Good grief! Have you seen BlackBerry's square smartphone? Unveiled on Wednesday and already shipping, BlackBerry’s square-shaped Passport is a Marmite device – people will either love it or hate it. It’s quite uncompromisingly the most unusual smartphone in modern times. BlackBerry may as well have called it the “WTF”. BlackBerry Passport Trackpad-cum-keyboard on square phone – …
I am struggling to understand this... is the keyboard then just a touch-screen with letters glued behind it, like turning the onscreen keyboard on permanently on an iPhone? Or is it somehow a tactile keyboard with buttons, which is also a touch-pad (seems unlikely)?
It's a normal keyboard (in the fashion of past Blackberry devices) but with a capacitive layer on it meaning that you can use it like an oversized track pad (think the little optical pad in earlier devices but huge). I've seen a few demos of it and it looks really, really good.
It's a real physical keyboard, with proper shaped, physical keys that move just as they should when you press them. Just like BlackBerry are famed for.
It also a touch pad. And for a mobile device it's large. I'm assuming the screen is also touch enabled just like their other devices.
That's probably counts as being clever, or possibly cunning. It's also an improvement on the little track button that old blackberries used to have.
Yup, tactile plus touch pad - http://blogs.blackberry.com/2014/09/blackberry-passport-keyboard/
I can picture it as one of those things you really don't appreciate until you get to try it, ie scrolling webpages, documents, emails, pdfs etc while also having great screen estate, editing functions look great as well.
"getting good at swype, not sure I really want to go back to double-thumb-punching"
With the touchpad layer, I could see swype-style functionality being added. This would have the advantage that you could feel the keys as you swipe over them, and could be incredible.
It's not a bumpy surface at all as far as I can tell from the evidence presented so far - just a dedicated but flat touch sensitive area, much like the "physical" buttons of some smartphones: lit and touch-sensitive, but NOT actually MOVING discrete pieces of plastic. I may well be wrong of course, but then please [citation needed] of a video or review that actually shows those touch-sensitive keys DEPRESSED AND PHYSICALLY MOVING.
It's a proper keyboard, not just a touch sensitive screen.
The symbol key and numbers have gone - they appear in the screen above when needed.
Also allows autocomplete by swiping up on the keys.
Brilliant design. Not sure it will work for me, but nice to have something interesting around.
Look at the picture in the article. You can clearly see the reflections from the edges of the raised buttons. They look like they're a single sheet, but each button is raised slightly so they'll be able to be pressed and give tactile feedback.
I had a Samsung NV10 point & shoot digital camera years ago that allowed you to navigate the menus by swiping across the capacitive physical buttons on the back. It worked very nicely. This is (shock!) genuine innovation in the mobile phone sector.
They are physical, moving keys. You should be able to tell they're not flat just by seeing how the light reflects off them in the photos here. Of course, this is a phone keyboard, so the key's aren't raised all that much, so they shouldn't get in the way of swiping. You can do a quick search on your favorite popular video sharing site if you want a video.
BlackBerry acquired the company Movirtu last month which developed software for a virtual dual sim technology. In other words, it's a virtual second (or theoretically third, fourth or fifth sims) sim card that will allow you to have two phone numbers on the same phone functioning simultaneously.
Check it out, it's pretty neat :)
I'll try a few.
It doesn't have silly curved corners, but they're not dangerously 'shuriken' sharp.
The display is reasonable sized and a decent aspect ratio (not widescreen/narrowscreen, depending which way you hold it like every bl**dy thing else)
It's from a well known company but not one with huge numbers of fanbois and/or haters
The keyboard/touchpad looks like it will be easy to use, even for someone with largish fingers
This is probably their last chance. If it fits a standard inside pocket in a suit, a shirt pock and jeans, then the shape is OK. Less likely to get bent?
A real keyboard that is a touch pad sounds good if properly done.
Now if there was a Flip version same exact size (but a little fatter) with lid as 2nd screen able to fold underneath ...
"Less likely to get bent?"
Funny you should mention that:
http://www.cnet.com/news/even-blackberry-is-making-fun-of-the-bendable-iphone-6/
But need to see a few more hands on reviews and videos. Saw one review claim that every android app he tried crashes or didn't work and that you get a warning every time you install from Amazon app store and that one android app didn't work crashed constantly so he tried installing it from bbworld only for that to fail to install until he removed the android one... Looking at this review android apps should be fairly painless.. Hmm?
The price is a bit of a bummer too bit more expensive than I was hoping. Definitely gives me food for thought when renewing the contract soon though
I have been evaluating this device for a while. I have installed apps from BB World, Amazon Store and also from Google Play (via the sideloaded Snap application). The only app which I have experienced an issues with is Instagram which i downloaded from Google Play. Otherwise Google Maps, Banking Apps, Roku app, etc work absolutely fine.
Once you get used to the UI and how it works it really becomes indispensable. I have lot count of the number of times i have absentmindedly used the swipe gestures on my iOS device - only to think "FFS sake Apple you need to pull your finger out". The iPhone has been relegated to a test device...
This phone is DOA. One has to wonder why if this is such a good idea, why none of the other phone makers thought about it before? Maybe because, the vast majority of usability studies show that most people like a phone they can pocket, or they can easily slip into their pocket book. I guess once you get rid of over 60% of your staff, whatever is left isn't the most talented, or forward thinking bunch.
The best think BB could have done, was to continue their BB7 line, while BB10 catches on. By now BB7 devices would have cost $50 bucks, and would have help them retain a lot of customers who are now in the Apple and Android world and would never go back to BB.
This phone is DOA. One has to wonder why if this is such a good idea, why none of the other phone makers thought about it before?
All the current phone manufacturers see Apple making billions from producing the same old shaped slab with the screen on the front and a little button and decide to do the same thing and look how that is working out. It is a race to the bottom. The Samsung S5 was a failure (S4 owner here btw) and the Note 4 doesn't seem to offer anything than the Note 3 didn't. HTC and other firms are barely making profit on these things. At least if Blackberry are gonna go under they will go down fighting.
Maybe because, the vast majority of usability studies show that most people like a phone they can pocket, or they can easily slip into their pocket book.
There is a video on youtube where someone has helpfully compared it in size to other phones it might be considered with and it fits into pockets no problem. Maybe not skinny jeans, but that's not the target market here.
The best think BB could have done, was to continue their BB7 line, while BB10 catches on. By now BB7 devices would have cost $50 bucks, and would have help them retain a lot of customers who are now in the Apple and Android world and would never go back to BB.
I think Nokia have got the whole bottom of the market can't give them away market covered. BB7 is dead, but they should've done a QNX version of the bold design
Sadly, your comment that the Note 4 isn't really an improvement over the Note 3 is part of the problem. Because I can buy a new Note 3 32G for £330. As a second device for use in the "office" environment, am I going to buy an interesting but untested design with some clever features for £530, or an interesting and tested design with some clever features for £330? Or get the latest technology in a OnePlus for around that £330 mark?
This is about BB pricing. $600 US should be around £440 including VAT. £530 is sending the wrong signals, and if in a month's time it is £400 the word won't get round. They should have used the clever Oneplus marketing technique - get an invitation - and sold the first ones cheap to existing BB10 owners (or even offered a favourable trade in) to get mugs eyeballs on them.
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