Posted on 02/24/2014 7:22:06 AM PST by rickmichaels
BlackBerry Ltd. is seeking to win back once-devoted customers by bringing back a popular set of command keys that the company had abandoned with the launch of a new family of smartphones this past year.
Sources familiar with the company say chief executive officer John Chen will announce Tuesday at a mobile industry conference in Barcelona that the Waterloo, Ont.-based company will restore its trademark “belt” of five function keys that sat between the screen and keyboard.
This includes a trackpad and other keys that allowed users to easily navigate between different applications. The belt will appear later this year on phones powered by the BlackBerry 10 operating system.
A company spokesman declined to confirm the announcement. In a recent interview, to be published later this week in Report on Business Magazine, Mr. Chen said that future BlackBerry 10 smartphones “will have some of the features our power-users love” but were not included on the first phones launched a year ago on the platform, the all-touchscreen Z10 and the Q10, which features both a keyboard and touchscreen.
The change is more than a feature upgrade: It is a symbolic gesture. By bringing back the belt and pledging to focus on devices with keyboards, Mr. Chen, who joined the company this past November, is attempting to make amends with BlackBerry’s loyal business and government customers.
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
That ought to turn the business around.
So it was the function keys that killed em. Who would have thought.
Add a taser function, just for fun.
I've been typing on glass ever since via an iPhone.
Add a taser function, just for fun.
Dear Former Customers:
The company that ignored you and called you idiots in the past now loves you again.
Signed,
Blackberry
That's only for lasers. Only get that with Verizon...
Obama can’t figure out the touch screen?
Glad to hear it. I have a Q10 and love it. Kids have iphones, wifie has a droid. Wouldn’t have either.
The function keys will improve an already great machine.
I loved the keypad on my first blackBerry. I made far fewer typing mistakes. With my iPhone 5s, I really don’t need to type messages anymore. The voice to text is nearly flawless.
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