All this 4G technology -- and no physical QWERTY keyboards???

[davishusband]

most of the people that want a actual keyboard are typically less tech savvy people so the only phones with a full keyboard are in most cases going to be mid-range or low-end phones.

i would be really surprised to see a high end phone with 4g and a physical keyboard.

Less tech savvy that's ridiculous. The Droid 3 just has a kickbut keyboard. Its leaps and bounds ahead of Iphones with Siri.


Proud of my bloated D3, I don't miss unstable roms on my D1 at all!

 

[tgyberg]

Siri: please make a 4G slider phone for these nice people! (Ok, we'll see just how good this is!)

 

[kodiak799]

I'm hoping with more memory and faster processor, along with improved voice recognition in ICS, that I will do mostly speech-to-text on the Nexus Prime.

 

[tuffD1]

How can having a physical keyboard be "less tech savvy"? Isn't having an extra feature better? Sliding out my keyboard is like showing off. Oooo I'm typing on my screen. Oh Snap! Now I'm typing on my keyboard. What's the matter? Your screen all smudged from your cheeto greased fingers. Slide out your keyboard... oh wait, you can't Anyways, I would like a 4g slider. Hopefully from MOTO.

Sent from my Droid¹

 

[psychicdroid]

Have to say a physical keyboard is the only thing I'm missing on my Bionic. I seriously hate on screen keyboards. With my physical keyboard on my old phone there wasn't any question what letter I was typing. On the virtual keyboard it's always fun to see what is going to come up. Gets really irritating when I have to delete the word 3 or 4 times using swype just to wind up having to type it in letter by letter and deleteing letters 5 or 6 times cause the stupid keyboard doesn't want to put in the letter I'm after. My texting has gone way down since I got the Bionic, just because the virtual keyboards are so frustrating to use.

 

[takeshi]

I'd love to have 4G, but the physical QWERTY keyboard is a /must/ in my line of work (IT professional and regular Linux geek). :motdroidhoriz:

Really? I'm in IT and there's no need for a physical keyboard. It's your preference.

..really? I can't be the only gadget geek around that wants 4G with a decent qwerty keyboard

Even all the gadget geeks make up only a tiny fraction of the market. The "average Joes" are the majority. It's a pretty common mistake for geeks and forum users to overestimate their makeup of the overall market. Keep in mind that millions of devices are sold.

How can having a physical keyboard be "less tech savvy"?

It's not. It's a nonsense generalization. Physical keyboards are just not in general demand.

Isn't having an extra feature better?

Depends on who you ask. Better is always highly subjective.

My texting has gone way down since I got the Bionic, just because the virtual keyboards are so frustrating to use.

Which ones have you tried?

 

[tjk629]

DROID 4 will most likely have LTE and a keyboard. Though, don't expect it till June 2012.

Personally I could go either way. I don't miss it on my Bionic.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[Hawaiian Princess]

Stratosphere is coming out in a few days, maybe check into it?

 

[tuffD1]

"It's not. It's a nonsense generalization. Physical keyboards are just not in general demand."

The demand for a physical keyboard seems to be pretty high in this thread. Just saying.



Sent from my Droid¹

 

[tjk629]

"It's not. It's a nonsense generalization. Physical keyboards are just not in general demand."

The demand for a physical keyboard seems to be pretty high in this thread. Just saying.



Sent from my Droid¹

Doesn't really say much.

This thread has 25 replies, and Verizon has 106.3 million subscribers. Not saying they all don't want a keyboard, but there's a chunk of them that don't.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[REMilk]

I consider myself one of the older geeks. Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in the early '70s and have been a systems programmer. I cut my teeth on 'punch' paper tape and punch cards. Today, I continue coding in java and other programming languages.

I use the onscreen keyboards for very short text messages, for logins and URLs. I find the onscreen keyboards unwieldy for long messages or docs. For long items or when working on a Word document or spreadsheet on "QuickOffice Pro" or with Google Docs, nothing beats the slideout keyboard. All letters, numbers and symbols are together on one keyboard; with onscreen keyboards I find I am constantly switching keyboard views. The onscreen keyboards use a lot of space and I find this a detriment while working with large docs; the additional viewable screen area when using the slideout keyboard is a big plus.

My wife is a more normal person and has no geekness about her (other than being married to one) and she does not like the onscreen keyboards at all. She has tried many and does not like the switching or the long-press necessary to access other symbols. She uses the slideout keyboard as much as possible.

Just my views, I am sure that many will differ.

Bob

Here is a short list of the onscreen keyboards I have tried. I tried each one for a week, either on my OG Droid or my Droid3. All the more traditional styles of onscreen keyboards worked very well.
Stock
Go Keyboard (presently using)
Grafitti (like from the old Palm)
Swype
Swiftkey
Slideit
Better Keyboard
Perfect Keyboard
T9
Description only as I cannot remember the name, an X-shaped keyboard (never go the hang of it.)

 

[kodiak799]

I've found Swype mostly superior to the physical keyboard. I imagine with a new phone and ICS that I'll be using voice-to-text for the majority of my typing needs.

 

[thehorsedroid]

Swype and similar is indeed awesome, but doesnt beat a good qwerty keyboard

its about the only thing from my G1 I miss. there are rumours theres a qwerty flavoured nexus prime coming out...

 

[geeyawn]

Swype and similar is indeed awesome, but doesnt beat a good qwerty keyboard

its about the only thing from my G1 I miss. there are rumours theres a qwerty flavoured nexus prime coming out...

Hopefully my OG Droid can holdup til then

 

[MissionImprobable]

Luckily my next upgrade will be just in time for the Droid 4 to have dropped, had initial bugs fixed, gotten an extended battery, and have root access enabled if necessary.

Someone could possibly make out in a niche market for Android bluetooth keyboards just as a few have done successfully with the iPhone.