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Hardware Keyboard vs Touchscreen Keyboard

Being used to touchscreens for years now, i wanted to know from some of the veterans of mobile phones how the transition from hardware kb to touchscreen kb was.
Do you think hardware keyboards are still worth it or have touchscreens taken over and provided an accurate replacement to the real thing?
Also how are you liking the Thunderbolts touchscreen and keyboard(s)

ray5780 said:
Being used to touchscreens for years now, i wanted to know from some of the veterans of mobile phones how the transition from hardware kb to touchscreen kb was.
Do you think hardware keyboards are still worth it or have touchscreens taken over and provided an accurate replacement to the real thing?
Also how are you liking the Thunderbolts touchscreen and keyboard(s)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having had numerous phones over the years.. the one thing I value on a hardware keyboard is that I don't have to look at it to type
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App

I love hardware keyboards. Pity they are not as common these days.

i would love to know the thoughts on this matter from all the major rom,kernal,theming contributes. Thanks adryn for dropping in my thread

I've had a ton of phones. Recently I came from the Samsung Omnia (touch screen) and went to a BlackBerry Tour. I did love the BlackBerry keyboard and I think most know they have one of the best hardware keyboards out. Ok- maybe that's just my opinion. I had the same question as you prior to upgrading to the thunderbolt. If I had to do it all over again, I'd still get the Bolt. No issues with the touch screen. Yes, you have to look at the screen like Adrynalyne said, but they have come a long way. I think I can type as fast or faster on the touch screen vs my BlackBerry. I think you'll be fine.

I had a G2 and I do miss the keyboard it had. It didn't take long to get use the touchscreen because I had several touchscreen keyboards before the G2. I wish Verizon would release a good HTC phone with a physical keyboard. ......I really miss the G2.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

you can't swype on a physical keyboard... and I can't do without swyping (I use FlexT9).

I came from a blackberry bold and the keyboard is the only thing I miss dearly. I could type almost as fast as I can on a PC with that thing. The Thunderbolt's screen is large enough that it's adequate but it will never be like my blackberry. I'm hoping Verizon/HTC releases a 4.3" with a hard keyboard eventually.

Vbosch1 said:
I've had a ton of phones. Recently I came from the Samsung Omnia (touch screen) and went to a BlackBerry Tour. I did love the BlackBerry keyboard and I think most know they have one of the best hardware keyboards out. Ok- maybe that's just my opinion. I had the same question as you prior to upgrading to the thunderbolt. If I had to do it all over again, I'd still get the Bolt. No issues with the touch screen. Yes, you have to look at the screen like Adrynalyne said, but they have come a long way. I think I can type as fast or faster on the touch screen vs my BlackBerry. I think you'll be fine.
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Click to collapse
went the exact same route lol, I had the Omnia first, screen wasnt that great so i was wanting a hard keyboard. I ended up losing the Omnia and replaced it with a blackberry tour liked not having to look at the screen when texting, replaced the tour with the thunderbolt and no regrets big upgrade over the omnia

I went from a blackberry tour to a droid to a droid x then my thunderbolt. The biggest adjustment for me was going from the tour to the droid. The droid's keyboard sucked at first, but then I got used to it. I never thought I could get used to a touchscreen, but as soon as I started typing on a 4.3" screen I loved it. I'm actually faster now on my tbolt since its a wider aspect ratio than my droid x.

I liked having the slide out keyboard on my droid a lot. It's not a big deal using the screen on my TB to type, but flipping over my droid to play with the NES emulator was the ****. Playing emulator ROMs with a touchscreen sucks a lot

52brandon said:
Playing emulator ROMs with a touchscreen sucks a lot
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Click to collapse
I will have to disagree with this one. I play N64, SNES, GBA, GBC, and PSx on my Thunderbolt flawlessly.

My last phone, Sidekick LX 09, had one of the best hardware keyboards I've ever used. I could easily get 70 words per minute on that thing.
I hated the thunderbolt's keyboard, but I installed Swype and it's a little better, every once in awhile I'll sound like I'm drunk when typing with it, but for most of the time it's pretty consistant. I do have to look to type though, didn't have to look with my old Sidekick

I went from an HP Jornada 680 -> HP Jornada 728 -> iPaq 4355 -> Samsung i760 -> Touch Pro 2 (best keyboard ever) -> Droid 2 -> Thunderbolt, and the Thunderbolt is the first smartphone/PDA I have ever had without some sort of physical keyboard. I thought I'd get used to it, but frankly, its driving me nuts. I have been thinking about going back to my Droid 2, but I like having my bootloader unlocked, locked in my unlimited 4G for $10/month, and simultaneous voice and data on 3G.
So, I am going to try to see if I can make a slide-out bluetooth keyboard for this thing. I already ordered the parts from China but it will be a few weeks. My family has some plastic molding tools so I'm gonna give it a shot. Something that can just snap on the back like a hard case and be very low profile.
I don't see why HTC couldn't make a slate phone that has a removable back, and they could sell "backpacks" for extra $$ for it that you can attach so you can have a physical keyboard if you want it, or some other kind of add on. Something sort of what ASUS did with the Transformer and the keyboard dock making it into a netbook for people who wanted that. Win-win, and they are blowing everyone else away in Android tablet sales.

Keyboard cases that aren't terrible?

So recently, I got sick of my Samsung Epic 4G despite it running the latest Android and being, generally, a great phone. I decided to go to the S4 when I saw bluetooth keyboards were available for it. I like the idea of slider keyboards as my Epic has a five row one that works flawlessly. I'm now asking for any keyboards that people have found that aren't god awful.
So I bought this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MJ0V5E/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And it is honestly the worst product I have ever bought. Not only is it IDENTICAL to every slider case that exists on amazon (A lot of different brands, too), it has MANY problems.
-The buttons are hard to press down
-The space bar is the width of two letter keys across. TINY
-Delete key is intuitively placed BETWEEN KEYS.
-Delete key is also the size of one letter key.
-No spacing between keys
-Caps and FN keys are not toggle-able.
-Only a 4 row keyboard, so numbers are "FN" buttons
-This requires holding down the FN key to use a series of numbers
Overall, it was the biggest disappointment in my life. It's bad enough where I'm selling the S4 and going back to my Epic. If anyone finds a good BT keyboard and wants to stop me from making this decision, by all means. And there's a white version floating about that's exactly the same that prices anywhere from $30-90.

Go back to your epic. If you really need a slider keyboard THAT bad then this isn't the phone for you. Doubt you'll like any bluetooth keyboard.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4

elflip88 said:
Go back to your epic. If you really need a slider keyboard THAT bad then this isn't the phone for you. Doubt you'll like any bluetooth keyboard.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been waiting on a post like this for a while. I'm in the same spot. Love my Epic, wish I had 3 extra processors.
I've been looking at this case recently:
http://www.hypercel.com/best-sellers/bluetooth-keyboards/bluetooth-keyboard-case-galaxy-s4-white
and am waiting on some feedback as I'd hate to go all in only to be let down.

elflip88 said:
Go back to your epic. If you really need a slider keyboard THAT bad then this isn't the phone for you. Doubt you'll like any bluetooth keyboard.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the problem that there's really only one bluetooth keyboard. If one is to look on Amazon, they all have an identical design, aside from the ones that really are full-sized keyboards.
The problem is that the iPhone crowd started a trend of "buttons are so barbaric". Every phone company jumped on board because adding a keyboard meant higher manufacturing cost. Back when the HTC Touch Pro was on the market, it was thee biggest phone. Now keyboard phones are released with last-years mid-range specs. To get latest specs, you have to axe the keyboard. I simply don't know why Samsung doesn't release their own BT add-on. It's possible, and with a real company behind it, it might actually be a good add-on. There wouldn't be so many clones on Amazon (and there are near a hundred different "companies" that released the same bluetooth keyboard on Amazon) if there weren't a significant amount of buyers.
dannyzen said:
Been waiting on a post like this for a while. I'm in the same spot. Love my Epic, wish I had 3 extra processors.
I've been looking at this case recently:
http://www.hypercel.com/best-sellers/bluetooth-keyboards/bluetooth-keyboard-case-galaxy-s4-white
and am waiting on some feedback as I'd hate to go all in only to be let down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the exact same keyboard only in white. The fact that it's $80 adds layers of insult to injury. Sorry man, wouldn't make the purchase.
I mean, this add-on makes the phone significantly thicker than my Epic, but I'm a guy. They put pockets on our jeans.

TPMJB said:
It's the problem that there's really only one bluetooth keyboard. If one is to look on Amazon, they all have an identical design, aside from the ones that really are full-sized keyboards.
The problem is that the iPhone crowd started a trend of "buttons are so barbaric". Every phone company jumped on board because adding a keyboard meant higher manufacturing cost. Back when the HTC Touch Pro was on the market, it was thee biggest phone. Now keyboard phones are released with last-years mid-range specs. To get latest specs, you have to axe the keyboard. I simply don't know why Samsung doesn't release their own BT add-on. It's possible, and with a real company behind it, it might actually be a good add-on. There wouldn't be so many clones on Amazon (and there are near a hundred different "companies" that released the same bluetooth keyboard on Amazon) if there weren't a significant amount of buyers.
It's the exact same keyboard only in white. The fact that it's $80 adds layers of insult to injury. Sorry man, wouldn't make the purchase.
I mean, this add-on makes the phone significantly thicker than my Epic, but I'm a guy. They put pockets on our jeans.
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Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/TOP®-Wireless-Removable-Bluetooth-Keyboard/dp/B00D03KVYE/ref=pd_sim_cps_4
http://www.amazon.com/Arbalest-Remo...&sr=1-16&keywords=wireless+keyboard+galaxy+s4
These look like the other option you have, but I don't see anything else. The delete key seems to be in a better position.
i prefer physical kb also. not sure the battery drain from having bt on all the time would be worth it.

Phatdawg said:
http://www.amazon.com/TOP®-Wireless-Removable-Bluetooth-Keyboard/dp/B00D03KVYE/ref=pd_sim_cps_4
http://www.amazon.com/Arbalest-Remo...&sr=1-16&keywords=wireless+keyboard+galaxy+s4
These look like the other option you have, but I don't see anything else. The delete key seems to be in a better position.
i prefer physical kb also. not sure the battery drain from having bt on all the time would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*sigh*
I'm wondering if I could frankenstein something out of my spare Samsung Epic and my S4. Would likely require more know-how with the software than I currently have.

epic 4g is still a great phone, the most ergonomic i've ever used and the keyboard really comes in handy not only for typing but as a "holder" to view the screen & navigate
these days i use it as a remote/mouse when i hook my PC up to the tv and it works flawlessly

Any new QWERTY Android on the horizon?

Hi everyone, my Relay 4g, thanks to all devs, rocks. I'm even thinking about buying a new one and keeping it in its box - in my experience, phones with hinges and moving parts such as this one do not last long.
We are part, I'm afraid, of a very small niche in the market - no one wants QWERTY phones, or atthe very least no one seems to want to supply them. Has anyone seen any rumor on new/upcoming Android qweerty phones?
Thanks!!

It's sad but no. I've researched a huge amount of materials but I wasn't able to find newer phone on the market than Relay since 2012.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using Tapatalk

http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_f3q-5998.php
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I saw it: nothing interesting except LTE, which is useless in my country, and display even weaker. But it's my IMHO nevertheless
Sent from my SGH-T699 using Tapatalk

demkantor said:
http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_f3q-5998.php
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
haha specs of that are less than relay in terms of processor, chipset, and camera...thats such a suckerpunch

http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/16/the-app-store-is-proof-were-in-idiocracy/
This is why there aren't QWERTY devices. People don't do anything with their pocket computers..

orange808 said:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/16/the-app-store-is-proof-were-in-idiocracy/
This is why there aren't QWERTY devices. People don't do anything with their pocket computers..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think part of the problem is that QWERTY for many people is one of those things that you think you can live without... until you try it for some time.
Then you go back to a normal smartphone and you notice how much you don't say because it's a nuisance to type with an on-screen keyboard. You actively avoid having a meaningful conversation or replying to complex e-mails until you get to a pc (yes or meet in person, but lots of far away friends).
*sigh*

rad30n said:
I think part of the problem is that QWERTY for many people is one of those things that you think you can live without... until you try it for some time.
Then you go back to a normal smartphone and you notice how much you don't say because it's a nuisance to type with an on-screen keyboard. You actively avoid having a meaningful conversation or replying to complex e-mails until you get to a pc (yes or meet in person, but lots of far away friends).
*sigh*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely! I can hardly explain the significance of hard keyboard to something but I cannot already live with usual phone myself
On-screen keyboard is a total s**t!
Therefore I've bought second Relay already)

rad30n said:
I think part of the problem is that QWERTY for many people is one of those things that you think you can live without... until you try it for some time.
Then you go back to a normal smartphone and you notice how much you don't say because it's a nuisance to type with an on-screen keyboard. You actively avoid having a meaningful conversation or replying to complex e-mails until you get to a pc (yes or meet in person, but lots of far away friends).
*sigh*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you've hit the nail on the head. my first smartphone was the original samsung blackjack (windoze mobile 5, later flashed to a custom 6.1 rom i think), and it was a blackberry style phone. when i tired of that, i got a samsung continuum, which was touch-only. not only was the device massively defective (had to return it so many times, vzw let me get a different model phone), not having a keyboard sucked for actually doing anything. so i got a droid 2 - slider qwerty. that one had its flight license revoked after a high speed impact with a wall, and was replaced with my current droid4. the d4 is slowly dying and its battery can't be (easily) replaced, and i want away from big red, so after much research, i decided that the relay is the best-specced qwerty slider on the market right now - especially sad since the just-released f3q or whatever actually has WORSE specs than the relay. so i bought a relay yesterday - found a local tmo store that had some open item stock and bought one for only $125. now i have to learn how to root, flash, and all that all over again - sammy stuff is WAY different from moto.
because i can actually use my phone for damn near everything (including RDP into the dell poweredge in my garage), i haven't even turned on my desktop pc in all of 2014. granted, i have a work laptop, but i don't have admin rights on it so i can't use it to work on my new relay. might have to commandeer the wife's laptop for that.
when i'm forced to use someone else's touch-only device (including my wife's sgs3 and tab2 7"), i quickly get frustrated by the on-screen keyboard. haptic feedback is no replacement for tactile buttons. that's why touchscreen sucks in a car, and why i hope the Tesla Model E (or whatever they're going to call it now) doesn't have 100% touch controls like the model S and model X. some touch is fine and appropriate in a car, but for some things, having a real knob or button is more efficient and safer. but i digress. calling these phones a "pocket computer" is 100% accurate. maybe someone will come up with a way to make those tack-on bluetooth keyboards not suck so much (like maybe they can clone the droid4's keyboard - it's nicer than the relay's, IMHO) or make it even bigger and make use of the space provided by these phablets out there now. i wouldn't mind carrying around a galaxy note if it had a good slider qwerty on board, and let me shrink the fonts to make better use of that big screen. alas, i just don't see that happening.

Gibson99 said:
you've hit the nail on the head. my first smartphone was the original samsung blackjack (windoze mobile 5, later flashed to a custom 6.1 rom i think), and it was a blackberry style phone. when i tired of that, i got a samsung continuum, which was touch-only. not only was the device massively defective (had to return it so many times, vzw let me get a different model phone), not having a keyboard sucked for actually doing anything. so i got a droid 2 - slider qwerty. that one had its flight license revoked after a high speed impact with a wall, and was replaced with my current droid4. the d4 is slowly dying and its battery can't be (easily) replaced, and i want away from big red, so after much research, i decided that the relay is the best-specced qwerty slider on the market right now - especially sad since the just-released f3q or whatever actually has WORSE specs than the relay. so i bought a relay yesterday - found a local tmo store that had some open item stock and bought one for only $125. now i have to learn how to root, flash, and all that all over again - sammy stuff is WAY different from moto.
because i can actually use my phone for damn near everything (including RDP into the dell poweredge in my garage), i haven't even turned on my desktop pc in all of 2014. granted, i have a work laptop, but i don't have admin rights on it so i can't use it to work on my new relay. might have to commandeer the wife's laptop for that.
when i'm forced to use someone else's touch-only device (including my wife's sgs3 and tab2 7"), i quickly get frustrated by the on-screen keyboard. haptic feedback is no replacement for tactile buttons. that's why touchscreen sucks in a car, and why i hope the Tesla Model E (or whatever they're going to call it now) doesn't have 100% touch controls like the model S and model X. some touch is fine and appropriate in a car, but for some things, having a real knob or button is more efficient and safer. but i digress. calling these phones a "pocket computer" is 100% accurate. maybe someone will come up with a way to make those tack-on bluetooth keyboards not suck so much (like maybe they can clone the droid4's keyboard - it's nicer than the relay's, IMHO) or make it even bigger and make use of the space provided by these phablets out there now. i wouldn't mind carrying around a galaxy note if it had a good slider qwerty on board, and let me shrink the fonts to make better use of that big screen. alas, i just don't see that happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you ever need help setting it up or unlocking it and all that ill be glad to help and guide you to the right threads

What's really sad is that every manufacturer has such a huge lineup (including stupid curved versions of phones that are more expensive and worse than the original uncurved version --- looking at you Samsung) and yet nobody can squeeze out a qwerty with a modern chipset.
The Relay is indeed a keeper! Hope this great community can go on collaborating and updating it for the next few years

I think i will buy another relay to keep in storage! The f3q does not look great:
http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/lg-optimus-f3q.html
And not a lot of dev in the horizon:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2650840&page=4

Easiest way to get aosp is piggyback off a popular device, like we did for s3. I spoke to the LG guys at CM. Nobody is interested in the f3 (non qwerty) or the f3q. I'm personally waiting for project ara

Nardholio said:
Easiest way to get aosp is piggyback off a popular device, like we did for s3. I spoke to the LG guys at CM. Nobody is interested in the f3 (non qwerty) or the f3q. I'm personally waiting for project ara
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The LG Feck really doesn't seem like a new device, so I'm not surprised.

F3Q? No... absolutly not an option to "upgrade".
http://geekaphone.com/compare/Samsung-Galaxy-S-Relay-4G-vs-LG-Optimus-F3Q
The parameters are worse than relay. But F3Q is the ONLY qwerty android released 2014. Sad. Very sad.

NO!
sorgo said:
F3Q? No... absolutly not an option to "upgrade".
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Click to collapse
Strongly agree. It's a piece of s**t

endangered species listed here
qwerty android phones:
http://www.meetgadget.com/gadget/#/gadget/category/Cell Phones/?f[3373][]=4764&f[7178][]=9439
gsm qwerty android phones:
http://www.meetgadget.com/gadget/#/...?f[3373][]=4764&f[7178][]=9439&f[3327][]=4772
side-sliders qwerty android phones:
http://www.meetgadget.com/gadget/#/...s/?f[3373][]=4764&f[3341]=4486&f[7178][]=9439
I am really considering buying another relay to have another one backup phone just for the day when the qwerty phones will be absolutely extinct in the future.

Guiyoforward said:
I think i will buy another relay to keep in storage! The f3q does not look great:
http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/lg-optimus-f3q.html
And not a lot of dev in the horizon:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2650840&page=4
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Click to collapse
Agreed. And Relays seem to remain available through ebay. The prices vary: I've seen some as cheap as $170 and as expensive as $250, but at least they are consistently available from various vendors. And I'm talking brand new still in the package with the plastic. But this may not last forever, though, so yeah, getting two might be in order.

RodimusConvoy said:
Agreed. And Relays seem to remain available through ebay. The prices vary: I've seen some as cheap as $170 and as expensive as $250, but at least they are consistently available from various vendors. And I'm talking brand new still in the package with the plastic. But this may not last forever, though, so yeah, getting two might be in order.
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Click to collapse
yes, I bought mine (used device) in november for $125 (plus shipping and import charges, it was ~ €150). Now the lowest price for a device listed as NEW is $163. The only problems I had to replace the screen protector and now my display flex cable is starting to die. Maybe a good idea is to by one for spare parts too But I would recommend to buy a new one just to make sure that the keyboard mechanism isn't used too much.

I have the non-qwerty F3, and it would be seriously better with 8-16x the internal storage. It does have LTE (awesome if you're in an area where T-Mobile is serving it up), better RF performance (better dBm levels in 2G and 3G areas, at least), and amazing battery life, but the lack of internal storage is its Achilles heel. Naturally, they couldn't be bothered to upgrade that when they tacked on a keyboard, and there seems to be nothing on the horizon with regard to custom ROMs.
I dragged my Relay out of storage, popped my SIM into it (had to use an adapter since the F3 uses a Micro SIM), and fired it up again. Then, less than 24 hours after I take the CM plunge, CM development for the Relay grinds to a halt.
What a shame, since, other than a couple of rough edges (the AOSP calendar isn't as good as LG's calendar, and LG's calendar isn't as good as Samsung's, and also I can't sort contacts by last name) I like what I see with the M8 release.
What I am really starting to hate about the smartphone market is that every damn phone seems to have some sort of stupid $#!+ somewhere. Nexus 5? No removable battery, no external SD - the latest fashion! Recent Samsungs? Region locked, even if it's a "soft" lock and I'm unlikely to travel overseas anytime soon. Aren't they also locking the bootloaders on the S5 and Note 3? Don't even get me started on Apple's walled garden. Google seems to be steadily inching in that direction as well, as everything gets shoved into Google Play Services. The LG G3 looks promising (they brought back the external SD and the removable battery, yay!) but it's a flagship phone with a flagship price, and it's anybody's guess whether there will be any custom ROMs for it. Also, the buttons on the back make it useless with my windshield bracket.

Blackberry Venice to the rescue?

Hi,
Like many of us, my Photon Q (s) have been getting a bit long in the tooth, although I still believe that we own the most capable Android device with hardware keyboards.
Finally there's apparently a new keyboarded Android on the way;
the Blackberry Venice looks pretty nice. I wonder how expensive it will be. Rumors suggest that it will be available in the November timeframe, and will have 3GB of RAM.
Any thoughts on why one would or wouldn't buy this device? Is there some other newish keyboarded device which I haven't heard of? Frankly I would keep my Photon Q indefinitely, if either (a) there were truly stable custom KitKat ROMs and/or (b) it had just a bit more RAM and/or onboard storage.
This is a nice video which was posted a few days ago.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/18/9352471/blackberry-venice-android-phone-video

looks pretty interesting to me!
lets hope it hits the market soon.
maybe Blackberry's gonna revive this way

That keyboard just looks small, no number row, and I imagine it won't be as comfortable to hold and use keyboard as our style.... but until I have my hands on it, can't really judge, but I think I prefer the landscape type keyboard sliders like PhotonQ. Maybe it's super light and holding it while typing with both thumbs does work somehow, but looks pretty narrow... I dunno...

New slider coming out

This has been rumored for a while now, but this seems to be more concrete:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...android-phone-the-priv-will-launch-this-year/
BTW, this place has been completely dead for a few weeks now, and the last nightly is dated Sept 6. I tried several months back to start building my own ROM images, but before I got all the way there, someone else stepped up. Before you vanish completely, I might like to try this again, especially if someone can help me get started. I remember one file in particular that I don't know if I did correctly, perhaps it was "local.manifest", or something like that. If I can get running, with a bit of assistance, I can start putting up nightlies, if not nightly, at least at some interval.

I dunno, I kinda don't like the way the keyboard is. The keys seems too small. I'd like a keyboard in landscape mode.
Also, being by blackberry means rooting won't be as easy.

I couldn't agree more with you tpmjb about wanting a landscape keyboard phone, but i think this a big move for blackberry and warrants our support if we ever want to see another qwerty android device ever. The priv is getting allot of press and i think allot of people are excited about it. I also believe that the capacitative thingy for s6 was made because they heard about it ahead of time.

chuckiev79 said:
I couldn't agree more with you tpmjb about wanting a landscape keyboard phone, but i think this a big move for blackberry and warrants our support if we ever want to see another qwerty android device ever. The priv is getting allot of press and i think allot of people are excited about it. I also believe that the capacitative thingy for s6 was made because they heard about it ahead of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed my mind, I'm buying the Blackberry Priv. I figure it will be rooted before too long, and I'll probably get used to the keyboard. Also, this phone has severe problems with GPS, which I use to get around everywhere.

At $700, very few people will be purchasing a Priv. There will be no development community for the device.
There are plenty of people that want a keyboard, but that desire will not make hundreds of additional dollars magically materialize.
Furthermore, a $700 device should have 4GB and an 810 under the hood. The Priv forces compromise with 3 gigs and an 808.
QWERTY is dead.

No designated number row.... the main reason I chose the Relay over the Glide... well, that and lack of bluetooth phone calls in jb4.1+
I've been following the blackberry for a while and the rumors of them going android, really hoping somebody comes out with a horizontal slider.

Rumors say it has dual boot os. Android and bbos10

orange808 said:
At $700, very few people will be purchasing a Priv. There will be no development community for the device.
There are plenty of people that want a keyboard, but that desire will not make hundreds of additional dollars magically materialize.
Furthermore, a $700 device should have 4GB and an 810 under the hood. The Priv forces compromise with 3 gigs and an 808.
QWERTY is dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you buy a Samsung Galaxy S6, you can take advantage of certain economies of massive scale. If you choose a Priv, the economies of scale aren't the same. And so you won't get the same value for money.
Still, the price of the Priv will fall over time.
Plus, I suspect that, six months or a year after its release, it'll be possible to buy a used or refurbished Priv for far less than $700. Then you can use your Priv with a deep-discount carrier — a carrier which doesn't offer handset subsidies, but which offers ultra-cheap plans.
Alternatively, if you're with a carrier which offers handset subsidies, you may be able to sign a long-term contract and buy a heavily-discounted Priv. You can then pay your carrier back over time.

Looks cool but its t9 not qwerty
http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_w2016_highend_clamshell_gets_official_in_china-news-15129.php

orange808 said:
At $700, very few people will be purchasing a Priv. There will be no development community for the device.
There are plenty of people that want a keyboard, but that desire will not make hundreds of additional dollars magically materialize.
Furthermore, a $700 device should have 4GB and an 810 under the hood. The Priv forces compromise with 3 gigs and an 808.
QWERTY is dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually SD808 is atleast as good as SD810 or even better. SD810 is thorttling too much and it is not stable in every day use. Take a look at here: Thermal Throttling – Which SOC’s are the Worst Offenders.
Qwerty sliders are dying but you have to be creative. I modded my own qwerty slider from Xiaomi Mi4C and iPhone 6 bluetooth keyboard case: Qwerty Keyboard Slider [DIY]

phred14 said:
This has been rumored for a while now, but this seems to be more concrete:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...android-phone-the-priv-will-launch-this-year/
BTW, this place has been completely dead for a few weeks now, and the last nightly is dated Sept 6. I tried several months back to start building my own ROM images, but before I got all the way there, someone else stepped up. Before you vanish completely, I might like to try this again, especially if someone can help me get started. I remember one file in particular that I don't know if I did correctly, perhaps it was "local.manifest", or something like that. If I can get running, with a bit of assistance, I can start putting up nightlies, if not nightly, at least at some interval.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know why they even came out with Priv cause there was already Q5 & Q10...and on top of that most big shot Companies think people (Or everyone is a Text-Crazed Teenager) only use phones for texting and emails... ... ...those are pretty much the same and most simplistic things people will do with a phone besides Facebook... BLACKBERRY, MOTOROLA, SAMSUNG...I use my Relay at one point to replace my Computer (Dell D800 which start to run at 600MHz and 1GB RAM)...Stop with this Marketing Target business.
We the customer aren't Programmers or Teenagers, we don't need an iPhone or Phones that match with what we wear (Motorola)...we need Convenience...hence why you -blackberry- lost the market cause you keep pushing out small screen -but bigger than Nokia- phones that didn't really improve much (NO NUMROW, worst is the Sony Xperia sk17 (Mini Pro, 3") and sk16 (Pro, 3.7"), both have the exact same keyboard...3.7" and they didn't put Numrow or Okay Button). Had they had the size of a S3 or a 4" screen-phone-size with the Keyboard or not make the mistake like Symbian -Nokia E6, Touch with Buttons on Screen design for DPAD- they couldn't lose there market, but Priv is show us how Blackberry needs to let go or improve its model, not make more nostalgia (I don't know if that is right) while thinking its the big screen that everyone loves (If iPod had a Stylus instead of Touch, people would look at that like its a Color Palm Pilot...as where touch is better based how you control it).
Me when I saw Passport and Priv, I laughed my butt off, only Trenders will buy. I was even thinking Blackberry was going to actually come out with a Landscape Slider at one point and make a video with the Song "I want to know that, want to know that, will you Love me Again" playing...but snap Blackberry, Storm (My Twin Sister first Bought it, I wasn't even into Phones until 2012...born 1992 and got a Relay in 2015...made in 2012) was fail for me cause of putting 1 clicker in the Center of phone instead of 9-13 or 16-20 (Top/Mid/Bottom+Left/Center/Right to Between Center/Corner=4 or to Quarter of Size or to Fifth of Size or even put more at the bottom for the keyboard)...you guys should have built a fake plastic prototype of that feature (1 Hard Clicker to 13 Mid-Soft Clickers unless the 1 made it seem hard) cause had it not failed it would have been like iPhone 6 pressure screen...
Blackberry thinks that only 1 Phone is the Best, but Truly they Grew when you went from Pearl to Bold, etc and bold to Q5/10 (Had they made Torch like that), but Priv or Private -as I call it if it becomes Landscape Slider then Lieutenant and Colonel- is why Blackberry shouldn't design Hardware Form.
They are 100% correct about software cause I can Play PSP and Edit Word Docs on my Android and Hackers figured out a way to play all PS1 on PSP, but Sony's Devs couldn't (Embarrassing).
The only reason I have a PC is literally cause I'm doing online schooling and the website needs Internet Explorer or Google Chrome or else the interaction might slip up on a Mobile Device...other than that the only reason I bought a Vostro 14 is because it can play PS3 equivalent games (Skyrim, Saints Row, etc)...so I don't need a PC or the Lastest Android (GingerBread was my World and now JellyBean, in fact an LG Ahola has a keyboard with Prediction, where as my Relay doesn't...Relay is 4.1.2 and LG Ahola is 2.1 with 600Mhz CPU & 256MB RAM...it really depends on how you design it...even Motorola Defy Pro had it too...also Relay doesn't have a OKAY Button so if I highlight/select text (Shift+Left/Right) with Keyboard and touch to use Copy/Cut, the selected text disappears)
And funny thing today -Octo-core is 2xQuad-core CPU with 4 low & 4 high power- same thing I said ever since I got my first Phone -A Nokia 5000-6000series- I need something for note taking and I'm pretty sure that doesn't require a very fast Computer or computer at all (Cause now Tech is getting better)...if anyone is smart they stop with Big Screens and go to built-in Project-on-to-screen-like-a-flashlight or Project-to-a-screen-via-cable...cause I once saw a Phone design as Processor that goes into a Tablet...
There are so many things and ways of doing any thing, but Blackberry choose Portrait Slider...over Landscape and no alternative...when they've been using Landscape the Whole time (I know this contradicts before, but not increasing the Screen Size is what was Blackberry's Downfall)...In fact I just realize when has Portrait been used in an electronic besides Reading Text Material (Like on actual Paper) cause Televisions and Computers don't have Portrait Screens, I would use Word Doc and Landscape Shaped Window even if page is Portrait and the thing I see most people use big scr.een phones for is Videos...in Landscape...I read my Comics in Landscape (Cause Portrait is small).
Portrait is for the Quick and Easy or Simple Stuff (1-Hand)...Landscape is for 2 Handers and yet people who design for Portrait still put the things you need to Touch at the Top of the Screen...I only need Time at Top if I need to see it at the Lock Screen not when I am using the Phone.
Sorry for variety of errors of Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, Sentence Structure, dotting my i's and crossing my t's (Joking on the last part). I didn't proofread much.
Best Keyboard was Motorola Droid 3 and LG C710 Aloha, but sadly there Hardware wasn't good.

Flash-A-Holic said:
Actually SD808 is atleast as good as SD810 or even better. SD810 is thorttling too much and it is not stable in every day use. Take a look at here: Thermal Throttling – Which SOC’s are the Worst Offenders.
Qwerty sliders are dying but you have to be creative. I modded my own qwerty slider from Xiaomi Mi4C and iPhone 6 bluetooth keyboard case: Qwerty Keyboard Slider [DIY]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate those keys, though. That's the same bluetooth case available on every modern phone. They change the brands a million times on Amazon, but it's the same case. Price varies wildly too.
Keys are wayyyyyy too close together. It's somehow faster to type each letter on a touch screen.

TPMJB said:
I hate those keys, though. That's the same bluetooth case available on every modern phone. They change the brands a million times on Amazon, but it's the same case. Price varies wildly too.
Keys are wayyyyyy too close together. It's somehow faster to type each letter on a touch screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not that bad. There is shaped buttons for better touch in my keyboard. I have seen different keyboard which are worse.

Flash-A-Holic said:
It is not that bad. There is shaped buttons for better touch in my keyboard. I have seen different keyboard which are worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh weird, where'd you get a 5 row case? I thought it was the ****ty 4 row case that's on Amazon, from the thumbnail on your video. I might just check it out
Edit: Wow, it looks exactly like my relay keyboard! I'm definitely interested! Every Amazon link I see is that awful 4 row keyboard.
...but not for $72 eee gad

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2016/12/blackberry-dtek70-mercury-leaked/
It looks like BB is about to release another QWERTY phone. But the times of slider keyboards are gone.

Guys... prepare your butts, the holy grail:
https://www.computerbase.de/2017-01/graalphone-4-in-1-notebook-smartphone-tablet-3d-kamera/
The GraalPhone!!! Next year in Europe and USA!!

Had my hopes up then...but look at the size of it! It's massive