Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

venturebeat.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 170 posts

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#51

Post by camelNotation »

laumars wrote: post #42
camelNotation wrote: post #35

There is a growing market for "dumb phones" among those of us that are disillusioned with the smartphone lifestyle. It's not enormous, but it's out there. Blackberry needs to target them. If you buy a dumb phone, you not only give up the life-sucking abyss of social media and mobile gaming, but you also give up decent cameras and useful tools like navigation, group messages, and keyboard typing. For those that want t…

What you described there is a middle ground few people want. Those that buy "dumb" phones do so because they want to uncomplicate the basics. eg a real keypad for dialing. Those that want GPS, a web browser and group messaging want a smart phone. The simplest solution if you don't want social networks et al is to just not install them. Or if you want to avoid "app hell" is to not install mobile apps for websites. The…

I'm not sure why it makes more sense for a company like ZTE or OnePlus to sell a handful of cheap flagships as opposed to one of these smaller firms producing the hybrid niche device I describe.

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#52

Post by ultramancool »

wcummings wrote: post #27
whitecarpet wrote: post #9

I've been never more productive with my smartphones than with a Blackberry. The BB's keyboards are still unmatched. While I can type as fast with my iPhone 7 where cursor control is thanks to 3D touch great a BB Classic is still better—reasons why: - You can rest your fingers on the keyboard like on a real keyboard without pressing the keys (you can't do that on a touch screen) - After a short time you start to touch…

>What they just need to do is to put Android on the Blackberry Classic or some phone with a similar form factor. That's it. I would buy this so fast . There's slim pickins for android phones w/ keyboards.

Are there any pickins for android phones with keyboards with even remotely modern hardware (I'd settle for anything with a 1080p screen probably)? Seems extremely limited, I was unable to find any viable options last I checked. I hate the candy bar form factor but it seems as though it really has won out unfortunately.

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#53

Post by laumars »

camelNotation wrote: post #50
laumars wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's already a pretty wide spectrum of smart phones on the market. You don't have to spend half your monthly income on a handset to get navigation, messaging, etc.

True, but then you sacrifice other features in the package. You can't pay with NFC on a cheap phone. The cameras suck on cheap phones. The screen quality sucks. The build quality sucks. There are tradeoffs if you just go cheap. I would pay flagship prices for a hybrid phone that focused on productivity and ignored entertainment.

Android and Apple do also focus on productivity as well as entertainment. It sounds like what you're asking for is basically a high end phone but only supporting a subset of apps and a slide out keyboard. This sounds like commercial suicide in my opinion.

As much as I'd love to see more handsets with physical keyboard, they never seem to sell well enough for manufacturers to invest in releasing more models. And I really don't know where you would draw the line with which apps to allow and which not to. There'll always be someone with slightly different requirements who would refuse to buy the handset because application x or y wasn't available.

I just can't see how your preferences would equate to a big enough market for Blackberry to make any money.

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#54

Post by laumars »

camelNotation wrote: post #51
laumars wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you described there is a middle ground few people want. Those that buy "dumb" phones do so because they want to uncomplicate the basics. eg a real keypad for dialing. Those that want GPS, a web browser and group messaging want a smart phone. The simplest solution if you don't want social networks et al is to just not install them. Or if you want to avoid "app hell" is to not install mobile apps for websites. The…

I'm not sure why it makes more sense for a company like ZTE or OnePlus to sell a handful of cheap flagships as opposed to one of these smaller firms producing the hybrid niche device I describe.

I think you answered your own question when you said "niche device". Cheap flagships would naturally have a bigger market than an expensive smartphone with crippled app support.

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#55

Post by nathcd »

ultramancool wrote: post #52
wcummings wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What they just need to do is to put Android on the Blackberry Classic or some phone with a similar form factor. That's it. I would buy this so fast . There's slim pickins for android phones w/ keyboards.

Are there any pickins for android phones with keyboards with even remotely modern hardware (I'd settle for anything with a 1080p screen probably)? Seems extremely limited, I was unable to find any viable options last I checked. I hate the candy bar form factor but it seems as though it really has won out unfortunately.

Blackberry's own Priv from late last year is the only modern choice. Reviews generally indicate that it was good, but not great. Had minor issues with heating up and having a clicky back I think. Was mostly stock Android aside from a few small tweaks.

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#56

Post by ultramancool »

nathcd wrote: post #55
ultramancool wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any pickins for android phones with keyboards with even remotely modern hardware (I'd settle for anything with a 1080p screen probably)? Seems extremely limited, I was unable to find any viable options last I checked. I hate the candy bar form factor but it seems as though it really has won out unfortunately.

Blackberry's own Priv from late last year is the only modern choice. Reviews generally indicate that it was good, but not great. Had minor issues with heating up and having a clicky back I think. Was mostly stock Android aside from a few small tweaks.

I looked at it but both price and lack of root and bootloader unlocking are extremely prohibitive for me. The keyboard is really its only appealing feature.

I can get a device like a OnePlus 3 for about 60% of the price and it has better hardware to boot. In terms of storage, RAM and CPU it's more comparable to a OnePlus 2 which is about 40% of its price.

Keyboard is nice, but not double the price and lose features I rely upon like AdAway and XPrivacy kind of nice.

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#57

Post by riyadparvez »

camelNotation wrote: post #35

There is a growing market for "dumb phones" among those of us that are disillusioned with the smartphone lifestyle. It's not enormous, but it's out there. Blackberry needs to target them. If you buy a dumb phone, you not only give up the life-sucking abyss of social media and mobile gaming, but you also give up decent cameras and useful tools like navigation, group messages, and keyboard typing. For those that want t…

Just out of curiosity, why can't you uninstall the apps that you deem unproductive or distracting? I have uninstalled all the social, distracting, unproductive apps from my smartphone. Granted, most smartphones don't have keyboards. Other than that you should be ok with a smartphone.

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#58

Post by [deleted] »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #21

BlackBerry's keyboard is its killer app. I still cant type on my touchscreen without looking. When I was 14 I was able to have a conversation via text under the table while eating dinner with my family thanks to my old keyboard phone. If a android phone was released with a keyboard I think it could carve out a profitable chunk of the market.

[deleted]

Re: BlackBerry confirms it will end in-house hardware development

#59

Post by nathcd »

ultramancool wrote: post #56
nathcd wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blackberry's own Priv from late last year is the only modern choice. Reviews generally indicate that it was good, but not great. Had minor issues with heating up and having a clicky back I think. Was mostly stock Android aside from a few small tweaks.

I looked at it but both price and lack of root and bootloader unlocking are extremely prohibitive for me. The keyboard is really its only appealing feature. I can get a device like a OnePlus 3 for about 60% of the price and it has better hardware to boot. In terms of storage, RAM and CPU it's more comparable to a OnePlus 2 which is about 40% of its price. Keyboard is nice, but not double the price and lose features I…

Agreed, those are among the reasons I haven't picked one up either. Not sure what price One Plus 3 is, but it's worth noting new Privs on Ebay generally fluctuate between 299 and 350 USD, which I'm guessing may be similar to OP3.
Post reply on HN