BlackBerry's iconic keyboard patent has expired
BlackBerry's iconic keyboard patent has expired
Let's all close our eyes and go back to 2009 so we can feel the thrill of typing our first email on the go.
I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I'd heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would've kept them in the market if they'd launched it 5 years earlier.
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What's special about Blackberry keyboards that every early slider phone didn't have?
I would love to have something like my HTC G1 again with modern hardware and screen.
The article is absolute trash for not mentioning this. "Their iconic keyboards..." is the closest it gets to describing them.
Thankfully, there is a link to the patent at the end.
Abstract
A keyboard comprising a plurality of transparent keys. In use, the keyboard is attached to a device such as a mobile device, to overlie a display screen of the device. One or more images displayed on the display screen are made visible to a user through the keys, which may be pressed by a user. User input is determined by identifying a pressed key, and the image or part thereof visible through the key when pressed.
Basically a detachable keyboard of transparent material as a display overlay, providing tactile feedback while the LCD allows for backlit and customizable key labels. I don't remember seeing a practical implementation of this IRL or in media but I might be too young for that.
That sounds pretty rad. I'm almost 40 and haven't ever seen this either. Perhaps it was just the coke addicted business tycoons of the 1980s and '90s that got to experience this tech.
Even after they stopped producing phones, they could have made a killing licensing the patent to phone case manufacturers.
So changeable keys on a touchscreen, but with physical buttons on top. Sign me up!
Wow really I never saw that before, sounds crazy.
The build quality and tactile feedback were much better. I never owned a BB but the keyboards were definitely something that I envied.
The only one I ever had experience with was the Blackberry Touch that my wife had. It was a total piece of junk and I think she went through 2 or 3 during the warranty period. This was after their heyday, though, when they were trying to jump on the smartphone bandwagon.
Was that the one where the entire screen moved when you pressed it?
Yes like a shitty car infotainment touchscreen from 2008.
Oh god
It’s hard to explain. The keyboards they built just felt and worked better. They clicked just right, they had the shape right. Once they licensed out production like their Android branded phones it wasn’t as good.
There was a device called Typo that copied their keyboard exactly but attached to iPhone that was good but they must have really copied BB because they got sued into smithereens.
I'm guessing OP means the build quality, as defined by the mechanical and material standards that are needed to recreate the keyboard.
I want the Palm Pre form factor back. Sooo satisfying to slide that thing open or snapping it closed.
Keyboard was ok but not as good as the BB, IMO.
Maybe the layout or that little nipple that could work as a mouse.
The first Android phone had the nipple, so must be the layout or something.