Could Apple be taking a few steps backward?
According to an Apple insider, Steve Jobs is currently testing a version of the iPhone with a slide out keyboard, apparently aimed at the corporate world (But when he says the ‘Corporate World’, we all know he means the ‘BlackBerry World’).
“What he is apparently doing is canvassing the idea with operators. And he has taken this beyond just chatting: actual prototypes - not just mockups - have been sent to senior executives at some operators. I’m not allowed to even hint which operators… but I can report that the keyboard has “issues” which are not yet resolved.”
Issues being that Apple is even trying out the keyboard! I think its a stupid idea and wouldn’t expect to see it anytime soon. I don’t think a keyboard will ever be as sexy as a touch screen.
Note from Mr. Mayor:
At the same time, having a physical QWERTY keyboard is the one of the main things BlackBerry users hanker for. Touchscreen aint their ‘cup of tea’. With a fully functional QWERTY keyboard in-tow, could this new device take a bigger chunk of the corporate, Berry-loving market to the Apple side of the fence? Without a doubt this is what Apple has in their sights.
[via The iPhone Blog]
written by Councillor Ben \\ tags: iPhone, iSlider, QWERTY Keyboard, Rumors
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:02 am
Well I suppose it couldn’t hurt to test it… What if the second keyboard was a touchscreen as well? I’d just prefer a wider phone, maybe foldable; I’m writing on the touchscreen keyboard right now (and rather fast). In the end I see only see one solution for this: roll-up iPhones. Yes it’s possible and no I’m not kidding.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:17 am
Another idea: what if they put a port on the side for plug-in input devices?
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:28 am
If this IS true, and they ARE building a slider… if the keyboard has the same touch and feel of the new Apple keyboards… I’d be hooked.
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
Why not just enable a bluetooth keyboard interface?
Use any bluetooth keyboard you want. I don’t understand why bluetooth has been so crippled on the iiphone/Touch.
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:36 am
The biggest problem for me with the iPhone’s touchscreen keyboard is it somethings gets kind of laggy. I’ll hit a key and it will only pop up and click 1 second or two later. This just doesn’t happen with the physical keyboard on a BB. I want typing to be responsive. Sometimes the iPhone isn’t very responsive. A physical keyboard could also be bigger (as the picture suggests) and would leave more room for displaying the message on the screen.
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 am
What about Bluetooth or WiFi keyboards?
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
I don’t see why not? If you want a touch screen, purchase that one. If you rather have a slider, purchase that one. It only seems to make sense to have both options available.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I’d love to see a slider come to fruition. Now that I can see spending $199 on.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:07 am
I will definitely buy an iphone if it has the option for a physical qwerty board. I’ve gotten so used to my Crackberry that when I tried using my friend’s iphone, I loved all the other touch screen uses except for the touch screen keyboard.
I know of a few business friends who were so eager for an iphone and got rid of their blackberry that when they got their iphones. However, they returned back to BB because they missed the feel of the physical qwerty keyboard Blackberry offered.