Will BB ever ditch buttons altogether?
 

It's not a rumour I've really heard but more phones are becoming touchscreen now and im not sure I can cope without buttons.

Though I've never owned a touchscreen phone I've prodded at text entry on an iPod Touch and it didn't feel right. Maybe I would need to get used to it.

No.

Wirelessly posted (8820)

I don't plan on ever giving up the keyboard unless I have no choice.

Wirelessly posted (Lets Go Canes!)

I think we will see more hybrids but there will always be buttons.

If you look at the way RIM work these days, they are about expanding their range to give people more choices and reversing that trend just wouldn't be logical.

ditch buttons completely?

Ya....if they want to ditch their customers.

They'll always have a device with buttons, I would go as far to say as a majority of their devices will be keyboard based.

Don't get me wrong, we'll prob see touchscreen devices, and touchscreen w/ keyboard combos. I just don't see them ditching keyboards completely.

I would like to see the keyboard as is but be able to scroll the glass by touch. That may be the future

I agree that there will be more of the qwerty/ touch combinations, as I have an iPod touch but prefer to type on my berry!:) So hybrids or not, I believe that buttons are here to stay.

I was thinking the perfect phone for me would be slider BB, i.e. a BB with a keyboard and a touchscreen. I don't care much about the touchscreen but I'd like to have a nicer screen for browsing and videos. I read on another website that RIM is considering a slider BB and I am excited about it. Check the dseign

RIM Patents Slider BlackBerry! | CrackBerry.com

Personally I think the Storm would have been the ultimate device if you could have slid the screen up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard and have the touch screen. Similar to the drawing in the link you posted.

No way. That's how RIM still has a customer base. I got my 9550, and if RIM started producing only full touchscreen phones like this, they'd lose a ton of consumers. It's a real preference-based device.

Agree. I've had the Storm 2 for a week and am debating about exchanging it for a Tour. I have a Tour for work and find that when I need to make a call (even a personal one), I reach for the Tour because it still seems very cumbersome to use the Storm 2. The screen is very nice but it just doesn't seem as functional for me. I promised to give it a week and have decided I'll give it another week. If at the end of the 2nd week, I still can't get used to it, it's going back.

Missing my real keyboard.......

Both the Droid and the Palm Pre had the right idea but both have terrible physical keyboards. If RIMM could perfect the capacitative touchscreen/physical keyboard combo and still keep the phone compact, they would have a HUGE winner.

Anyone agree?

They would still need a better web browser but I hear that's in the works...

think dakota,

maybe in the future they will have something where the screen will have a more keyboardish feel to it,

[QUOTE=skottema;1514001]Both the Droid and the Palm Pre had the right idea but both have terrible physical keyboards. If RIMM could perfect the capacitative touchscreen/physical keyboard combo and still keep the phone compact, they would have a HUGE winner.

GENIUS!! they need to make a storm type blackberry, but it needs to have a slide out keyboard, similiar to the Droid, but the droid's qwerty is very difficult and obnoxious to use, so update and upgrade that.
Storm 3? maybe?

Although I don't want any physical keyboard, I will always want convenience keys, power & mute buttons, etc, that are always available and don't take up screen real-state.

I'm in for that. Touch screen - Meh - but bigger screen and a full keyboard: Where do I sign? (y)

Going to go out on a limb here and say, no. RIM has made a business model around their keyboards, why would you ditch them.

While it would be great for business (we make Bluetooth keyboards for BlackBerry's) personally I hope they don't.

I have had all sorts of smartphones with touchscreens and played with most of the latest ones but have to say nothing has been able to compete with my old curve and now my bold for ease of text entry.

As already mentioned though if BlackBerry made a touch screen device with a high res screen and a slide out keyboard I would be the first in line to buy it :)

One of the main reasons I don't switch is because of the keyboard. I would love to see a Hybrid Touchscreen/Keyboard in the future though. Keyboard for emails, sms, etc, while using the touchscreen for browsing, navigation, etc..

I can't ever see BB ditching buttons all together until the touchscreen keyboard is "perfect".