when I have less pocket room.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zF2hOC8FL._SX425_.jpg
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-26 06:51 pm (UTC)So while they're a good option, there are still a few advantages a built-in one would have and it would be nice to have a model that has a built-in keyboard without crapping out on other features.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-26 07:39 pm (UTC)I really like my Q10, but I fear its successor will not be a Blackberry, even if the company still exists by then.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 12:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 01:24 am (UTC)When developer kits were available, there were interminable approval queues for apps.
Plus apps kept getting pulled for arbitrary reasons, with no refund of the $200 registration fee.
Plus apps had to be compiled at Java 1.3 (circa 2002-level technology), meaning coders had to rewrite basic utilities from scratch.
Plus the API was so poorly documented, nobody had any idea of how it really worked.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 02:42 pm (UTC)Heck, even I might be tempted to no longer refuse a company Crackberry if I could some personal use out of it.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 03:01 pm (UTC)The only thing Blackberry is best at is something the users give no shits about, and in (almost, depending on keyboard feels,) every other way they fail at something basic the user DOES care about.
[1]: The exceptions exist, and tend to be VEHEMENT, granted.
[2]: Anything except the iOS one, basically. Man, iOS's UI sucks.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 03:09 pm (UTC)I will note that I am getting into fitness monitors, and not having an Android or iOS really limits the options.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 03:21 pm (UTC)Of course, if I were stuck using a phone for any extended text entry I'd want a near-full-size bluetooth keyboard.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 03:30 pm (UTC)Never used an Apple iThing, so no idea 'bout that - but if it's even WORSE than the 'droid stuff I've tried, ohdearfuckinggod.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 03:44 pm (UTC)Swype is great. Fast, simple, easy, accurate, and has really good voice recognition if you just want to talk to the phone instead of using your finger.
[1]: The main difference being that the Android one let you long-press for alternate characters and swapped the key to show you if the letter was going to be capitalised.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 04:30 pm (UTC)When I am forced to convert to Android, I'll look for an app that mimics what I'm used to.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 04:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-27 06:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-28 04:39 am (UTC)PS: I also have a bluetooth keyboard for it, which is frankly one of the nicer keyboards I've used for mobile devices, and laptops too.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-28 05:26 pm (UTC)My every experience with Swype has been that it's an actively malicious presence; it's not just not helping, it's counterproductive in that infuriating way that only "not quite smart enough" stuff is. I'm not convinced there IS a "smart enough" when it comes to getting my thoughts into a device other than machine telepathy. Overall, I'd much rather the damned thing be stupid and make me rely on my own data entry skills.
Re Dragon/speech to text: The only time I should ever be talking into my phone is when there's a human on the other end, or if I'm crazy enough to be making an outbound call while driving.
Talking to someone over a cellphone (particularly hands-free) is obnoxious enough to everyone else that I'm loath to do it outside of the privacy of a car or my house (And if I'm in my house, I use real computers with uncrippled interfaces, or real phones). The whole point of using a text input on a phone is that you're NOT boring other people to tears with your inane (to them) conversation about what kind of juice to pick up or why you're late or whatever. Arguing with my phone about what website it should open has got to be even worse (I can't spell or pronounce all kinds of funny words, so don't tell me it'll understand me - sometimes even my partner doesn't understand me), and raises potentially more significant privacy questions.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-29 02:29 pm (UTC)The choice was made by a few major manufacturers in spite of market data, probably because they were trying to go after iphone-like money and margins.
I have tried swiftkey, swype, ASOP Android, Google keyoard proper and a few others. Right now I'm using swiftkey with the prediction turned down (useful but not enough to trust with default autocomplete) just to have a decent number row. Once in a while I go back to my droid 2 that now serves as a clock radio, and the physical keyboard always is superior-- and the droid 2's keyboard wasn't even the best out there.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-04 02:47 pm (UTC)