This just in, you are now looking at the first live images of the BlackBerry Thunder and its touchscreen keyboard!!
The first pics and screenshots we have seen of the BlackBerry Thunder have been awesome, but it's nice to finally have live hands-on photo evidence that the BlackBerry Thunder is REAL and it's working (of course, only time will tell for sure just how well!). More details and another photo of the BlackBerry Thunder's touchscreen after the jump!
Here's a quick recap of the details we brought you last week on the Thunder's touchscreen display:
- Tactile Response - when you press on the Thunder's screen, it pushes in "just" a little bit (the whole screen is sort of like a big button) and you get immediate "real" feedback - you hear an audible clickety sound, and can feel a buzz in your finger where you actually pressed on the display.
- Full QWERTY and SureType entry - hold the phone in landscape mode and you can take advantage of a full-qwerty keypad. Use the phone in portrait mode and you can enter data on a SureType keyboard. You will be able to choose/change your screen/keyboard orientation at anytime.
- Screen is made of glass and will feature multi-touch - the Thunder is said to be utilizing WebKit for it's browser engine (same as the iPhone), so hopefully that means a solid web browsing experience for the Thunder.
These keyboard skins are from a fairly early build of the Thunder's 4.7 OS (the final release keyboard skins are sure to be sexier), but you can easily tell from the images the user-experience RIM is going after here... they want typing on the Thunder to be EASY. That means a lot of screen real estate dedicated to the keyboard, which makes room for big keys that are easy to locate and tap. RIM is famous for the 'BlackBerry Prayer' position users assume when typing messages on their devices and it looks like that won't change with the introduction of the touchscreen Thunder... you should be able to grip the device with both hands and pound out emails with both thumbs blazing.
The images also provide further confirmation that the Thunder's operating system will still rely heavily on the BlackBerry menu button for key functions and advanced options vs putting all options on the main screen as the iPhone does. I'd assume hitting the menu key while on the Compose Message screens shown in these images should provide the standard BlackBerry menu options such as Send, Copy/Paste, Save Draft, Check Spelling, Attach file, etc.
After using an iPhone 3G for a couple of days, I'll say this: while it's pretty, it's not very efficient at getting stuff done (ahem) lighting-quick. A touchscreen BlackBerry like this may just one-up the iPhone in that department because it's based on the speedy and efficient BlackBerry OS while also getting the benefits of a gigantic touchscreen for web browsing, reading and viewing media.
What do you think, does RIM have another winner on their hands?
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220 comments
Looks amateurish, I think.
As an engineer I have to tell you that products don't just roll off the production line ready for prime time use. We start simple. Something like this I would imagine is used by engineers to test usability of the touch screen and its responsiveness. The looks of the keys wouldn't matter. Another team would be working on that.. but for now they would need to know how well the keyboard actually works and come up with ways to improve it.
oh u r really an engineer...
Because it's so unbelievable that he could be an engineer.
Well why yes of course...Engineer = God. Not enough of them around for sure.
Don't hate...just go about your business and make me a latte.
What is the first guy talking about? -_- It's just a phone, not an engineering marvel.
I mean who cares if he can drive a train! It's not he has to steer! Engineers have cool hats though..
I am gay!
I agree they wear pretty cool hats.
The one thing I always seem to notice is that apple innovates and others duplicate.
Now, maybe I'm a little biased towards apple, but It's been 7 years since the introduction of the iPod and its seems like every MP3 player that comes out is proclaimed to be the "iPod killer" but nothing ever actually "kills" the iPod.
To be honest, I think apple has created another iPod-like scenario. While some of these phones offer some cool things the iPhone doesn't offer (yet). It just seems like apple gains so much momentum from being the first to break a new techology and no one else is ever able to gain the hype back.
All in all, the phone looks an awful lot like the iPhone, and thats why I don't think it'll be a big hit. I would expect a company like RIM to innovate rather than follow apples lead.
Then again, apple came to this market trying to take on RIM's market share, so maybe this will play out differently than the iPods.
I'll enjoy my iPhone3G until something truly better comes along.
PS. Congrats to the guy who came out of the closet on this thread.
yea u might think that the iphone was the 1st touchscreen and everyone copied the iphone starting with the LG voyager but iphone copied the LG Prada
All your engines are belong to me. Engineers are just Mechanics with a degree. It´s just funny how rediculously they band together at University. It´s like a bunch of geeks (geeks are not smart, nerds are the smart ones), yet their mother is not the one responsible for making them dress badly.
It´s like a licensed Ditch-digger. Next step down is College-educated (Non-University) land surveyer. That includes all engineers.
I agree and disagree with you.... the iPhone is cool. It was the first to be a "touch screen only" phone that detects your finger, not the pen in your purse or the change in your pocket (no more dialing with your hip). But if you are a female with nails it's almost impossible to use. However, remember Palm was the first to offer the touch screen, so now, who's copying who here.
However, iPhone doesn't offer the higher organizational features of a blackberry, that is why I don't own an iPhone. The iPhone was developed for a different generation. Blackberrys were designed more for the business person and the iPhone was developed more for the personal entertainment and "show off" generation.
By developing a "touch screen only" Blackberry, blackberry is able to bridge the gap between generations and could very much replace the iPhone.
I have several friends that ran out and purchased iPhones but as their needs matured they traded them for Blackberrys.
It'll be nice to carry one devise for everything and be able to sync my appointments, contacts and music to my computer without having to load iTunes and duplicating my music library.
Hey, if your an Apple person, than more power to you, but if your a PC person then the blackberry is looking more and more attractive.
congratlations you are the first person to make a real comment, does anyone else care to talk about this awsome new phone, have an opinion?, or just talk crap!
lollll freekin hilarious!
fag
A modern cellular phone IS an engineering marvel. The science and engineering that goes into creating one is nothing short of a man-made miracle. Your sheer ignorance of that fact however, does not make it anything less.
Bill Cosby loves pudding.
they are scientists.
not mechanics.
not people who drive trains.
It's Pudding Pops...get it right...
I don't get what most people are saying. There are two things I think one must consider:
(1) As people have commented, this is NOT the finalized product. Every product will go through some sort of change in the middle of the testing process to perfect said product.
(2) People talk about how dull this looks. Firstly, the fonts are customizable. Personally, I hate Comic Sans, but, hey, there are settings to change that. Secondly, it looks like it's just in a notes application, how fancy do you want it to be? It's one thing to call a product out for lacking in the looks department if it in anyway impairs function, but it's completely different for disparaging a product for not being dressed up enough--which isn't to say ugly. What else do you want from a notes application, a unicorn border?
I don't think RIM has been complimented enough for the work it's done recently in bridging the gap between business phones--let's be honest, the blackberry is the quintessential business device--and "regular consumer" devices. I mean, starting with the Pearl line, it's become a more approachable brand. I've seen high schoolers with these. Who would've thought this 5-10 years ago?
Derx you are right, I am 18 and a senior in high school, and if you don't have a blackberry curve, or pearl, then your not cool...unfortunately the iphone also puts you in the cool category. But still, blackberry has come a long way in what seems like only about a year. Look at the iphone 3g...its just as stupid as the first one, and it was a whole year newer...my point, is that blackberry has jumped miles in one year.
hey much respect for you "crackberry" high schooler!
keep it berry baby!!
Wow, I'd hate to go to your school if you're judged on how cool you are by what phone you have. What a shallow waste of time.
Not only that, but that high school apparently doesn't teach the difference between YOUR and YOU'RE.
Get a life
lol, get a life? How about learn the difference between your and you're? Do you know how idiotic people percieve you to be when you boast about having a blackberry, yet you can't differentiate from your and you're? It invalidate any decent point you're trying to make, and people will always remember you as an idiot who has got parents with big pockets.
People who can't tell the difference between your and you're should be kept in school and deprived of internet/moible access until they learn basic word usage of the English langauge. That's the only way to snuff their ego, and bring them down to earth.
thanks for emphasizing the problem the high schooler had with differentiating your and you're. Perhaps you might consider working on your own verb conjugation -- take for example, 'invalidate'...
Actually... It's perceive, not percieve.
wow, criticizing someones short hand (and yes I know 'someones' should be someone's but its short hand jack-ass) and typos as a level of their intellegence is an all time low, especially when I counted several typos and grammatical mistakes in YOUR post. YOU'RE an idiot.
Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with all of you? I mean honestly, your and you're...damn
If you find that your time is best spent among such trivial matters than so be it. I mean, it's not like one could ignore a slight err and take the comment as it is understandable despite the horrendous grammatical disaster /hyperbole
--pineapple?
haha that was amazing
definitely a good chuckle.... boy you folks can get so distracted from the main subject, almost a pity anyone cares to ask for your input.
As if you haven't been slandered enough already for your childishness, let me point out this quote:
"It invalidate any decent point you're trying to make, and people will always remember you as an idiot who has got parents with big pockets.
People who can't tell the difference between your and you're should be kept in school and deprived of internet/moible access until they learn basic word usage of the English langauge. That's the only way to snuff their ego, and bring them down to earth."
Invalidate? who has GOT parents? basic word usage of the english language?
Dear, you are a grammatical disaster. Not to mention an obnoxious know-it-all whom obviously has waaay to much time on their hands.
This is the 1st comment I have ever left on any of these sites and it's only because stupidity and intolerance push my buttons.
It's obvious you don't text or IM and if you do it must be painful for those that communicate back to you lol!
Its time 4 u 2 chill out man LOL
Cheers to that
"It invalidate any decent point you're trying to make..."
Um, try 'invalidates'. Sorry, but if you want to be picky (even if I agree with you), you might want to use spell check.
Me likes to invalidates your comments. Is you all edumacated or what? I'd like to axe this question for ya'll... whats up with ya guys .. can't we ALL gets along?
Geesh Louises...
That's was awsome.......LOL
"How about learn the difference between your and you're? Do you know how idiotic people percieve you to be when you boast about having a blackberry, yet you can't differentiate from your and you're? It invalidate any decent point you're trying to make, and people will always remember you as an idiot who has got parents with big pockets."
While I agree with the point made, it's kind of funny that someone goes about correcting the grammar of another with misspellings and dropped letters.
How about learnING
percEIve
It invalidateS
Just sayin'...
i can differentiate goes as follows, you`re = you are an idiot.
and your = your parents should slap you for being an idiot
lmfao
You are clearly either A) hated in high school because you were a know-it-all ass or B) oblivious to the torturous time high school actually is. I suppose it could even be both. Relax dude, he's just making a figure of speech.
fark me, this is the first and last time i get on this blog.
Hey high-schooler, set the trend bro.
Im outta here (did you understand that grammar-man?)
Just to correct you on one point gforce2 theb Blackberry has been around doing it's thing for far longer then a year. When I switch from Palm to PPC (in 2001)I wondered why anyone would get a Blackberry and that would still be true if it were not for the track ball on the Pearl. Although I will admit I almost fell into the dark side of the force with the iPhone craziness because of the bells and whistles, the push email is reason enough to "push" me back to the light.
As for the whole your/you're thing, please forgive some of these crumpy bitter old folks.
.... but it's also half a year away from release. Looks like it's a design used for testing the usability of the keyboard, debugging, etc.. If the past is any guide, there is 0% probability the device would be released looking like this, so what are you complaining about?
I bet the iPhone looked like a total POS 6 months ago, too.
Actually the iPhone looked great 6 months ago, while millions of customers were already using it.
btw- maybe the real reason it looks so crappy is because the ceo wants nothing to do with it, or just doesn't get it:
“I couldn’t type on it and I still can’t type on it, and a lot of my friends can’t type on it,” says Mike Lazaridis, R.I.M.’s co-chief executive and technological visionary. “It’s hard to type on a piece of glass.”
The CEO said he "couldn't type on the iPhone screen, as typing on a piece of glass is hard".
Then they announced their own version, which has a responsive touch screen which vibrates to give a better feel to touch screen typing, and moves slightly when pressed.
Do you not see he stuck to his opinion and has acted on it? Going with the touch screen but making it easier and feel better to type on.
As for you quoting the guy above, most people would assume he meant 6 months before it was released rather than 6 months ago to this date, but we don't make a big deal about it as we are more concerned with the article and commenting on that.
Quoting people is easy. Try getting your facts straight and see the full picture before doing so - that's the hard part.
looks like a giant calculator for 9 year olds. congrats to the product designers. assuming there were some.
all of you without blackberries are some angry mean people.
And if you were so devoted to your apple iphones, why are you on the blackberry page?
be nice
of course we are all going to defend our own phones and what ones we like better.
so be nice.
no big deal
you love your iphones.
we love our crackberries.
although blackberries do come in cool colors
like red, black, silver and like mine, pink.
haha
so go play on your silly iphone, and leave us happy crackberry users alone!
first comment!
awesome! (the BB that is)