RIM joins the 'no keyboard' crowd with latest phone
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When Research In Motion Chief Executive Thorsten Heins unveiled a prototype of the new BlackBerry 10 phone last week, it lacked a feature that has kept legions of users loyal to the platform: a physical keyboard.
At the BlackBerry World expo in Orlando, Fla., he showed off a sleek touch-screen device that more closely resembled an iPhone or Android smartphone than the keypad-equipped BlackBerrys of old. While RIM still plans to produce models with keyboards, the demonstration was the biggest signal yet the company was shifting to a touch-screen world.
RIM, which is counting on its redesigned BlackBerry 10 lineup to reverse a sales slump, faces a quandary. Smartphone users have embraced virtual keyboards, evidenced by Apple and Google accounting for more than 80 percent of the market. Even so, taking away RIM's physical keypad removes a feature that distinguishes it from the competition.
"Some will lament it, but others will embrace it," said Nigel Hughes, a vice president in charge of sales at Ashburn, Va.-based SteelCloud, which builds BlackBerry-compatible security software and hardware for customers such as the Department of Defense. "It's a recognition that the future is without a keyboard."
Source: The Seattle Times