I want to start this off by saying, this is not an attempt at snark. This is a serious question.
With all the people abandoning BlackBerry, is there a market for a high-end keyboard Android device with a Bold form factor?
I use a 9900 right now. It's great as a communicator, but I want more. Well, I want tighter integration to Google services, and I want better Exchange support (out of the box please, no BES). BB10 looks really awesome, but I have this sinking feeling that the major apps just aren't going to be there. I just heard back from Lastpass, and they said "We'll be supporting BB10 with our Android apps via the Android player, hopefully that provides a solution for you." Not really, sorry. I was hoping for a natively written Lastpass app that tightly integrates into the BB10 browser.
Anyway, no matter what happens with BB10, BlackBerry is shedding users, and they have to go somewhere. I've been using a keyboard BlackBerry for ten years, and I'm very leery of touchscreen keyboards. Is that without cause? For you people who were once hardware keyboard users, how do you find the touchscreen? Is Swiftkey or Swype just as fast and easy to use?
So, is there a market? I've done some digging around and found what I think is all the qwerty phones. The Motorola Admiral has the "look" I was looking for, but the specs are seriously awful. The Droid 4 seems to be the highest spec phone, but I don't like the sideways slider. The whole point of a keyboard for me, is that it is always there, right there.
I'm thinking GS3/1x+ type specs, but Bold form factor. Would people buy it? Or is desire for qwerty candybar dead in the eyes of consumers?
I'd buy one. In fact if I could buy one I'd be heading out early from work today to pick one up.
With all the people abandoning BlackBerry, is there a market for a high-end keyboard Android device with a Bold form factor?
I use a 9900 right now. It's great as a communicator, but I want more. Well, I want tighter integration to Google services, and I want better Exchange support (out of the box please, no BES). BB10 looks really awesome, but I have this sinking feeling that the major apps just aren't going to be there. I just heard back from Lastpass, and they said "We'll be supporting BB10 with our Android apps via the Android player, hopefully that provides a solution for you." Not really, sorry. I was hoping for a natively written Lastpass app that tightly integrates into the BB10 browser.
Anyway, no matter what happens with BB10, BlackBerry is shedding users, and they have to go somewhere. I've been using a keyboard BlackBerry for ten years, and I'm very leery of touchscreen keyboards. Is that without cause? For you people who were once hardware keyboard users, how do you find the touchscreen? Is Swiftkey or Swype just as fast and easy to use?
So, is there a market? I've done some digging around and found what I think is all the qwerty phones. The Motorola Admiral has the "look" I was looking for, but the specs are seriously awful. The Droid 4 seems to be the highest spec phone, but I don't like the sideways slider. The whole point of a keyboard for me, is that it is always there, right there.
I'm thinking GS3/1x+ type specs, but Bold form factor. Would people buy it? Or is desire for qwerty candybar dead in the eyes of consumers?
I'd buy one. In fact if I could buy one I'd be heading out early from work today to pick one up.