Blackberry 10 preview

[howard]

Here's a preview of Blackberry's upcoming Blackberry 10 Smartphone OS. It's supposed to come in Q3 later this year. It's a pretty short video.

After the title you can see a Blackberry 10 device that looks a lot like a Nokia N800 Internet Tablet.

10 seconds: you can see that there's a 'universal everything box' which displays calendar entries and emails on one screen. Viewing an email does not take you out of the screen - rather the email comes out from the side of the screen.

19 seconds: someone calls. You can swipe down to answer, up to hang up.

21 seconds: There's a new on-screen keyboard. It looks like there is work prediction that lets you complete the word. The twist here is that the words are scattered throughout the keyboard. It looks cool but I can't imagine that this will work well.

36 seconds: A video is being watched on the device - later it shows up on a TV. You can do this with DLNA now on many other devices though I'm not sure if you can do it while the video is being played.

I like what I see so far but it's going to take RIM more than a slick OS to succeed. Just ask Palm.

What do you think? Excited?

[Mann Incognito]

I was supposed to attend myself but ended up staying back due to other commitments. I sent my colleague instead and last time we spoke he mentioned that the crowd was pretty much wowed by the BB10 demo. The virtual keyboard was definitely demonstrated better there than in this video and got a fair few people excited! I'll let you know next week as he'll be bringing back (my) dev unit with him

[lmcjipo]

Looks nice but with no physical keyboard, I'll pass and try to continue using my Bold 9700 for my messaging/e-mailing/chatting needs...

[howard]

It's going to be tough for RIM to satisfy their existing customers who expect a QWERTY form factor while coming out with something very modern.

[Linde]

It's going to be tough for RIM to satisfy their existing customers who expect a QWERTY form factor while coming out with something very modern.

Agreed. If I was looking for an all touch screen experience, not sure if I would get this Blackberry, given all the other options (Android, iPhone, etc). Guess I would have to see how it performs when it is released.

[DennyCrane]

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The physical keyboard will be coming, but probably not with the first device. I don't care how good the on-screen keyboard is, I need actual buttons. Looks pretty slick though.

[Supa_Fly]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry Bold 9900: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9900; en) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.190 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

The physical keyboard will be coming, but probably not with the first device. I don't care how good the on-screen keyboard is, I need actual buttons. Looks pretty slick though.

No you don't.

Why 90% feel they need physical keyboard:
Tactile feedback,
Spelling accuracy; real words not acronyms. Shortcut keys for quick actions & 1-handed operations. Screen real-estate when typing: iOS suffers the most here on iPhone vs competition so this is an isolated matter.

There is only 1 item above that remains to be perfected - tactile feedback. That pressure response of using it. There are already options for those visually impaired to use sw keyboards.

[DennyCrane]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry Bold 9900: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9900; en) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.190 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry Bold 9900: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9900; en) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.190 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

The physical keyboard will be coming, but probably not with the first device. I don't care how good the on-screen keyboard is, I need actual buttons. Looks pretty slick though.

No you don't.

Why 90% feel they need physical keyboard:
Tactile feedback,
Spelling accuracy; real words not acronyms. Shortcut keys for quick actions & 1-handed operations. Screen real-estate when typing: iOS suffers the most here on iPhone vs competition so this is an isolated matter.

There is only 1 item above that remains to be perfected - tactile feedback. That pressure response of using it. There are already options for those visually impaired to use sw keyboards.

I'm not saying I couldn't learn to like an on-screen keyboard, but it will never be like the real thing. Tactile feedback is very important when typing while walking, or while in a meeting where you can't really look at your device. I'm sure I'm being a little close-minded, but I stand by the opinion that a physical keyboard cannot be beat.

[Mann Incognito]

Agreed on physical keyboards. As good as the virtual keyboard on the PlayBook is, I don't need predictive text on a physical keyboard as I'm much less prone to making mistakes. I also type faster and more accurately.

Having said that, the videos I've seen of the BB10 keyboard are rather impressive and might just be a decent enough alternative for a traditional keyboard to make it comfortable to use on an extended basis. Cant wait to get my dev unit and try it out!

[Linde]

I love physical keyboards too, and again I am all for the tactile feedback and ability to type without looking. However with all the new cool apps and touchscreen phones coming out, with beautiful resolutions and displays, it is becoming tempting to want to change the keyboard for more screen real estate.

[lmcjipo]

Agreed. If I was looking for an all touch screen experience, not sure if I would get this Blackberry, given all the other options (Android, iPhone, etc). Guess I would have to see how it performs when it is released.

,

Same here.

Like my signature indicates, I have an iPhone, an Android phone, and a Blackberry. If I wanted a 100% touchscreen experience, I would not go with a Blackberry given the amount of applications compared with my iPhone and my Android phone.

[scottae316]

I have used iPhone 4, and the original EVO and now have a 9850 and a WP 7.5, virtual keyboards are okay but my first physical keyboard was on a Palm Pre and it was okay, then I had a 9800 and now have a 9810 and a 9930 and love the physical keyboard. If I want to type more than 5 words, I want the physical keyboard. I will get the first BB10 device if it is touch screen, but I will also have a physical keyboard when released. I think BB10 look awesome and it gives me hope that RIM is going to make it, but only if they deliver and do so in a timely manner.

[Supa_Fly]

I love a good challenge. Of ALL the post reply's after mine (quoted below) above - I still hear personal opinion reasons that more or less sound like preference.

Accuracy is a good rebuttal. But HOW that accuracy is obtained should NOT matter ... as long as it compares equally or favourably, efficiently or even faster SHOULD matter. Let's also ensure we're talking about smartphone keyboard accuracy and NOT a PC/Laptop keyboard accuracy ... their 2 different animals of comparison here. What I do find odd is the keyboard bunch don't harp on tablets having to ship with keyboards? Hmm. Their, like our smartphones are inherently mobile, have long battery lifespan and STILL have ability for significant data input.

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I'm not saying I couldn't learn to like an on-screen keyboard, but it will never be like the real thing. Tactile feedback is very important when typing while walking, or while in a meeting where you can't really look at your device. I'm sure I'm being a little close-minded, but I stand by the opinion that a physical keyboard cannot be beat.

Challenge Question:
1. How many words in an email on average do you type without looking at the keyboard the moment you hit Compose/Reply/Reply-All/Forward?!
2. Part two: how complex (the arrangement of letters & length of the words) are you typing on average in your week/month in your answer to number 1 above?
- words: the, to/two/too, in, at, cause (vs because), Blackberry (vs BlackBerry), color/favorite (vs Colour/Favourite) - consider this being region specific example here & its important in my direct challenge to Denny & indirect challenge to others - predictive, yacht, traditional, keyboard, extensive, predicament, moreover, coincidence/-dental, chiropractor, conditioning, compromise.
> notice how many vowels are used in the word examples above? pretty easy to type really on any keyboard, but now lets think about words used in the corporate space: Legal terms, accounting terms, project management terms, IT Tech terms or programming terms, administration staff. Don't quip this under the rug as is these fields that make up 90% of RIM's target focus for corporate market recently!

3. How often do you REALLY type on your BB withOUT looking at the keyboard and for HOW LONG?!
5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 or 30 seconds? How does the length of time affect your accuracy?!
More importantly have you really tested, recorded this accuracy over length of time to SEE if accuracy is YOU or AutoText typing accurately! This is KEY to this challenge and even something to heavily consider.

So ... who's up to meat all feats of this challenge?
- I purposely excuse Mark Rejhon from this challenge he has an incredible UNFAIR advantage but I'd LOVE to here his responses on this challenge/topic & his insight. To be honest I'm wondering if RIM would be smart enough to reach OUT to Mark & PAY HIM to help them improve upon the BB10 SW Keyboard algorithm!!!

[mikethaler]

Looks nice but with no physical keyboard, I'll pass and try to continue using my Bold 9700 for my messaging/e-mailing/chatting needs...

Same here. Unfortunately, our 9700 units won't last forever. When it dies, guess I'll have to go with an Android.

BTW - If you look at posts for the past 6 months, the hope was release by the end of 2012. Today's NY Times used that "figure". I normally add 2-4 months to any announced RIM "product available for sale date" - so I have assumed Spring of 2013. My old phone is working fine now - and may get a 9810 if mine does die later in the year.
I need a physical keyboard - so if it becomes clear in the next few months that RIM has abandoned keyboards altogether in future phones - I will get a 9810 as my last BB and worry about my next phone later.

[Linde]

What I do find odd is the keyboard bunch don't harp on tablets having to ship with keyboards?

Not really that important to mention, but a tablet with a keyboard is called a laptop .