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BlackBerry's Innovation: Square-Screened Smartphones
EthanV2 sends word that BlackBerry, having finally caught up to a world dominated by smartphones, is now trying to push the envelope by developing a smartphone with a square screen. The BlackBerry Passport has a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1440x1440. The phone has a physical keyboard as well. In a blog post about the new phone, they show a picture with it side-by-side with an iPhone and a Galaxy S5 — the Passport is slightly taller than the iPhone, and significantly wider, as you'd expect.
The Passport is a play for BlackBerry's "traditional" work-oriented user base, where the earlier BlackBerry Z10 and Z30 were efforts to break into the post-iPhone consumer smartphone space. Though the Passport may well be preferable for spreadsheets and word processing, that square screen will be much less useful for widescreen movies, and its wide, blocky design will entirely prohibit one-handed use. The Passport is expected to appear later this year, and it will launch with BlackBerry 10.3 (at least, according to early hands-on previews).
Well that does solve the whole vertical video problem doesn't it :)
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1.25-1.5:1 How hard is that? We've got centuries of experience in making page sizes for reading and viewing, and most of them fall into that range. Unless you're Hasselblad, ditch the square. If you're not a television, please don't use 16:9.
#getoffmylawn
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
"Welcome to the Blackberry video rental site! ... where everyone is tall and thin, because we don't believe in 4:5 or 16:9 aspect ratios!"
The picture next to the Samsung S5 is not very fair. They show the 1080 pixel wide S5 only fitting two and a half spread sheet columns on the screen.
The 1440 pixel wide BB has 11 columns.
The biggest difference there is the spread sheet viewing app, not the screen (both have the same number of pixels too).
Complaints of "no one is innovating anymore" followed closely by "look at BB, stupids, phones HAVE to be one handed and pocketable! No innovation allowed!"
Me? I kind of like it. I use two hands anyway so why not make a true two handed device?
There was a time when BB didn't fit in pockets either, they were worn in little holders attached to your belt. Back to the future, man.
The square screen isn't the only innovation, the keyboard is also touch sensitive (ie, you pass your fingers over the keys without pressing down), allowing the use of gestures and scrolling through content without touching the screen and getting it dirty or obscuring the display with your fingers.
How would it be "less useful" for widescreen movies? You'll have some letterbox matting to compensate for the aspect ratio difference...that's about it. It will play movies. It will play widescreen movies. It just won't play them edge-to-edge on the screen.
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the back of something like this http://www.htpc-reviews.com/sa...
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
no one is switching to BB for square... its a different look and gives them branding but that's it.
The attractiveness of the choice is also debatable...
But the real issue here is why go BB?
Now, BB is a company that traditionally focused on business especially enterprise.
Okay... what would be a winner in business?
I'm thinking running linux on the phone might be pretty awesome. Another idea might be putting all the firmware on a removable SD card so the phones can be rapidly flashed to a new firmware very quickly.
Things useful in an enterprise setting.
I'm just stabbing around for something that might be a deal maker. Square though?... who gives a shit.
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Both the Q5 and Q10 phones already have square screens, although they're extremely small because both units have kept the physical keyboard and traditional rectangular shape.
How do I say it? In just one word? How do I proclaim the way you won me over, once again?
Shall I try to give voice to these feelings? Listen as I whisper in your ear: "QWERTYUIOP"
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How easily will it be to hold that in one hand for, you know, making phone calls? I'm jsut not seeing the innovation here. Now if this was a tablet being marketed with that ratio, then maybe I could see an argument. Just not a phone.
> If you're not a television, please don't use 16:9.
Unless you watch videos. Then only 16:9.
"1, 1, 2, 3, 5, eureka!"
Yeah - Blackberry is doing a great job of emulating video rental stores.
Rather than spreadsheet they should have shown the same website rendered on each device.
Whenever on screen keyboard is enabled in landscape mode on my phone it consumes most of the screen leaving painfully very little space remaining to view content while tying. Portrait mode is better in this regard yet often difficult to manage panning around.
I still prefer physical keyboards as they tend to take up less space than on screen when activated and those with big hands can actually use them with some degree of accuracy.
So in a way while it might look lame/stupid/odd and suck for passive dinking/gaming/watching videos I could see it being quite useful for those who spend most of their time working the keyboard and getting shit done.
The iphone is so tiny and it appears to be about the same width as the s5 ..I don't see a problem with comfortably pocketing this thing.
Square screens: because FUCK your pockets!
Two things stand out:
How do you fit it into your front pocket? Maybe if you were overalls it'll fit into that massive chest pocket, but for regular jeans/slacks/pants, I doubt it.
Sharp corners... if it already barely fits in your pocket sharp corners are going to make it even harder to get out.
Why all this wider and taller but no thicker?
Because there were no women on the design team.
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"Sponge Bob Square Screen..."
Table-ized A.I.
I think you were on to something with #1. What if it were hollow and came with a small funnel. It'd be a sight more useful in some meetings I've been to if filled with liquor rather than silicon and battery.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Listen as I whisper in your ear: "QWERTYUIOP"
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But do they still manufacture phones? and somebody still buys them? wow!
saw the picture and they show a spreadsheet where the columns are typically more important than the rows and a lot of dead white space doing nothing
forget the fact it looks like a junky kids toy
Not all of us wear skinny jeans, some of us wear cargo pants or a suit-and-tie ensemble, both of which can hold airline boarding passes and/or a passport-wallet sized item, which seems to be about what they're targeting here size-wise.
So honestly? BRING IT!
A hexagonal screen would not only solve the vertical screen problem but also the 60 degree angle screen.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Just because developers don't have enough headaches to deal with, I'll go patent a circular screen with a polar coordinate system to access the pixels. :) And I'll find a way to stick 26 letter keys and 10 digit keys around it, and give it a shape that will make it fly as well as a frisbee too. Still not sure if to go overboard by making it squishy too so since it can fly when thrown your dog should be able to bring it back and have it still work.
You heard it here first folks! :D
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Actually, I find the design of new Passport to be really clever. It's for people who want to use a 7inch tablet as a phone, but who don't want to look like idiots holding a giant book against their face. By chopping off the bottom of a 7inch tablet, Blackberry created a device that has most of the benefits of a 7inch tablet while not sticking out awkwardly when you hold it to your ear. It's better than a 5inch phablet for browsing because it's wider. It's better than a 7inch tablet for phone calls because the microphone lines up nicely with your mouth.
I'm not sure if 4.5"x4.5" would feel right but I could see a square phone that you hold at a point (ie speaker/receiver on the diagonal): since the majority of the time phones are used for something other than as a phone having symmetry and not even having to think which way you grab the device would be nice.
A funny PSA about Vertical Video Syndrome.
Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
Oh Blackberry...what ever were you thinking? It looks like a phone and a tablet had a child. Too big for a phone, but too small for a functional tablet. Looks too big to comfortably fit in a pocket too. The screen will be full of wasted space. Apps have been designed to fit vertically or horizontally on a widescreen type device. Is anything designed for a square screen?
There just seem to be so many misfires on this one. I applaud their effort for trying something different, but they don't rule the roost anymore. People have moved on to Android and iOS devices. People (to my knowledge) aren't objected to having two different sized devices, smaller for phone and larger for regular use.
How do you fit one of these things in your pocket? Looks too heavy for a lanyard.
Do you just strap it to the back of your hand or something?
Listen to the words of the serpent I shall not!
For in my visions I have seen The Answer... and it is spelt thus:
',.PYFGCRL
As much as I swear by Dvorak, it's not particularly well suited for thumb-boarding. (Also, not related to Blackberry style keyboards, but it's MUCH worse than QWERTY when it comes to trying to type with one hand on a temporary basis.)
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
I mean those devices are sold as "business mobiles". Yet the keyboard lacks all important keys. For example there are no modifier keys and not even an "Escape" key.
How are you supposed to use, for example Microsoft Word, on such a thing.
did you look at a boarding pass, the envelop of crap they ram it into and your passport?
guess what you see? rectangles.
rectangles that are a LOT narrower than this thing.
I believe Stephen Colbert has a custom-made jacket with a pocket that can hold this...
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The square screen layout is not news (but it is problematic, with several websites breaking themselves out of spite or incompetence). The larger size got us a keyboard that looks simply too wide, not adding any of the keys we were missing; you could get used to that, but it has nothing to do with the primary problems. Blackberry used to sell on corporate support, working keyboards, and an integrated pointing device. As of the BB10 versions, it feels rather half-developed - that vaunted keyboard has markings that are not supported by the software, the pointing device is missing (the touchscreen basically mocks us by adding another layer with the popup ring), and the build quality is not the best (I have keys losing their clickyness, and I had to return one phone because the same issue made keys unusable). How on earth they decided on a keyboard device to make it impossible to answer a call with a button - and on top of that, make the end call function *move* on the screen - I'll never understand. It's quite possible this new model improves on things with the touch detection in the keyboard, but as it is I'd rather switch to Nokia E72 than take another chance with BB. While chasing fashion all manufacturers, even Jolla, seem to have agreed to not produce another practical PDA.
I have QWERTYUIOP on my Android phone. It pops up when I need it and it goes away when I don't - which is most of the time. I, too, used to insist on smartphones with physical keyboards, but I have come to find that a virtual keyboard with Swype is just as good if not better.
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Hmm. And suppose you power it using an ethanol fuel cell? Each fill would last pretty long, I think.
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Read the BlackBerry blog and you will see some of the specific use-cases they considered. Would it be my choice? No, but I do see the point.
i do miss my droid 3s keyboard, that thing was awesome but i got used to the on screen keyboards with my galaxy line of phones.
What i DO want is a tablet in a 10 inch format with a slide keyboard
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NO ONE's brain defaults to QWERTY!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
About as great a job as they are doing emulating a company that makes cell phones and tablets.
After 17 years of continuous Dvorak use, I'd dare say my brain defaults to Dvorak, but specifically to where the keys fall relative to the fingers used to press them, not where they actually ARE. Thus, when the form factor changes, such as with a thumb board, I'm starting all over again.
As for the one-handed thing, QWERTY is moderately left-hand biased, which is actually an advantage when the right hand keeps going to the mouse. Also Dvorak is designed with alternation in mind for both speed and comfort, causing one-handed coverage to become a game of Giant Steps.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.