BlackBerry's iconic keyboard patent has expired
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LG had the best phones out of the box, hands down. But as soon as they're updated, they turn to shit. Excellent hardware, shitty after-sale support. I think that's what killed their phones.
Just last week I upgraded from an LG V30. It was still running Android 8 and the battery would only last half of a day but I loved that phone.
RIP LG phones, I will miss you.
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I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I'd heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would've kept them in the market if they'd launched it 5 years earlier.
I loved my BB Bold 9000, but the physical keyboard did reduce the screen size to a rather small form factor compared to modern phones. And I dare say that swyping is faster and just as accurate, so even if there would be new phones coming out with hardware keyboards of the same quality as old BlackBerry's, I doubt I would switch back.
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I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I'd heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would've kept them in the market if they'd launched it 5 years earlier.
Hopefully that means somebody other than Unihertz will make a keyboard phone.
I don’t need it to be super high end, I’d just rather not own a Chinese made phone with all the data they send back.
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Dolomite
I'm 40% dolomite
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They were so fantastic for gaming. I could actually see what was happening on the screen.
My HTC Desire Z (aka T-Mobile G2) got many years of extra use as a dedicated emulation machine for exactly that reason.
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I have a Unihertz Titan and love it. I guess they skirted around the keyboard patent. https://www.unihertz.com/products/titan
It's not three straight rows of keys with the other buttons on a fourth row at the bottom. That's what BB had a design patent for.
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So for 20 years, it wasn't possible for anyone but BlackBerry to manufacture phones with the revolutionary technology of... checks notes... keyboards, and now that it is irrelevant to modern devices, is free for anyone to use.
Patents should be abolished.
BB being able to protect itself from the big players is actually a success story of patents. The 800 lb gorilla's of the industry never made as good of a keyboard, but if they could have copied BB's superior design, they would have stomped them in a heartbeat.
There's a lot of shit about what happens for a dying company and selling patents and so forth that absolutely is scummy. Serious discussion needs to happen there, but calling for them to be abolished? That's just naive.
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The LG Env2 would have been the perfect smartphone form factor, change my view.
5 line keyboard!
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Forgot about this one. I loved this phone back in the day. Remember when it would say
DROIDwhen you booted it up?I had forgotten! Relive the magic: https://youtu.be/3vLMa5tq1tE
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I miss phone keyboards so much. I wish I still had a slide out keyboard
With all the craze to make phones super thin, soon they'll be so thin you could add a sliding keyboard on it, and it'll be thinner than phones of a year or two ago!
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I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I'd heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would've kept them in the market if they'd launched it 5 years earlier.
remember some of the older phones had a sliding keyboard from under the phone.
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My HTC Desire Z (aka T-Mobile G2) got many years of extra use as a dedicated emulation machine for exactly that reason.
In mine, the keys stopped working reliably, but it was still my favourite Android phone so far
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Just last week I upgraded from an LG V30. It was still running Android 8 and the battery would only last half of a day but I loved that phone.
RIP LG phones, I will miss you.
I still have my lg v30! It's not my main phone, but I keep it on for apps and other stuff I don't want to put on my main phone, and the battery still lasts me a whole day with moderate use. And yeah, the last update it had was in 2019. Truly a great company. But for me, the G5 was the GOAT!
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Hopefully that means somebody other than Unihertz will make a keyboard phone.
I don’t need it to be super high end, I’d just rather not own a Chinese made phone with all the data they send back.
There's the FXtech Pro-1, with a slide out keyboard, apparently the hinge is very good.
But it's pretty ancient by now and there's still no successor... I doubt it sold well.
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It seems to work terribly on iphones, even with Google's keyboard. (Source: one single iphone which was entirely uncooperative.)
Try going a little slower. That always makes it more accurate for me.
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With all the craze to make phones super thin, soon they'll be so thin you could add a sliding keyboard on it, and it'll be thinner than phones of a year or two ago!
I loved my N900. Think it would be doable right now with that thickness.
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I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I'd heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would've kept them in the market if they'd launched it 5 years earlier.
My 2001-era Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 PDA had the best slide out keyboard ever made, nothing has come close at all. A CF wifi card brought it so close to being a smart phone before there were smart phones.
I would buy it today as a phone if they'd just remake the original with an updated linux with QT equivalent option and updated screen hardware.
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Try going a little slower. That always makes it more accurate for me.
I use the Google keyboard at speed and it works great, while the iphone used in the same manner was completely impossible. Even the Google keyboard installed on the iphone was awful.
I'll try your tip and go slower. Maybe that will make a difference.
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So for 20 years, it wasn't possible for anyone but BlackBerry to manufacture phones with the revolutionary technology of... checks notes... keyboards, and now that it is irrelevant to modern devices, is free for anyone to use.
Patents should be abolished.
Patents should be abolished.
I disagree.
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I can't find any mention of it being on Kickstarter, but here's an early promo for it:
https://crackberry.com/clicks-iphone-brings-real-keyboard-back-smartphones
How's your experience using it? Do you keep it always on? And does the phone seem too big?
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