New RIM keypad patent; RIM looking for parts more breakable than its trackball?
If you think the trackballs on RIM’s popular BlackBerry handsets are prone to breaking, just wait until the keypad described in one of RIM’s latest patents is realized – if it is ever realized. While a design of this nature would allow RIM to build a significantly more narrow handset, it would also seemingly be infinitely less usable and fragile. Three rows of the device’s keypad would be positioned on the face of the handset beneath the display. Standard 0-9 keys would be present an accessible at all times to allow standard usage. When used for messaging however, keys located on the devices side panels fold open to provide a full QWERTY or SureType keypad. Yes, trying to use a BlackBerry with a jumpy trackball can be pretty annoying but try using a BlackBerry after half the keys snap off…
[Via Cellpassion]
Why can’t RIM replace the trackball with an “optical mouse” that’s showing up now on recent WinMo devices? No moving parts. No stuck/dirty/jumpy trackball to clean or replace. Better accuracy IMO. But of course we’re talking about RIM here. Apart from the innovative click screen on the Storm, I’ve yet to see anything else remotely innovative on any of their models, and I’ve been monitoring them for quite a while.
Yup -if you own a BB for over a year, and text like a girl rehashing everything her day included from parking at the mall taking too long, to the guy who asked her out that wasn’t cute, to how she was 10 minutes late to work, in a year, you’d wear it out or get some debris in it that’d make it stick or not register movement. There’s not a lot that can be done about it though, and you can always open it and clean it, or get new pieces for 10$.
This latest iteration is probably DISINFORMATION, not a sincere production idea. What would you hold while you were texting, carefully, the unsupported keys?
And yes, the OS does need some refinement, and stability improvement, and SORT ENABLED MESSAGES or even better, THREADED SMS! They need an APP-Store, they need better multiple-recipient-sms features. New design feature? How about a real qwerty flip phone .. ala VX1000 LG? How about fixing the 3g battery life? How about making them thinner, and longer so that my mouth lines up to the mic and noise cancellation can become as good as it was before it landed on my cheek? Baby-steps…..
Wow, what’s with all the animosity on this post? Everyone just needs to calm down and stop biting everyone’s proverbial heads off.
I’ve only heard of trackballs failing when people stick foreign objects in them or pour liquids on it. I’ve gone through three BlackBerrys and not one has had hardware issues.
Oh, and the new patent looks like it could be ridiculously fake. Is it just me?
I’ve been using Berries for awhile and never had a trackball issue. That being said I have a buddy who is on pearl number 3 because of trackball issues. These are phones people, they break, all of them.
As to the patent, its ridiculous. I am a thumb texter and can’t even imagine how to wrap my thumbs around this beast.
Does anyone remember the ThinkPad (701?) with the butterfly keyboard that flipped out when you opened the screen? This looks pretty similar. It was actually quite durable and you could pick the whole thing up by the keyboard, no problem. But that was on a laptop, not a mobile so it remains to be seen if this can be implemented similarly.
Never ever seen a BlackBerry trackball break, and I’m a BES admin. I’ve also had 6 or 7 BlackBerries of my own, and never had any more trackball issues than occasional stickiness.
In all seriousness, the RIM bashing here is pathetic. First the Storm return rate BS, then this… whatever.
Although I heartily agree; that keyboard sucks. As has been said, I hope it’s just a blocking patent, not a production model.
This is the 9190 NinjaBerry.
It will never see a public release.
Ninjas will be given these so when someone recognizes us, we flip out the keyboard and have a throwing star.
Plus the trackball flips out and turns into a bowl and you toke from the speaker port on the top, because they had to be high as shit when they came up with this idea.
Okay people, take a deep breath and settle down. I can’t believe the caustic comments that are in some of these posts.
Whether we are BlackBerry fanboys or Apple fanboys, can’t we all just get along? BTW, I’ve had BlackBerrys for more than four years and so far nothing has broken down.
PEACE.
- CB
How hard is it for rim to make a decent slide out keyboard with full screen a la iphone and htc shift keyboard with the hinge
It can’t be that hard…. can it?
Yeah lots of love for BGR here as well, but I have NEVER read a post of a general trackball issue, ANYWHERE! Of course haven’t read every post on the web, but c’mon that’s a stretch. WOW you guys are starting to get on my nerves with the statements that lack merit.
Do you know how to recognize a BB fanboy?
Show them the most stupid, ridiculous BB Keyboard idea ever created.
And watch them jumping crazy mad to defend… the track ball.
.
Do you know how to recognize an iPhone fanboy?
Show them a touchscreen, any touchscreen. Even one from 2002, like the Samsung SPH-i730, which is a large, silver touchscreen phone. Watch them get all “IPHONE RIPOFF ZOMG”
It’s just as bad on both sides.
This doofus pinhead’s never used a Blackberry. That’s obvious from his bogus disparagement of BB trackballs. As a matter of fact, I bet his fried brain’s about the size of a trackball.
When’s US Cellular getting a new BB? PUH-LEEZE let it be before my hair starts to turn gray!
Wow. Defending the trackball that was stolen from Tmo’s Sidekick 3? LOL. Blackberrys suck. I feel I am qualified to make that assessment since I stupidly enough bought one 2 months ago after all the back and forth between BB and SK users. I’ve been a SK user since the 2. I have the 2,3, and LX all fully functional and sorry Blackberry, they pwn you. Also I have barely used the wretched thing and guess what…the trackball already sticks. Lucky for me I’m on flexpay…switching to a SK acct and selling this unlocked POS very soon.
Lol, seriously go ask any retailer if they have had a problem with blackberry trackballs! They will more than likely say yes…they may not tell you the newer ones but the original curve models and many many many blackberry pearls have had issues! Its a very common issue amongst the blackberry and the only reason I know this is because I’ve been researching them for about 2 months cause I’m thinking about getting a new device.
(Stumbled across this doing patent research for one of my own inventions)
Way ugly keyboard. However, just because the person who drew the patent application figures drew something horribly. I hated the drawings on one of my earliest inventions and I hated them even more after the patent issued — I have quite a few patents and I hang them on the walls of my home and office and there is nothing worse than a horribly ugly cover page on a patent. As regards the fragility of that keyboard, I’ve already come up with several ways to make it more durable. And that’s usually the secret to inventing — coming up with a variety of ways to solve a perceived problem, picking the best, then seeing if someone came up with them before you. Edison tried hundreds of different ways of making an electric light bulb filament. Cut Blackberry some slack on this one — the drawings are ugly, but the result may be far sweeter. And that’s what happened with my patent — drawings ugly, finished product very sweet.