The only physical keyboards I liked were the Danger Sidekick II and the Nokia 9000 both horizontal QWERTY. I was never a fan of the portrait layout of the Blackberry keyboards. I would love to see the Sidekick make a come-back provided the screen was not a touch screen or there was an easy way to disable touch. I rebooted a telco mainframe from a Nokia 9000. SYREI:rank=reload,reason="CV Updated" over telnet from the phone no less. Everyone around me stopped talking on their phone for 40 minutes.
To me the keyboards on iPhone and Android feel like they are from a different planet and made for garden gnome fingers but I did not grow up with these phones.
Those were nice. They were the very updated alternative to the Sidekick from Flextronics but still called a Sidekick from Motorola around 2006 or 2007 I think. I wanted one but they were recalled in my area because of some hardware bug so I was stuck with a flip phone.
I never daily drove a BlackBerry, but I have no idea how some people were so proficient typing on them. I was constantly smashing multiple keys with every press.
I recently got a new battery for my N9000, still works fine other than the radio modem not having a cell to talk to anymore, now I just need to update the system.
I am trying to think of a way in which BlackBerry keyboards can be considered to have a portrait layout. The only thing that disappointed me over the history of the BlackBerry was switching from the (morally correct) frowning key rows of the 957 and 7000 series to the (obviously evil) smiling rows of the 8000 and 9000 series.
I've noticed the keyboards on iOS and Android are getting taller and taller with extra buttons for things like password fill with no way to disable these features. I run a word guessing game(Redactle) and there is almost no room left for the actual game which really sucks!
The default Gboard keyboard has settings for always showing the number row, or only showing it when entering a password. There is also a setting for the "suggestion strip" under "corrections & suggestions". You can also drag to resize the keyboard itself in the Gboard menu, to scale the height.
Now, whether your users will do that to play your game is a different story, but the options exist.
The delta between modern soft keyboards and phone-size physical keyboards just seems too small to make the bulk of a physical keyboard worthwhile.
If someone is really "typing long emails or editing documentation with just their phone's touch keyboard" they're probably not doing that while standing/walking, so they're probably better off getting a little stand for their phone, and a portable Bluetooth keyboard, which will be far more functional than a keyboard for thumbs.
Seriously. I recently switched to a minimal phone which has a physical keyboard. I was pretty stoked to have one again but then the space bar broke after a few weeks. The failure rendered the entire phone immediately useless just like that.
The Blackberry Bold 9000 is the greatest handheld cellular device of all time. It's perfect. The Bold 2 was the last Blackberry device I owned and used as a actual phone before they started leaning into the black bar monolith. At that point the 'your holding it wrong' iPhone 4 was just better in that area.
The perfect form factor however is the Blackberry Passport which I now own as a little Cyberdeck device (managed to get a version running Android). The combination of touchscreen, keyboard swipe mouse cursor and physical keyboard is what every phone should be.
with Google's long-time push for adaptivity across candy-bar phones, foldables, tablets of varying sizes, desktops, and recently XR, I wonder how well modern apps will handle this new generation of keyboard phones :)
Thankfully Firefox has a mute button on every tab but I also frantically scrolled down the page looking for a video to stop, but it was futile - there is no video!? It's just a podcast, describing phones with keyboards? CNET really has fallen.
I had one of these (although in the states it was called the G2. I also had the G1) and fully agree, best phone I ever had. It was also the only Android I had that survived longer than 3 years. Regrettably, I have since switched to an iPhone.
And like everything else that's making a comeback, they're like a tenth as usable as they used to be. The hardware is awful in every way. Awkward and fragile. No worth the gimmick, you'll hate it in a day. No one can even make software keyboards anymore. There is no hope.
I had a keypad phone for less than 15$ and it was really great and portable/small.
Sadly it died one day some months ago and recently I contacted some shops to find what went wrong with the phone and it looks like the battery had some issue.
But luckily, its battery is removable so I can just buy a new one. I am gonna bring it in a few days maybe (if I get the time) but should take less than 2$
The amount of features in the phones (calling+storage/music+audio+messaging ie sms) and all others make it worth it, the only thing it doesn't have is internet/app access but I really loved the phone.
For context: It's the kaechoda k100. Its keyboard is physical but it doesn't show the buttons and looks really cool irl. The buttons only show when you click on them.
I remember one of my friends literally shout one day that I had Iphone Mini and the whole class was looking at me but it actually felt really nice phone and definitely better than my dad's old shitass redmi 1 gb phone android which was so slow.
the k100 had 32mb ram iirc. its crazy how snappy it was compared to the almost two magntitude larger 1 gb android ram phone.
Dumbphones are amazing given how cheap they are.
I think that personally a cool-looking dumb phone can/should actually-be given to kids for calling/safety-concerns without giving them the beast of phones if possible in situations but obv it depends on situation.
Although one of the things I wanted with the dumb phone was a Linux handheld.
I found this website just now https://mecha.so/comet#hardware so it would be interesting to see how the idea of linux handhelds pan out.
Dumb phone + Linux handheld seems good seperation of concern personally to me given how lightweight Dumb phones are. I have had them sometimes be lost in my pocket :)
Edit: But point be said that obviously they are very restricted for messaging purposes at times but I had optimized my typing speed for it to be like 1 word per second maybe 2 so for some basic things and even talking to some of my friends sometimes it was possible.
I was the only reason people used SMS sometimes in the world where mostly its whatsapp during my time with the dumb-phone.
The only physical keyboards I liked were the Danger Sidekick II and the Nokia 9000 both horizontal QWERTY. I was never a fan of the portrait layout of the Blackberry keyboards. I would love to see the Sidekick make a come-back provided the screen was not a touch screen or there was an easy way to disable touch. I rebooted a telco mainframe from a Nokia 9000. SYREI:rank=reload,reason="CV Updated" over telnet from the phone no less. Everyone around me stopped talking on their phone for 40 minutes.
To me the keyboards on iPhone and Android feel like they are from a different planet and made for garden gnome fingers but I did not grow up with these phones.
I really liked the Motorola Droid family of slider keyboards, also horizontal. Made for a very handy, pocket ssh terminal.
I still have my original Motorola Droid, I would buy one in a second if they came out with a modern version.
Those were nice. They were the very updated alternative to the Sidekick from Flextronics but still called a Sidekick from Motorola around 2006 or 2007 I think. I wanted one but they were recalled in my area because of some hardware bug so I was stuck with a flip phone.
I may be the only one who actually bought and liked the Moto Backflip. I wish a design like that would make a comeback.
I never daily drove a BlackBerry, but I have no idea how some people were so proficient typing on them. I was constantly smashing multiple keys with every press.
A smaller iPhone with a case that had a flip-out-from-behind keyboard would be pretty sick.
I recently got a new battery for my N9000, still works fine other than the radio modem not having a cell to talk to anymore, now I just need to update the system.
I am trying to think of a way in which BlackBerry keyboards can be considered to have a portrait layout. The only thing that disappointed me over the history of the BlackBerry was switching from the (morally correct) frowning key rows of the 957 and 7000 series to the (obviously evil) smiling rows of the 8000 and 9000 series.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry#/media/File:RIM_Bla...
I've noticed the keyboards on iOS and Android are getting taller and taller with extra buttons for things like password fill with no way to disable these features. I run a word guessing game(Redactle) and there is almost no room left for the actual game which really sucks!
The default Gboard keyboard has settings for always showing the number row, or only showing it when entering a password. There is also a setting for the "suggestion strip" under "corrections & suggestions". You can also drag to resize the keyboard itself in the Gboard menu, to scale the height.
Now, whether your users will do that to play your game is a different story, but the options exist.
Android allows custom keyboards. I like fleksy a lot but it hasn't been updated in ages with bugs creeping in.
iOS kind of does as well. But it's the bar above the keyboard that grinds my gears. Of course it was added in the sloppy liquid 'ass updates. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256177528?sortBy=rank
Have you tried Futo Keyboard? https://keyboard.futo.org/
If you're using gboard, you can resize the height of the keyboard
O notice the autocephalous is getting worse and worse every days.
The delta between modern soft keyboards and phone-size physical keyboards just seems too small to make the bulk of a physical keyboard worthwhile.
If someone is really "typing long emails or editing documentation with just their phone's touch keyboard" they're probably not doing that while standing/walking, so they're probably better off getting a little stand for their phone, and a portable Bluetooth keyboard, which will be far more functional than a keyboard for thumbs.
No, for the 5th time, they're not.
Seriously. I recently switched to a minimal phone which has a physical keyboard. I was pretty stoked to have one again but then the space bar broke after a few weeks. The failure rendered the entire phone immediately useless just like that.
I propose a sub section of Betteridge's law of headlines: If an article states "x is making a come back" the answer is usually no it's not.
I miss the days of physical keyboards. I spend most of my time correcting mistakes on these awful screen boards.
The Blackberry Bold 9000 is the greatest handheld cellular device of all time. It's perfect. The Bold 2 was the last Blackberry device I owned and used as a actual phone before they started leaning into the black bar monolith. At that point the 'your holding it wrong' iPhone 4 was just better in that area.
The perfect form factor however is the Blackberry Passport which I now own as a little Cyberdeck device (managed to get a version running Android). The combination of touchscreen, keyboard swipe mouse cursor and physical keyboard is what every phone should be.
with Google's long-time push for adaptivity across candy-bar phones, foldables, tablets of varying sizes, desktops, and recently XR, I wonder how well modern apps will handle this new generation of keyboard phones :)
What the hell is wrong with that site? It immediately starts playing audio and there’s no apparent way to stop it.
Thankfully Firefox has a mute button on every tab but I also frantically scrolled down the page looking for a video to stop, but it was futile - there is no video!? It's just a podcast, describing phones with keyboards? CNET really has fallen.
Seconded.
I never enjoyed the Blackberry-style keyboards, but I had an HTC Desire Z with a full slideout keyboard that I absolutely loved.
I had one of these (although in the states it was called the G2. I also had the G1) and fully agree, best phone I ever had. It was also the only Android I had that survived longer than 3 years. Regrettably, I have since switched to an iPhone.
I took part of an exchange program to the USA in 2009.
I vividly remember buying an HTC Dream (the HTC Desire Z's predecessor), and having to some sort of hack to make it activate with a European SIM card.
Absolutely loved the tactile feel of the keyboard, and the very satisfying mechanical click that sounded when you opened up the keyboard.
Looks nice indeed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZNtjYZaH8
And like everything else that's making a comeback, they're like a tenth as usable as they used to be. The hardware is awful in every way. Awkward and fragile. No worth the gimmick, you'll hate it in a day. No one can even make software keyboards anymore. There is no hope.
I had a keypad phone for less than 15$ and it was really great and portable/small.
Sadly it died one day some months ago and recently I contacted some shops to find what went wrong with the phone and it looks like the battery had some issue.
But luckily, its battery is removable so I can just buy a new one. I am gonna bring it in a few days maybe (if I get the time) but should take less than 2$
The amount of features in the phones (calling+storage/music+audio+messaging ie sms) and all others make it worth it, the only thing it doesn't have is internet/app access but I really loved the phone.
For context: It's the kaechoda k100. Its keyboard is physical but it doesn't show the buttons and looks really cool irl. The buttons only show when you click on them.
I remember one of my friends literally shout one day that I had Iphone Mini and the whole class was looking at me but it actually felt really nice phone and definitely better than my dad's old shitass redmi 1 gb phone android which was so slow.
the k100 had 32mb ram iirc. its crazy how snappy it was compared to the almost two magntitude larger 1 gb android ram phone.
Dumbphones are amazing given how cheap they are.
I think that personally a cool-looking dumb phone can/should actually-be given to kids for calling/safety-concerns without giving them the beast of phones if possible in situations but obv it depends on situation.
Although one of the things I wanted with the dumb phone was a Linux handheld.
I found this website just now https://mecha.so/comet#hardware so it would be interesting to see how the idea of linux handhelds pan out.
Dumb phone + Linux handheld seems good seperation of concern personally to me given how lightweight Dumb phones are. I have had them sometimes be lost in my pocket :)
Edit: But point be said that obviously they are very restricted for messaging purposes at times but I had optimized my typing speed for it to be like 1 word per second maybe 2 so for some basic things and even talking to some of my friends sometimes it was possible.
I was the only reason people used SMS sometimes in the world where mostly its whatsapp during my time with the dumb-phone.