BlackBerry Returns With 3 Possible New Phones in 2017, But Do You Care? (cnet.com)

The BlackBerry KeyOne, which the company unveiled at MWC, may soon see some siblings. From a report on CNET: TCL isn't wasting time building up its portfolio of phones using the BlackBerry name. The company plans to release as many as three phones this year, TCL Communications Nicolas Zibell said in an interview on Saturday. The company is working on an all-touchscreen version, a spiritual successor to the DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 phones, which it also built for BlackBerry itself, according to a source familiar with the rollout plans. TCL will likely get rid of the DTEK branding, the source said.

Comments

If the keyboard is awesome, YES.

[TWX]

I started out with the HTC Dream, sold as the T-Mobile G1 in the United States. The physical keyboard was incredibly useful.

Among other uses, I can do device management with the phone. USB-OTG via USB-serial adapter sort of thing, or SSH. It allows me to be able to handle simple emergencies without having to drag my laptop around with me. Even the best on-screen keyboard on a phablet phone is not as good as a physical keyboard.

Obviously the vast majority of phone users do not do this, so I understand why the onscreen keyboard has won-out, but it would be nice if a single manufacturer made a ruggedized phone with a good physical keyboard. Even still though, users that want to do a lot of forums or instant messaging could probably benefit from a physical keyboard over an onscreen one, simply to reduce the error-rate.

Re:If the keyboard is awesome, YES.

[TWX]

I use Hacker's Keyboard. If the phone is in portrait mode the keys are too close together and it's easy to get the wrong one, and if the phone is in landscape then I can't see enough of the screen. Still better than dragging a laptop around when there's no immediate expectation of needing it.