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BlackBerry L-Series gets sized up next to the iPhone 5, makes homescreen buttons look silly
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BlackBerry L-Series gets sized up next to the iPhone 5, makes homescreen buttons look silly

By Bla1ze on 14 Nov 2012 01:02 am
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We've seen plenty of the BlackBerry L-Series already but there hasn't been really any size comparisons done. Luckily, a new image has now turned up and we get to see the L-Series sized up next to Apple's iPhone 5. As you can tell, the L-Series does have a somewhat larger footprint all around including the slighty larger display size. Depending on your tastes, that may be a good thing or a bad thing. Personally, I see it as a good thing.

The other obvious item here is the fact the iPhone 5 still has that homescreen button in place. Unlike BlackBerry 10 which makes heavy use of bezel gestures, the iPhone 5 doesn't make use of system-wide multitouch gestures for navigation, the settings are actually hidden from users. Plus, due to how iOS handles multitasking, the homescreen button has to remain there until Apple either changes how multitasking is done or fully enables multitouch support.

I much prefer the buttonless look myself, it just looks more modern to me. But, I can also understand the need for it. Needless to say, we'll do a real comparison once BlackBerry 10 devices become available. How do you all feel about there being no buttons on the front of the L-Series? Love it or hate it? Wish it had one? Sound off in the comments.

via: BBIn

Topics: BlackBerry 10 L-Series BlackBerry L-Series BlackBerry Z10 News & Rumors

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Bla1ze Bla1ze 2966 (articles) 6510 (forum posts)
264 comments

congz

buttonless is cool ;)

idlin

Very cool indeed. I wonder how they're going to make a buttonless hardware keyboard, since buttons are no longer cool and are now 'silly'...

Sometimes I think you are ALL on crack.

gallopiton

they are talking about home button, specifically... seems like you are a little bit too sensitive...

TRlPPlN

apparently not enough comprehension. he's too sensitive due to crack withdrawal.

idlin

Funny how the two largest mobile phone makers (Apple and Samsung) insist on having physical home buttons. Who cares what you and RIM think? If the gestures were so wonderful they'd have saved the Playbook from being such a horrible tablet. It's either gestures or home buttons, either way is acceptable, none is better than the other, and nowhere does it state that Apple can't incorporate gestures in their OS, most people who use their iPads frequently rarely use their home buttons once they learn the four-finger 'multitasking' gestures.
A website about a company who has never done a mobile phone without buttons shouldn't suddenly be deriding competitors' home buttons.
Why don't you crackheads say that the L-series phone is going to top the S3 as well? Go ahead, try it. It has a physical button too.

Anik91

Its already topped the S3 looks wise and the OS should be better than Android on release because its an entirely new experience and runs very efficiently.

L-series will top the S3!

idlin

This is cute. LMFAO

gallopiton

mmmm... too sensitive my friend... did you receive some bad news this week? if you think that it's not important what RIM says, what are you doing in this site, since it's not important? let us be crazy thinking about a world where the home button is not longer necessary... who knows, maybe apple and samsung don't know everything...maybe

Jake Storm

idlin is not the only Fandroid that's feeling butt hurt now that they know BB10 is coming and there is nothing they can do about it.
BB10 is going to steamroll right over the silly Android devices and that other fruity phone.

darkehawke

Its called innovation.
I wouldnt expect ios or android users to know what that means though

idlin

RIM knows innovation though.

I remember them innovating at a blistering pace between OS5-7 And their innovative SurePress BB Storms. LMFAO

MgnfcntMohok

Why are you here? No but seriously, why?

vlcmfreak7

Sounds exactly the same like iOS 3 to 6 not to mention iphone 3g to iphone 5. Oh wait, no not iphone 5 with it's extra row of columns. Now that is true innovation.

felixlives

Apple innovation .....iphone 4 to iphone5 ....yup ..true innovation there
Innovation ...Playbook =small tablet ,the world says its stupid, years later apple comes out with a small tablet ,the world bows down on how great and innovative apple is ....wtf ???.....i mean really ....gtfo fanboy

SDTRMG

The gs3 has buttons cause Samsung copied apples design, they don't know what works so they copy people to sell phones. You really must be on crack to have taken offence to them not liking the. Home. Button.

Greasy.Spectre

This is actually kinda sad. You could have been a bit funny in your first post and you had a (singular) useful thing to say in your second post, but it was all so wrapped in snide, bitter lash-outs that both turned out misanthropic. I don't think you're a troll, just a bit of a lost soul. A lost who who wandered his/her way to a BlackBerry website.

TRlPPlN

hahahah..oh idlin youre so damn right in everything you post..ahahahaha. you emo..hahaha

idlin

I'm a lost who who because I think it's wrong to bash competitors for doing things differently and because I think there's no right and wrong? lol
Okay then.
Let all phones be black slabs of the same sizes with the same gestures and the same OS's. Since what's 'better' makes every other thing 'silly'...
Since you're talking about me though, I must say that your deduction was as unfounded and inane as they come. I'm more of a troll than a lost soul. Hope you've learnt more about me now. :D

Rohit_K

I Don't have a PB but I can damm well say that its a damm fine Tablet, You maybe just passing of sarcastic comments trying to irk people but I can safely tell you that people like you are a minority. Oh btw Have lovely year ahead idlin, no offence to you. you can now go cry to ur iFlock
Blackberry 8320!!!
Rim # 1

POView

sour grapes harvest from "idlin"
cheer up

felixlives

Playbook is a terrible tablet ???
Wtf ???

awesomeadil

Only ignorant fools who love their Apples will come up with such statement... and yes they troll here because they know Blackberry is like Muhammad Ali ready to knock em out!!

Shanerredflag

No not Muhammed Ali.....GSP.....Canadian Company eh.

brendanberlingeri

Its funny that the number one problem apple has with the iphone aside from the horrible one drop screen crack is the that the home botton seams to always break. Will apple fix either problems? NOPE, you know why because they love when there dumb customers come in and spend more money like dead walking zombies. RIM is a company that likes to be a leader and not follow the trend, but makes the trend. Samsung cant even design there own operating system, never mind make a botton less phone, besides it would be an exercise making gestures on that big of a phone.

Shark635

"Who cares what you and RIM think?" Apparently YOU do, since you've wasted the bandwidth to childishly disparage both.

Rub3n5

Wow, you are super cool. Accusing him of being on crack because you didn't read the post reference to just the home button.

BruvvaPete

Seriously. This is what you have to offer the world...

Darned crickets.

Rub3n5

+1 on buttonless, +1 on more real estate... -1 on iPhone home button. 11 - 1 = BlackBerry +10 :)

morpho4444

what iPhone?

sk8er_tor

+1. L-Series looking good!

birdman_38

Why is the public seeing the "L-Series"? It should have been kept under lock and key until launch date.

Really RIM? We see a device 4 months before it hits the market??

lang007

Agreed

sk8er_tor

You think RIM likes leaks? They don't. But with the phones being in carrier testing, be ready to see many more pictures and videos.

BruvvaPete

All cars look the same. What's under the hood is what matters. You could have shown the iClone 5 and people still would not know about what differentiates it from other smart phones... unless you showed them what Apple calls "new" features.

BB10 does away with smart phones and makes them a thing of the past. Get ready for the "intelligent" phone.

Peace.

awesomeadil

Haha!! Playbook is a mean machine and only ignorant fools who havent used it can come up with BS like this.

Just showed the pic to some Apple fanboys and yes it was sweet seeing their eyes full of hatred towards the L Series...they know it is a gamechanger but their stupid pride will not allow them to ever admit.

All the months i had to hear some Anti RIM rhetoric now we have hit back hard and they simply cannot believe their eyes..

TTune

It's elegant and minimalist for sure... but the most important issue for me is a trusty keyboard.
I am really very interested to see the new virtual keyboard and how it feels/works vs my old Torch 9810.

I picked the Torch for the larger screen over the Bold but I do get jealous of that keyboard's feel.

L series is nice but I'm really hoping they create a slider of some sort in 2013.

fotyc

Me too, I have a 9800 which I love, and I don't want to have to choose between good screen real estate and a keyboard...the slider being a good compromise between the two.

allsportsfan

The new virtual keyboard is an improved version on the Playbook. Based on how you create sentences it remembers those words and then inserts them into new sentences. It's like reading ahead.

toneytone

It does seem old school having that button.

UrbanGlowCam

Buttonless, clean, slate for sure. The iPhone 5 is a beautiful phone, but I think I might like the L-Series even better. Who would have thought that RIM would out minimalize Apple?

I'm not into a lot of the 4.7-5" phones of recent. But RIM really found a good compromise between the iPhone and Android OEMs. 4.19" will be great.

Jimcmf

Omg.... That white phone looks so old and outdated. What is it? And what in the world is that hole at the bottom for? It's so uncool.

w0qj

I would much prefer a Home Button, it is much faster to press Home Button which is very frequently accessed.

I've taken count, I regularly press Home Button more than 100 times each day.

Case closed.

(fyi, I'm a BlackBerry fan from the days of BlackBerry 7290 era, so not a troll).

toneytone

But obviously you don't use a playbook cause then you would understand how pointless a home button is to this OS.

Emu the Foo

This was exactly what I was going to say. Pre my playbook days I was afraid of how the public was going to take to BBX. After I got my playbook after only hrs it seemed the only way to use it. I have accidently used the bezels on my 9930 once or twice. With the bezel the whole bottom of the phone will be a "home botton" you can swipe anywhere. Good stuff...

toneytone

Hahahaha, oh gosh I thought I was the only one. I did the same thing with my 9900.

MoolahMitch

I have done the same, you are not alone. I even did it with my Android and iPhone. The way I detest that home button is tenfold now!

T_C

I've done the same on an iPad.I cant use buttons anymore!

Jimcmf

+1,000

swiping is sooooo cool. Using a home button is very old fashion. Live in the future ... not the past !

Go RIM Go !

BruvvaPete

+1.

I don't even like my Torch 9800 buttons any more. Good riddance.

Revord

LOL, only once or twice?? You must not use your phone all that much ;)

kozmo68

LOL... I find myself trying swipes all the time now on my 9860.. I'm primed and ready for BB10!

#BB10Believe!

meganVee

That is how I felt at first as well. Unsure how it would work properly without having a button to essentially 'go back' to the home screen.

I have had my PlayBook since release day and I constantly find myself trying to close an app on my 9810 by using gestures and when I use my ipod I find the button quite annoying to have to press.

I do think that the L-series makes the iphone look very, very dated.

RubberChicken76

I can't believe people are arguing over the button.

Personally, I have both a PlayBook and an iPhone 4S and find both paradigms to be quite easy to use. The bezel works better for multi-tasking but both are intuitive.

BruvvaPete

It's all in the details. I just bought a new car and it's amazing how much the little things matter compared to the same older version. The world needs buttons to wake up a smart phone; they're a thing of the past. The world doesn't need buttons to wake up an "intelligent" phone.

neoberry99

So true. I too thought that a home button would be essential but I,ve been using a playbook for about a year and have had no issues. Good riddance!

felixlives

Ths is extremely true ,with the playbook its awesome ,actually every time i pick jo an ipad or other tablet i have the urge to swipe up

digtech

Um i know you must be kidding right now... Better yet ur pre-empting what the isheeps will say? Or ur just plain stupid? How the hell is pressing a button faster than swiping up and exposing all running apps? Gurrrrl u need to catch up. Go to the all you need to know about Blackbery 10 section.

SparkyBC

Hopefully you're just being sarcastic. Pushing the home button is dated and as old as the original ipod touch. The time you bounce in and out of apps, I could have done 10 times more.

Using simple gestures is 100 times more productive. Ios has seen it's time. First Samsung kicked their arsenal, up next RIM.

Apple now has the oldest mobile os, how you like them apples now. Bring on BB10!

Soon the sheep will be led to the slaughter.

jcagga

Pushing the home button is dated and as old as the original ipod touch

Lol are you a little kid or what? Home button has been around for over a decade....

Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes

As soon as I read your comment I was looking forward to reading the responses flaming you lol

berrybait

Dude. Look at it like this... With BlackBerry 10, you don't NEED to press that button 100 times a day. This is part of what BB10 is bringing to the game.

--TommesJay--

Lol...ever asked yourself WHY you hit that button 100 times a day? Because you HAVE TO. We already have a homebutton equivalent since ever on BBs. It's called "end key" there.
App - Homebutton - App - Homebutton - App - Homebutton? How lame is this? I also found myself swyping upwards on an iPad or Android phone to wake the device up. It's so convenient.

belleg

in-out-in-out-in-out... erm she seemed to like it :P

BruvvaPete

After getting my Torch I didn't realize just how much I can't stand buttons any more. The technology is so dated. IPhones and the like are becoming arcade games: outdated.

Schmurf

Just to re-open that case, the whole point of the gestures is that you don't need the home button. That's one feature I am looking forward to: the ability to NOT have to back out of and move into programs all the time. Right now that process drives me crazy, whether I am working on my trusty BB Tour (yep, still got it) or my wife's or kid's iphones. If you use the home button that much, you will probably appreciate the gestures that eliminate the need for a home button.

green_ember

That means you've wasted time regularly 100 times a day! You would think you would WANT to eliminate an unnecessary step!

Like others here, I find myself trying to swipe on other devices like I do on my Playbook. My iPhod (iPhone used only as an iPod) frustrates the crap out of me when it doesn't work the way my Playbook does.

digtech

Lol. Its already my BBM picture... Enough with people saying it looks like iPhone.. No it doesnt, its way hotter.

estarno

Lol wow way to obscure the iPhone 5's great design by putting a low res photo of a white iphone 5 with a bumper. So the BB's footprint is A LOT bigger. I'm sorry, the BB is not attractive to me. It look bulky, especially with that bottom black slab that sports um... nothing. At least the iphone makes use of the area with a button. Also, do we really need a huge imprint of the BlackBerry logo there? That could be distracting. Let's also see thickness next time, WITHOUT a bumper to falsley advertise. Thnx.

doubleaa25

What, did you expect the highest picture quality of a photo of a leaked device?

This is more of a comparison of just the front of one phone vs another phone, not a thickness comparison. Why don't you get access to the phone yourself and do that on your own.

Don't criticize leak images. It's useless.

digtech

Blaze do a quick up in photoshop.. Have an image of the iphone 5 without a case on instead. This guy must be crazy... The L series is obviously a sleeker device (atleast from this angle). The front facing camera is hidden.. No home button.. Much cleaner. Some people just live and breathe apple.

G-bone

Wow! Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what you are saying is akin to saying, "Well, these new cars are just silly compared to the Model T! The front just looks stupid without the hole to put the crank in! And where's the running boards? Sure, they have all that space inside, but they're not nearly tall enough and those wider tires just look ridiculous! Where's the spare tire on the back? All that has is a trunk!"

MikeysTorch29810

hahaha! i had to laugh when you said "at least the iphone makes use of the area"..seriously have you read anything about BlackBerry 10..and the home button of the iphone is like starting a marathon again (going back from the start on the home screen) while BlackBerry 10 will let you FLOW the way you want it without having to go back or press a "home button"..i for one would like to finish a race instead of starting again and i think you would too :-p

--TommesJay--

The L-Series is 9 mm thick, 1.4 mm thicker than an iPhone 5, but that's by far not bulky. It's still nice.

And sure it looks extremely minimal and stylish, only the BlackBerry logo tells you where top and bottom are. And saying the logo on the bottom is distracting just because it's 'BlackBerry' is nothing but trolling here.

Anyway, I do have to say the bumper makes the iPhone 5 look far uglier than it actually is.

mavsguy842

Since every single person I know who has an iPhone has a case on it, I'd say the comparison photo is pretty spot on. Building a phone where you honestly feel you NEED a case is brilliant for accessory makers, but not so good for the customer. When iPhone users stop buying cases as mandatory pieces of equipment to make their phones last, your argument will be more valid, but until then...

Nex_Gen

Who cares about an iphone. Because in 76 days and a few short hours, we'll see the best phone ever made.

playbookster

Things the L series has over the iphone5.

Higher resolution
Higher ppi
Hdmi out
Sd expandable
Nfc
Bigger screen
No home button

I'll take it

G-bone

iphone? That is so yesterday...

HNYK

and removable battery

MoolahMitch

You forgot BlackBerry 10 OS :-)

Schmurf

you forgot about being flash compatible...

cr500taco

You also forgot that it's not an iphone.....period.

Greasy.Spectre

And a few short months later....

Removable battery
Longer battery life
Optional full physical keyboard

Though I don't think the higher ppi is much of a bragging point. The iPhone is essentially at the limit of what people can see. Unless you have really good vision or squint with the phone right up to your face, it probably will not make much of a difference.

Ac200386

Ive been wanting to see this comparison in size. But really why does the iphone have a case and why isnt the screen on the blackberry dev alpha not on?
I love blackberry and the BB10 OS looks awesome I just really hope this is not what it ends up looking like in terms of hardware. Still waiting to see the keyboard version.

Put up a better comparison with no cases and both screens lit up.

Bla1ze

It has a case on it because well, you know.. scuffgate lol.

jasonvan9

see, in the real world chances are you wont ever see a bare naked iphone5, so this is a perfect comparison! its my biggest argument to the isheep, why did you upgrade to the new thinnest device just to put a big bulky case on it to protect it?

sydsam

The case (bumper) is an integral part of any iPhone, due to the worst product design of anything in the history of mankind ever.

Snipperdo17

This picture makes me feel better about the size. I was worried it was going to be way taller than the iphone but its not, and it adds some width compared to it which is good because the iPhone is too skinny and makes typing uncomfortable.

DuexNoir

Wow, I am honestly surprised how outdated the iPhone looks besides the "unofficial" L-series, and it's not just the home button. I personally don't see it being that much bigger than the iPhone.

After using the Playbook for so long, the home button on my sister's iPod drives me insane (maybe because I tend to forget and start swiping). I just love how the swiping gesture on PB lets me jump from one app to another quickly; whereas with a home button like the one on my Sony Walkman, I have to close a few screens before I reach where I want to be.

~I am BlackBerry by choice~

Plazmic Flame

Call me when you got BB10 QWERTY devices!! K-Thx-Byeeeeeeee!

cammykool

i see BB is taking hints from android 4.X good for them :P

kupfernigk

BB is taking ideas from webOS. And I am 100% behind it, since HP abandoned webOS.
Currently outside work I use a Playbook and an HP Pre 3. Because? Because the experience on the Playbook is so similar to that on the Pre 3, that they are more closely related than is BB 7 to the Playbook. I can use both without thinking.
Using the bezel rather than the notification area on the Pre 3 is a very good idea.
I'm now prepared to give the L series virtual keyboard a go when I can get hold of one. RIM may or may not succeed in the marketplace due to a variety of factors - monopolistic US carriers, fashion, you name it - but it looks like they are using the best ideas to build the best personal communicator. That's the attitude that produced the original iPhone.
Am I saying that it's Thorsten Heins, not Tim Cook, who is the spiritual heir of the good bits of Steve Jobs? Perhaps I am.

Ribes Nigrum

Thanks Bla1ze. This picture really makes my day! Buttonless is sleek. This BlackBerry is going to rock!

DJBS4LIFE

From day one I always thought the iPhone was garbage. Here I am and still think it's garbage. BWAHAHAHA! BB10 FTW!

kupfernigk

It is not garbage. When it appeared, it was a brilliant design and the limitations were there to make the battery life acceptable.
The problem is that it was built on a cut down platform that wasn't future proofed, and so now each new model is basically a speed tweak and cosmetic surgery on the old one. And cosmetic surgery is not always successful.
The iPhone 5 is a good product. It is fast and has a good battery life despite being very thin. But it has a lot of design compromises that RIM do not have to make.
Personally, he says looking at his humungous developer laptop with its full HD screen, server hard drive and 16Gbytes of RAM used by an i7 cpu, I will take a bigger box with unrestricted performance over a pretty, smaller but less capable box any day of the week.

revtech

Thank you! I don't mind people not wanting to choose apple for whatever reason, but I dislike the "strongly worded" denunciations and mud-slinging; I guess I'm just thankful for your civil and balanced comment. Let's love our BB's people without feeling the need to trash the other guys.

mapsonburt

Right on!!! One of the reasons I've not been able to join the Apple world is their condescending attitudes towards other platforms. Too many of the crackheads here think like 14 year old boys - all testosteroned up with no place to go. That being said, BB10 rules! :-)

BruvvaPete

The iClone used to be great. Now it's garbage. Period.

onethreealpha

After my N9, I'm looking forward to another pure touch,gesture based OS. I-phone with it's 5 year old clunky OS and UI is now where RIM was before acquiring QNX.

abramadhi

That round thing at the bottom of the white phone..is that where one can stow a softlens???

Innovatology

@Bla1ze: actually, IOS does have system-wide navigation gestures:

- four-finger swipe up to access the task bar,
- four-finger pinch to go to the home screen,
- four-finger swipe left/right to switch apps

Not as intuitive as PlayBook/BB10, but let's get things right.

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/tip-of-the-week-multitask...

onethreealpha

Bang on! And combined with that awesome multitasking.....
Oh wait...

Man@Arms

For an iPad. Go ahead and four finger an iPhone LOL. Silly

G-bone

Don't say that! They'll be fingering their iPhones and someone will get fried!

canuckvoip

OK... but let's see someone do that with one hand.

:>)

jasonvan9

+1000000000000000000000000

Skeevecr

Not as intuitive is being very generous to them, they are fairly horrible to use on the ipad let alone on an iphone.

dbarz

that's for the ipad... can u imagine using four fingers on your phone every time you want to switch apps?

anyhoo... using four fingers is ridiculous on a PB you only need one

cr500taco

Four fingers?? Sounds like she's loose to me!

Jake Storm

The old iPhone has been whored out for many years now.

lynxs_claw

Well.. that's the problem with the 4 finger swipe or any other similar Apple navigation or outside-the-app gestures. Your're actually in the application to do that to invoke that navigation gesture. What happen if an app developer wants to use that in his app for what ever reason or you accidently perform that gesture when you don't mean to in your app.

The really nice thing about the PB/BB10 gestures is they all start and are activated off the screen outside of the application!

BruvvaPete

Just another cricket who will not return to a post and back up his/her statement. smh

Innovatology

What exactly should I be backing up? I was just correcting a factual error in the article.

Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes

AND YOU HENCEFORRTH, SHALL BE CALLED "THE DESTROYER"

gallopiton

Or Darth Berry (you know, because of RIMpire strikes back...)

Man@Arms

Soooo stoked for this dope pic of the day / the white iPot is a joke lost in dismay! Boo-ya...

TomCanuck

Iunno, I have a 4S jailbroken with Zephyr and a playbook. And I still find myself using the home button on my 4S often and really wishing my PlayBook had a home button.

For the record, I got my PlayBook long long before I got my 4S (which is my first and only Apple product).

mavsguy842

What does the home button on the iPhone 4s get you that an upward swipe on the Playbook does not? A sideways swipe gets you from app to app faster than pressing a button and then finding an app icon and pressing it does, doesn't it?

BruvvaPete

hmm.. sorry. Excuse me while I peek instead of pressing a button.

GreenLeaf182

Well I wont join the bash apple circle jerk here. The Iphone in that pic has a case so that isn't a fair comparison. Also, the button doesn't look dumb or outdated. Guys, just cause you prefer one brand over another doesn't mean you have to act childish, some people prefer BB, some Apple, deal with it.

Bobcat665

Oh, but the home button DOES look silly, SILLY! If you've come to know and like the PlayBook and its OS you'd see how pointless a home button (or a track pad, for that matter) truly is. The swipes and gestures are just sooooooooo much better. :)

nocturnal123

I'll be the first to admit I loath everything Apple. However I once purchased an Ipod touch and enjoyed the lack of buttons other then the home button and thought it was at the time (4 years ago) innovative and a great idea. Here we are now 2012 almost 2013, the world is moving more and more towards buttonless all touch technology. With above picture showing what the NEW BB10 L series will look like. I think the BB looks far sexier with no buttons at all and the Iphone infact looks dated with its singular button, case or no case the L series looks far better.

BlackBerry By Choice! BB 10 FTW!!

BlackBerry Curve 8330, Torch 9800. Torch 9860 and PlayBook

ScwB

Does anyone know how thick the final BB devices are or even the developer devices? I'm just curious and it seems like this information could be made available given all the leaks that have been made.

Supply.Chain

9 mm... From the London Specs Leaked in October...

BigAssBitchin

All these leaks make me seriously doubt whether I should go touch only or keyboard style... Damn!!

greatwiseone

Home button is so last decade...

G-bone

There is a reason the iPhone is known as "the smart phone for dumb people ".
That BB looks so fine...just wanna reach through the screen and pick it up!

Arthur108

Well ... I think we have to be a little humble here. The iPhone 5 that is "so yesterday" according to one writer here, has sold millions and millions and is still selling millions so... !! What about the BB 10? It has sold ZERO because we have not even seen the BB 10 as a real phone. Actually we can't even be sure it will launch at all ! "Pride goes before a fall ".

Bobcat665

You must have missed the memo about the official release of BB 10 devices on January 30th 2013, dumba$$. Wanna try again?

Arthur108

Oh ..I am really sorry Mr( Miss?) Bobcat.... whatever... I must have missed that! Damn!

BruvvaPete

Your opinion is like a home button: outdated. Move on.

Arthur108

Mr ( Miss?) BruvaPete are you still around ? Acting like a BB Waffen -SS Obersrurmbannfyhrer on this Crackberry site! Move on!

BruvvaPete

I'm sorry. Are you speaking jive?

ps: Vic Alboini is waiting by the dumpster for you too. I wish you well.

dracolnyte

i feel like the bb10 has a lot of waste real estate space that could otherwise house a bigger screen

digitalman101

There might be technical reasons for this.

--TommesJay--

There's a reason for this. You can't handle an edge-to-edge-screen properly in one hand. I tried that on similar sized Android phones.

rickkel

Exactly. And since typing done on a all-touch device is easiest done landscape, those "wasted" spaces will be where you hold the phone. It seems to make perfect sense to me.

jasonvan9

i was thinking as well, edge to edge glass just spells disaster if you were to drop it on a corner (iphone 4, 4s)

digitalman101

Buttonless phone makes the user experience way more fluid and natural.

As far as Bb10 L series compared to iphone 5, only after bb10 L release we can really opinate. Personal opinion, iphone 5 has lost it compared to SG III.

EchuOkan1

The Lord Series looks perfect without a button. I look forward to having one. =0)

marko868

Home screen button silly? This from a company filled to the brim with backward thinking keyboard loving crackberry addicted goodness??

BruvvaPete

Crickets. Vic Alboini is waiting for you by the dumpster. He got taken out with the rest of the trash.

kdna

I wonder if that BlackBerry device is a developer prototype of the final hardware. Final BB10 hardware needs to be no-doubt high quality. *fingers crossed it's not some sort of cheap plastic*

Joe257

I think you are safe. The Dev Alpha B was plastic because it didn't need to live more than 6 months. The BB10 devices are reported to have metal casings.

digitalman101

... what I have read, L series is with plastic housing. Are you sure about the metal casings?

nocturnal123

Only the Dev Alpha B devices were plastic because RIM ran out of the Dev Alpha devices to give to developers. So they quickly through together more Dev Devices made of plastic to get them out as quickly as possible to the remaining developers

BlackBerry Torch 9860 and PlayBook

sydsam

Wot wot wot. Source please, is this real??? Anyone?

--TommesJay--

That is only referring to the color which is called "gun metal". It's still plastic, rubberized on the back, for good grip. And my opinion is that it's fine this way. Why? Does anyone want a black eloxed aluminium housing like the iPhone 5, scratches and dents included? Me neither.

Skeevecr

Indeed, there is too much bowing down to the design of the iphone when really some of the design choices do not work for both functional as well as aesthetic reasons.

Joe257

Question: What happens to active bezels on the PlayBook when it gets BlackBerry 10?

Innovatology

BB10 phones will have an active bezel and a superset of the PB gestures. The existing PB gestures will still be there when BB10 comes to PB.

seageath

One thing I noticed in here that on all the display set in retailer shop somehow the swipe was not working at all, make PB looks dumb compared to other tablets even non-branded one !!!

When I got the real PB is working smoothly and nicely.

I guess this is why some buyer who is previously interested decided to backed off when they try the display set.

Blackberry should pay more attentions on this selling-point. Display set should works otherwise nobody want to buy PB or new BB10.

SEA - powered by BlackBerry® Bold 9900 & PlayBook™ 32Gb

mapsonburt

RIM should post a card around every PlayBook on display on how to use the screen... call it Swipe Up or something like that. Once people experience it they think it's really cool... but if you have never been shown how, it isn't intuitive and people just give up.

Charsaubees

I think buttonless is so cool. It's like playbook, and I love to use playbook without buttons. BTW buttonless seems more elegant and new.

Seijuro

well
i've only had my 9700 so far (really excited for bb10), and aside from the qwerty... there is obviously still the need for a trackpad on my 9700

but since this is an entire new OS, with so many touchscreen gestures, multitasking, flow, hub, etc. i see no reason why we would need a homebutton
im used to my 9700 and will definitely take a look at the N-Series, but this time i think i'll go with the L-Series, super excited

ibenJAMin

Once you start using gestures they feel so natural and almost thoughtless. The gesture and home button is a hassle to use, you begin to have to think about when to hit the home button. The look doesn't bother me as much as the uselessness of it. The line at the top and bottom of the L series phone troubles me a little. I will be be getting one as soon as they are available no matter what it looks like. I am ready to move on from my 9650. I hope I can get use to the virtual keyboard, if not at least Blackberry is still going to make the physical keyboard for me to go back to.

teostar

U bb fanboys r more sheep-like than them apple fanatics. Smh. Swiping up out of an app on bb10 is not like what u get on the PB. When u swipe up out of an app on bb10 its equivalent to just "press and hold" the menu button on os5-7. All u see is ur running apps. U would have to do another action to get to us homescreen (where all ur apps are) or to get to see your notifications/time/battery status etc. Os7 is much more efficient with 1 button press I get to see all this info + I still have the ability to personalise my fone the way I like. And not stuck with what rim thinks is best for me. That sounds a lot like another fruit company no one here likes doesn't it? With all this "improvements" rim claiming and ya'll gobbling up I still see it taking more steps/swipes/gestures to get things done on bb10 than I have now on os7. Just take making a call for example, the most basic function of a phone. On os7 I press 1 button from anywhere and ready to make the call. Now tell me how many things you will need to do on bb10?

sydsam

With a dedicated phone button? Hmm let me think, uhmmm, hold on...wait up. I really need to recalculate this. ....hmmm Let me just run this through actioncalcurizer 2000....It's strange but it comes together to 1 - 2.

--TommesJay--

It isn't like that. First, it's intended that your 8 most frequently used apps are always open and you have them right at the table when you do this one swipe upwards. That's damn easy and fast, especially as your last used app is always in the top left corner, the former always in the top right. So frequently switching between two apps is very fast and easy. Anyway, if an app you need isn't open, you have to swipe over to the app drawer, but on iOS it's the same as there are multiple pages of apps. Secondly, as you do that swipe up and hold the screen (instead of flicking up), you see all notifications oriented vertically at the left border plus all the other required information you see on todays homescreens. Reverse the move with still the finger on the screen and you're instantly back, or go with the gesture to the right and you're in the HUB. Thirdly, there's a shortcut bar at the bottom everywhere outside of apps, which contains the phone button. So you flick up and hit the bottom left corner to get to the phone. Hit in the middle for camera and right for universal search. Wether you're on the Active Frames screen, in the app drawer or in BB HUB.

teostar

Actually wasn't comparing bb10 to ios, never really used any other os but bb. Played with an iphone maybe twice, same for android. But compared to os7 etc for some stuff Bb10 is a step back not for IMO. If bb10 is PlayBook os tweeked for a fone with a new ui. Using the messages, contacts and calendar apps on PlayBook is a pain. Takes forever to open and spool your info vs os7 its a breeze. Simple things like opening an app they implement these "prelaunch" animations just wastes time. Let's hope that's not the case for bb10. Its these small simple things that will "make or break" bb10

danesean

Wouldn't be an ultimate touch if it had a button. Would just be another touchscreen device.

Ч Inc. ®
"Mind over Matter"

THBW

Love the comparison. Anyways, I think it is time that we BB fans stop using all the old iPhone lingo. I think it is far more appropriate to call that massively ugly dent at the bottom of a iPhone the "kill switch" than the "home button".

BruvvaPete

Especially since what's his face didn't like an off button.

Bsavvy

The iphone looks very clunky, toyish and outdated compared to the BlackBerry10! I can't wait to get BB10 now=)

RECOOL

hah this phone no longer looks ugly I wanted to see it in real life make a proper conclusion.But now with this pic just makes the phone look sexy.The orange phone is not that great looking.You just cant mess that that black sleekness all day every day business look.If the backs come off might be a little market there for coloured backs.Thats a good looking phone alright the first pic to do it justice.

Shadberry Bold

BB10 has to deliver with the APPS!!! Launch is in January and they are still asking devs to port over apps or doing it for them. That makes me nervous about the product. I understand the desperate attempt to launch the product fully loaded with apps but it's November already. Either way BB10 will be my next phone. But I just don't want them to release a good product, I want it to be exceptional!!!!! So do they I imagine. #blackberrybychoice

--TommesJay--

They can't give up now, they're just pushing it to the limit. I know from sources that the BB10 app count was already at 70,000 2 months ago. The goal for launch are 50,000 more. And I'm confident they're getting it.

jasonvan9

dont be that concerned about app porting... there have been many publicized cases of app porting taking a minimal amount of time (days, hours on occasion)... with the most famous case being "Galaxy on fire 2" for playbook, the dev sat ONE software engineer down and ported the entire game over into bootable working form in just ONE DAY! thats a 700+MB game ported in a day by one person... i dont think it gets much harder than that

owadkelly

Holy %&!#, sleek as can be. It's like the Black Pearl of smartphones. Wish the brilliant IPS display was on. Then we would see!

tag289

after using bezel gestures, it's hard to go backwards

dcsappernh

Buttonless is seamlessly efficient for peeking at your phone!

rcm1301

I do not want "Home" button like iPhone, but will miss a "Menu" button and trackpad. I know PB is little big to use one-handed, but I struggled with the concept of one-handed gestures (impossible). On my 9930, I can handle that phone with keypad and touchscreen with just one hand. That will be difficult on new L, unless you have a superlong thumb.

BB_Bmore

Apple will release IPhone5s just in time to meet  A series. I'm sure Iphone 5s will be a Typical Apple "s" upgrade. Its all starting to make sense now. The delays were smart IMO. RIM positions itself perfectly.

I'm almost starting to feel sorry for Apple lol almost  10

THBW

Bingo. While many factors went into the BB10 delay, one for sure was better long term positioning. Look, Apple is already locked in and ramping up for the 5s and they are already telling us it will have the same old design, same old OS (with a few tweaks), and no NFC support. So no big changes for Apple till Fall 2014. The tables have turned.

steve911

Damn, that looks so sexy. It really does make the iphone look dated.

bhrgvr

Looks a bit like Droid X / X2 !!!
No matter what... I will be trolling news channels and the CB on 30th Jan... and I will be getting one soon... I might go for the "k/b" one... the 9860 is not so good for touch type and I use the SOTI pocket controller pro... :)))

If the type experience is good, even in cold weather, on the touch I will go in for the London...

T-Raww

I think Blackberry Needs a new way to charge their products like you can use the playbook rapid charger concet and get rid of that usb because sometimes it mashes up so if u make the rapid charge also a usb this would be much better

Schmurf

Rather than simply bashing the other phones, I will simply say that I think the BB10 L-series looks damn fine. I can't wait until I can upgrade from my BB Tour.

imcurved

Good for you! Different strokes for different folks. I like BlackBerry myself. No need to bash other phones. Can't wait to get my hands on the N-series.

TMO_9000_32GB_PB

srmurray1

Any leaks as far as an official name for the L series?

djdragon

Serious phone boner over the L -series

rherfurth

Buttonless is cool, Zak Morris however wants his over sized phone back...

*sigh*

seemsixty7

Personally I was sad to see the buttons go. I like them, but if you are going to eliminate them as BB10 has done, then you may as well go all the way. It does look better and I think it delivers a sharper look.

morganplus8

Hey, I owned a phone back in 2007 that had a button on it just like that 3G in the picture to the right there!! Now that's innovation for you!!

Yemson

Be missing the BB button, but hey it's the future, so go L-Series. No buttons FTW!

protofa

Home button not needed

Camfella

I just remembered Bla1ze is at Kevin's house right now, I now see where the link bait title came from. Kevin is teaching you well! Btw Bla1ze, you post at all hours of the day/night, now you go visit Kevin for a few weeks, I guess I was right about you not having a real job?

lang007

I was going to wait for the BB10 with keyboard but this one is looking real nice I just may have to get this one. This looks a lot better than the iphone.

THBW

The comparison is quite stark. One phone says I'm new and shiny and the other says old and dated. The kill button at the bottom of the iPhone will be a constant physical reminder to all iPhone owners that their product is simply behind the times. RIM couldn't ask for a better visual comparison.

ocgltd

I will always want PICKUP and HANGUP buttons, along with nice to have HOME and BACK buttons.

I hate flipping through touch screens to find phone controls. Don't sacrifice function for form.

green_ember

I kind of feel the same way, but I am reserving judgement until I try the phone. I'm keeping an open mind. I'd feel pretty arrogant to think that if I can't think of a better way to do it, then nobody can. At work, we constantly fight the people that say "but that's how we've always done it" and I try my hardest not to be one of them. If we never accept new ways of doing things, we'd all still travel by horseback and go fishing on the river in our hollowed out tree trunks lol

Jonathank

I like both ways, I like the Blackberry but also would like it if it had the one berry key. either way I think i can deal with it. JUS GIVE ME A BB10

slo64

Bezel gestures are AWESOME. Tried using an android tablet lately and thought that it was made for aliens from outer space.

But here's the story. I happen to need some file lately. Had my trusty playbook with me, connected to the wifi, found my file on the internet and downloaded it. And it was in a RAR archive.
I downloaded and then it is GONE. It wasn't in "Download", "Downloads" or in "downloads". I still don't know where it was, found it with "Files and Folders", and moved to "documents". Okay.
Then I need to extract it. I decided to use an online extractor and found one. ...And it turns out that I cannot upload my file, because in the "Choose file" dialog IT IS NOT EVEN LISTED! Like "Whaaa.. U kiddin' it isn' even a file. Nobody uses THAT..."
And then I am all like "Aw what a useless piece of SH*T I have bought!"

Playbook is a pretty cool device that I have become addicted to. OS is smooth the besel gestures are awesome. But within all the greatness encountering such a stupid blunders is almost painful.
Will it ever be fixed? No I guess not. Because this is a phylosofy of modern mobile OSes: "Use apps! Use apps! Use more apps! Not that puny personal files of yours you don't pay us for!" It's a toy.

And this is sad. I strongly wanted a qwerty BB10 device at first, but now I don't now.
Waiting for bb10 update. Readiyng for the worst.

jasonvan9

in a recent interview with vivek, he described the new file system in BB10 as "full featured" as compared to the PlayBooks file system... so i would not worry yet, the hints are that it will be just as good or better than BB7 file system... ready for the worst, but prepare to be blown away

green_ember

Not trolling, just genuine curiosity here... Can this same task be accomplished on an iOS device? I have never had to try it on my iPhod

416to604

when it comes to buttons i'm all in (full keyboard) or none (playbook, L-Series). sometimes i catch myself swiping up on my 9900 and it works to bring up the app tray

Bold 9900 - Playbook 32GB - Lumia 800

geotos

Buttons look ancient now. Glad the 10 is futuristc and that rim devices will no longer be the "behind" device.
One small complaint though. I wish the gun metal grey bits on the top and bottom of the phone had a shiny finish instead of that mat finish. Looks a bit cheapish as it stands at the moment.

imcurved

Next, show device when it's turned on. I want to see the home screen. Please pretty please.

TMO_9000_32GB_PB

darkehawke

Defo prefer it to the apple. But not everyone will agree. I love the keypad on current bbs but can not see any use for a home button on bb10.
The playbook is all the better for not having one and i hope they keep that flick away to close the app feature on bb10.
My personal wish is for the blackberry logo to light up with notifications, like the led.

rkevwill

Screw the looks. I want to be able to touch a button (tactile, real button) and my phone goes on. One of my favorite features about a keyboard blackberry, is to be able to start typing in a phone number, and it just DIALS!! One of the features I like least in my iPhone, is swiping to turn it on, then hitting the phone icon, then selecting the keyboard, to then dial anything.

Advances in technology are not always Advances in usability.

DisturbedRocks31

RIM could destroy all competition and all innovations Apple and Google ever made in their phones by combining the new Blackberry with haptic technology!

It would essentially mark the end of Androids and iOS' coolness.

Camfella

Oh please, do you really think the lack of a home button makes up for a lack of apps?

THBW

Yup, it says everything you need to know about what's under the hood from an OS perspective. The kill switch will become a physical reminder to iPhone owners that iOS is old and increasingly uncompetitive. Don't worry, Apple will keep creaking along.

DisturbedRocks31

Umm, I'm sorry, we don't have 1500 Solitaires apps to bring up the counter...

Camfella

Im sorry, Let me rephrase it:
Do you really think a lack of a home button makes up for a lack of QUALITY apps?

DisturbedRocks31

Take a look at the latest Blackberry news articles on RIM's 100000 quality apps. Local & global!

gg

Young_simba

Can someone tell me if RIM has patents to the features on BB10? It's gonna suck if they don't!!

hockey1599

IPHONE 5 and S3 is the best devices out. Blackberry Is out of date. I guess people like Lag and freezing and taking out the battery..

Bobcat665

I guess that you don't know what a COMPLETELY NEW operating system and what COMPLETELY NEW hardware means. Either keep up with the news or crawl back under the rock from where you came!

gadgetgirl5000

RIM got some iOS developers... Anyway, they did a great job and let´s see what we can expect of it. It´s one more to compare! http://versusio.com/en/rim-blackberry-10-vs-apple-iphone-5 I think they tried to make something similar to iphone because they what is good however, from what I´ve heard, they have the best OS! Well done!

greyw0lf01

Why are we still talking about Flash as a selling point.

And why compare an iphone (in case, an ugly rubber one at that) next to a phone w/o. People put cases on their phones because they command a high resale value. Think of the reason people put bumper guards on their luxury cars.

The lack of home button is nice and sleek, but the home button is pretty useful to quickly take you back to a primary landing page in my opinion. Also, the playbook doesn’t have a home button but if we’re judging success of device based on a home button... I think Ipad outsells Playbook by a significant margin so home button is really a non issue.

I’d love to see a photo of a black iphone 5 (no case) vs a black BB10 device (w/ keyboard & without) where the device is powered on to the home screen.

SDTRMG

The iPhone is nice, but bb10 devices are gonna be big competition, people fail to realize blackberry as a loyal following like apple.

So to all my blackberry people, please buy the new bb10 devices on the release day, so we can show iOS and android, that bb10 is in the game.

jhirizarry

As a BlackBerian I have faith RIM will deliver a true platform as they said for the next generation of smartphones. I do believe that once it is launched every other platform will copy what the layout will bring (well they are copying it and is not even launched). Hence RIM will be the benchmark once again in innovation for others to follow.

Rootbrian

L-Series is better anyways. :D

Shadberry Bold

Buttonless gestures allow for more one handed control/operation. I'm so used to my playbook that when I pickup a friend's ipad, I find myself swiping from the bottom bezel to minimize apps....and forget about the home button. Removing the home button keeps you "in the flow" so you're always connected, always a "gesture away."

randall2580

I am no fan of the iPhone, never have been so if these are the only 2 phones in the world I take the BB, but I can't put a finger on it, maybe it's because the screen is dark on the BB but so far the L series does not scream "just take my money" to me. Makes it easier to wait on Aristo I don't have an update for launch day anyway.

Clifford Brown

The phone looks beautiful. As I said in a prior post. RIM has decided to "get in the door" with a design people are comfortable with. They aren't an unknown trying to break into the market. Honestly, I cant even name a phone that I think is sexy. The GSIII is huge, feels cheap and hard to handle. The Iphone is way too light and looks exactly like every other iteration before. The truth is, the L-Series is a great looking phone that looks easy to handle. What's going to separate it from the pack is the experience and a boat load of crappy apps. It made apple and google billions. So far, the apps are rolling in and the UI looks incredible. We just have to see an amazing marketing campaign and RIM will be back to where we know they should be.

alinachao

I prefer iPhone 5

green_ember

Then why are you on a Blackberry fan site?

Llcouttien

Never said he preferred the iPhone 5 over blackberrys. Just sounds like a preference for the iPhone 5 over the L-series.

evanmichael

The iSheep are loosing their cool factor.

Shark635

Apple is not without some modest usefulness. With the L-series' similar dimensions, those of us who run can always find a cheap iPhone arm band to carry our new BB-10 device.

Jimcmf

Is it too early to start lining up for the new BB10 ?

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