HTC abandons QWERTY phones

[makken]

Well, this is a sad day for me, htc is planning to move away from qwerty phones in the future. I've been holding off on upgrading from my G2 until the next high end qwerty phone from htc comes out. I guess tha won't be happening anymore.

So now it looks like motorola is the only android manufacturer left that still produces a hardware qwerty phone with the droid line.

 

[Oyeve]

Well, this is a sad day for me, htc is planning to move away from qwerty phones in the future. I've been holding off on upgrading from my G2 until the next high end qwerty phone from htc comes out. I guess tha won't be happening anymore.

So now it looks like motorola is the only android manufacturer left that still produces a hardware qwerty phone with the droid line.

There are a few from Samsung. My gf just got the Samsung brightside. Oh wait. Android. Yeah the brightside is not android.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Yeah, I finally gave up on a new qwerty phone to upgrade to from my G2. Decided to get a screen so large that I can't miss the buttons (Galaxy Note) lol.

 

[makken]

Yeah, I finally gave up on a new qwerty phone to upgrade to from my G2. Decided to get a screen so large that I can't miss the buttons (Galaxy Note) lol.

Lol. Unfortunately I'm a small person with small hands. I've played with the note, and... there's just no way I could make it work. I think the only upgrade path open to me now is the mytouch 4g slide, and that phone is getting old as well.

The move to huge (4.3 in +) screens and slate style phones have really put me off of smartphones lately. I hope this trend doesn't continue.

 

[Bateluer]

Good news for Motorola, I think. If they can deliver a decent QWERTY handset on multiple carriers, they'll be the only game in town.

 

[Deeko]

Very sad day.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Good riddance, I'm never buying a phone with a slide out keyboard again. Just another thing to break, collect dust, and make the phone thicker and more complicated. I never use my Epic's keyboard; I always use Swype.

 

[podspi]

Does nobody type emails on their phones anymore? Or are people really dictating messages now?

 

[Red Storm]

Does nobody type emails on their phones anymore? Or are people really dictating messages now?

I can type faster on a virtual keyboard than I can with a physical keyboard.

Heck, I can type just over 55 WPM on my family's iPad. Much faster on a regular old computer keyboard of course, but the point is that I adjusted to virtual keyboards pretty quickly and have never looked back.

 

[Deeko]

I can type faster on a virtual keyboard than I can with a physical keyboard.

Heck, I can type just over 55 WPM on my family's iPad. Much faster on a regular old computer keyboard of course, but the point is that I adjusted to virtual keyboards pretty quickly and have never looked back.

I can type decently fast on a touchscreen, but for me its not about speed - its about preference. I just don't like doing it. For all its other faults, when I swap my SIM into my Bold 9900 and start typing, its almost a relief. Touch screen typing just feels like a chore to me.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Does nobody type emails on their phones anymore? Or are people really dictating messages now?

I swype way faster than I can type on a tiny physical keyboard.

 

[zerocool84]

Does nobody type emails on their phones anymore? Or are people really dictating messages now?

Voice to type on iPhone and Android is pretty darn good now. I use it a lot.

I miss having a real keyboard but would rather have a smaller device overall.

 

[alent1234]

Does nobody type emails on their phones anymore? Or are people really dictating messages now?

i like the virtual keyboard on the iphone and ipad

 

[Headcase_Fargone]

I can type faster on a virtual keyboard than I can with a physical keyboard.

It's not necessarily about how fast you can type on them. I don't use a physical keyboard but I can certainly see the appeal. They'd be especially nice for terminal and remote access apps, where the keyboard takes up a huge portion of the screen.

Ever try typing console commands into a terminal with a soft keyboard? It's not fun.

 

[QueBert]

I have a Motorola Q9C, old phone but the keyboard on it's pretty damn nice. I know Samsung & Motorola still have a candy bar style phone you can buy. But they're junky phone. for landscape I like virtual, but imho nothing beats a candy bar phone for typing. Yeah, much smaller screen. But I'd jump if Moto released a high end candy bar Android phone. I know it'll never happen though

 

[emperus]

Haven't looked back since I left my blackberry for a virtual keyboard. well that could have just been te blalckberry.

 

[shelaby]

sad day, im still on my TP2 and LOVE the keyboard on it, was hoping to see another one with the newer phones =(

 

[ilkhan]

I didn't realize anybody still made QWERTY phones besides moto.
Oh well.

 

[soccerballtux]

Well, this is a sad day for me, htc is planning to move away from qwerty phones in the future. I've been holding off on upgrading from my G2 until the next high end qwerty phone from htc comes out. I guess tha won't be happening anymore.

So now it looks like motorola is the only android manufacturer left that still produces a hardware qwerty phone with the droid line.

sad I really miss the keyboard on my OGDroid. Hate touch typing it registers mis-taps all over the place.

 

[Yuriman]

The keyboard on my OGDroid wasnt the best qwerty, but I liked it a lot better then typing on a 3.7" screen. I type comfortably on an iPad, so I'm hoping the 4.3" screen on the SGS2 I'm getting will be acceptable. I found the tradeoffs for going with a hardware keyboard unacceptable this time around so I'm switching over. There's always swype or voice to text I suppose.

 

[podspi]

sad I really miss the keyboard on my OGDroid. Hate touch typing it registers mis-taps all over the place.

Hah, you should try the keyboard on the D4. It is literally the best keyboard I have ever used on a phone. By far. And I've used many.

 

[Nothinman]

Does nobody type emails on their phones anymore? Or are people really dictating messages now?

I keep it to a minimum just because the in-line editing can be a pain, but SwiftKey X's word prediction is so good that it's easy to type out a few sentences or even a paragraph or two without much work.