Even though it’s been out for less than a week, I think that it is safe to say that the Palm Pre is an initial success. The Pre has a long way to go before it catches up with the iPhone or the BlackBerry, however, Palm has brought something new to the table in the way of it’s full landscape touchscreen and its physical slide-out keyboard.
I’ve been saying for almost a couple of years now that RIM should come out with a BlackBerry Slider and now that a legitimate competitor to the BlackBerry has one, I imagine that it is only a matter of time before they do. We know that RIM has already put out a few patents for mobile devices with slide out keyboards. We’ve even seen leaked BlackBerry product road maps that refer specifically to a ‘Storm Slider’ targeting European markets this year.
I believe that it is inevitable that both RIM and Apple will eventually offer devices with slide-out keyboards. The big question that I have, is which one will do it first?
New to the table? Shitty HTC phones have been coming with full touchscreens and slide out keyboards for years upon years.
Yeah, I probably should have said new to the table as far as Palm, Apple, and RIM go.
I so rarely talk about Windows Mobile devices that I sometimes forget about them until I see one of those poor souls that uses one.
Simple one here…RIM. They already make a solid keyboard. As for Apple, they are extremely conscious about aesthetic and a slide-out of some sort would really have to work well with the rest of the device. RIM has multiple models and can pump one out, where Apple has been pretty consistent with its annual launch/upgrade, thus allowing RIM to push one out fast and in between.
And I agree with Josh, HTC makes some crappy Windows devices IMO. It’s not so much that I don’t like the Windows platform (I immediately purchased the Treo 700 when it came out on VZW), it’s that it gets slow and sluggish, memory gets killed, constant crashes, and a browser that doesn’t cut it.
I would be kind of woried about the size but if RIM could keep the device thin without sacraficing durability I think that it would do well.
It won’t be Apple. Jobs absolutely HATES buttons
This was actually part of a roundtable I did at WES regarding predictions over the next three years. RIM’s been flirting with new form factors since the Pearl, and I think a slider BlackBerry is just a matter of time. Like you said, the patents show they’ve been kicking around the idea for awhile.
The only reason I don’t like the Storm is because it doesn’t have a physical keyboard. They all seem to work well with people with small hands and fingers but I do a lot of typing without looking at the keyboard. It is annoying not having a keyboard so I will stick with my new Curve until or if they do something like that.
Is the G1 with a combination of a slide out keyboard and a touch screen not serious competition? Maybe not, but with android, and hopefully even better phones to with Android on them, I think they may progress to that level.
I for one do not like the touch keypad on the Iphone or the storm, and definitely prefer a full tactile keyboard, so I hope RIM does go in that direction…with 3G included.
RIM will follow. Apple made the iPhone to show that a device could rely specifically and exclusively on a Multi-touch surface…Which they didn’t actually do, considering the volume rocker, home, camera and power buttons, but they did pretty darn good. I can’t see Apple wanting to undo what they’ve began just yet, or any time in the near future.