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Apple Testing Three iPhone 5 Prototypes, One With Slide-Out Keyboard?
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Whomever designed this would be pissing on Steve Jobs' grave. I don't even know why this is sitting on the first page. The last week has been a bunch of noob completely ridiculous iPhone 5 rumors.
Or, someone at Apple realized that some folks like choice, and some like the slide-out keyboard.
Which leads to:
While it's hopefully premature to piss on Jobs' grave, if giving customers some choice requires pissing on Steve Jobs himself I'm ready to whip it out.
Where is it written that there can only be one model of Iphone? (And one model with a couple of variants with different SSD capacities and different radios is still one model.)
Now that the Iphone has been liberated from AT&T and is available from Verizon, I'd seriously consider one - if it had a keyboard.
I don't think Apple would ever do this because they want the iPhone to be slim and sleek just like everything else "Apple". Hoswever...
If Apple does do this, they will not make this the primary iPhone. I think Apple wants to expand the iPhone line to compete with Android phones. Android phones have variety some with slide out keyboards and some without. This would definitely bring in a lot of new customers who "need" the physical keyboard, even though typing on the iPhone is FANTASTIC.
If Apple does do this, they will not make this the primary iPhone. I think Apple wants to expand the iPhone line to compete with Android phones. Android phones have variety some with slide out keyboards and some without. This would definitely bring in a lot of new customers who "need" the physical keyboard, even though typing on the iPhone is FANTASTIC.
This makes sense. The "iPhone Nano" will need a slide out keyboard, no way people could type on a phone that's half the size of the iPhone 4. Then they'll introduce the iPhone 5, and iPhone Pro (normal size, with a slide out keyboard).
If Apple was an open minded company devoid of it's fear and paranoia, they'd _really_ have a stable of hot products.
If they had two models of iPhone, one with a slide out keyboard & one without, they would have crushed BlackBerry by now.
That's just one example of what Apple could do.
Oh sure I can imagine the fanboys ready to attack this post already. Let's face it, Apple's brainwashing is ultra effective.
If they had two models of iPhone, one with a slide out keyboard & one without, they would have crushed BlackBerry by now.
That's just one example of what Apple could do.
Oh sure I can imagine the fanboys ready to attack this post already. Let's face it, Apple's brainwashing is ultra effective.
in my humble opinion...
The biggest issue I have had with my iPhone 3 and 4 (besides my ATT contract) is the keyboard. After 3 years of exposure to this type of keyboard, I can say, unequivocally, it sucks ass. It is slow, prone to error and, did I mention, it sucks ass? Well it really does.
I seriously doubt Apple will do a slide out keyboard, but I can hope.
My dream is a Star Trek-like computer/phone where I can talk to it rather than be forced to type. Come on Apple, get your **** together and make THAT a reality.
The biggest issue I have had with my iPhone 3 and 4 (besides my ATT contract) is the keyboard. After 3 years of exposure to this type of keyboard, I can say, unequivocally, it sucks ass. It is slow, prone to error and, did I mention, it sucks ass? Well it really does.
I seriously doubt Apple will do a slide out keyboard, but I can hope.
My dream is a Star Trek-like computer/phone where I can talk to it rather than be forced to type. Come on Apple, get your **** together and make THAT a reality.
This. No way will I buy an iPhone with a keyboard. If I want a keyboard, I'll go back to a Blackberry.
I actually agree with you 100%. However, assuming that there will only be one iPhone 5 model (not including different memory configurations) I'd rather have one without the slide out KB.
lol
After years of revolutionising the phone industry, Apple's "pro" phone becomes a Blackberry.
The software will still be revolutionary, they'll just be adding a piece of hardware that many people have been wanting since day one. I bet if it was done well, they'd get a lot of Blackberry users to jump ship.
DO NOT LIKE! Keyboards are obsolete and tacky.
If you want a keyboard use a bluetooth option like the case pictured
If you want a keyboard use a bluetooth option like the case pictured
There'd have to be a hell of an overhaul to make iOS revolutionary again rather than evolutionary....
They're supposedly testing 3 and one has a keyboard. I don't think it'll stick. Most likely that's just because the 3rd party peripheral is semi-popular but most people don't want to use a slide out keyboard and bulk up their iPhone IMHO.
It wont stick, but it could lead to an official Apple supported accessory.
It wont stick, but it could lead to an official Apple supported accessory.
Phones with keyboards are FANTASTIC for gaming. Yea, I know, the iphone is revolutionary and revolutionary games don't need crap like key controls. Maybe I'm just a crazy 24 year old luddite: "Hey you kids! Get off my lawn!"
Seriously though, I hated phones with keyboards, and thought they looked stupid. Then, I was wanting a new phone (almost out of contract), and ended up with a G2 for free. I really wasn't crazy about the idea of a keyboard slider, but I figured I'd just ignore the fact I had one.
Until I played a game on it with the keyboard. OMG. I showed one of my friends a few games in an emulator (where keyboard controls are AWESOME), this dude had an iPhone 3G and loved it. And he wanted my phone! XD
For text entry, the iPhone's keyboard is pretty decent, and portrait keyboards are even better (small and really optimal for thumb-typing), but sliders in general are awesome for the sake of flexibility.
I do think Apple could make a model of the iPhone with a keyboard (maybe they could call it the iPhone S or something), that would keep everyone happy while not subjecting everyone to HAVING a keyboard (they could just get regular iphones!)
Seriously though, I hated phones with keyboards, and thought they looked stupid. Then, I was wanting a new phone (almost out of contract), and ended up with a G2 for free. I really wasn't crazy about the idea of a keyboard slider, but I figured I'd just ignore the fact I had one.
Until I played a game on it with the keyboard. OMG.
I showed one of my friends a few games in an emulator (where keyboard controls are AWESOME), this dude had an iPhone 3G and loved it. And he wanted my phone! XD For text entry, the iPhone's keyboard is pretty decent, and portrait keyboards are even better (small and really optimal for thumb-typing), but sliders in general are awesome for the sake of flexibility.
I do think Apple could make a model of the iPhone with a keyboard (maybe they could call it the iPhone S or something), that would keep everyone happy while not subjecting everyone to HAVING a keyboard (they could just get regular iphones!)
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)
What about two iPhone 5 models, one with a keyboard and one without. Maybe Apple and RIM could even team up, with the "Blackberry app" running on iOS. Hey, we all know RIM only has two options left, iOS/Android or extinction. I think there's enough crackberry addicts and teens out there to give Apple a good reason to carry out a "keyboard experiment".
What about two iPhone 5 models, one with a keyboard and one without. Maybe Apple and RIM could even team up, with the "Blackberry app" running on iOS. Hey, we all know RIM only has two options left, iOS/Android or extinction. I think there's enough crackberry addicts and teens out there to give Apple a good reason to carry out a "keyboard experiment".
Indeed. And there are many many like you, and Apple knows it. No doubt Apple will eventually shift to multiple models. Just like at first there was only one Mac, and eventually there were multiple models catering to different needs.
I think they could too, but they most likely won't.
Apple historically don't do things two ways "so everyone can have what they want", especially when it significantly changes the UI. I remember all the "the next PowerBook will have a swivel touch screen so users who want a tablet can have what they want too" comments back in the day.
Remember, the entire iPhone revolves around a touch screen. That's how the UI was built from the ground up - for the very reason of not having a POS keyboard.
When the first iPhone came out, Jobs went on about how current smartphones have tiny, cramped keyboards. When the 3G (or 3GS?) came out, he showed all the special character maps they were adding, and commented on how touch keyboards aren't limited as they can morph into anything. He doesn't like plastic keyboards.
I don't see it happening. It's not as simple as putting a CDMA chip in. Jobs wouldn't have two completely different UIs. Once again, he hates keyboards.
Why do so many people want to take an iPhone and drip feed in half-baked generic smartphone features one at a time?
The UI doesn't have to change at all. The iphones and ipads already fully support external keyboards. The only change would be that that when the keyboard is open, the soft keyboard doesn't pop up - iOS already works that way when an external keyboard is connected.