BlackBerry Thunder first-ever live pics unearthed

If you're a BlackBerry fan feeling the need for relief from the throngs of iPhone lovers, the cats at CrackBerry may have uncovered a solution to your problem. The RIM aficionados have gotten their hands on the first ever live pictures of the phone-maker's touchscreen device -- the Thunder -- and it's looking pretty darn sweet. Feast your eyes on the above photo (featuring the much-discussed "tactile" keyboard), and hit the read link for another look.

[ch0rx @ Jul 13th 2008 5:12PM]

Whats a tactile keyboard, how is it differant from iPhones?

[Aaronage @ Jul 13th 2008 5:14PM]

You should have read the story, hit the read link!

Quote:
"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."

So there you go :P

[N30 G30 @ Jul 13th 2008 5:18PM]

a tactile keyboard responds back when pressed down. an iphone keyboard is just flat. you can't push down and it wouldn't push back up.

people are still getting this wrong. the screen has to lift at certain points to feel like real keys and would be able to be pushed down to be closer to what a real tactile keyboard would feel like. I still think this is a step in the right direction though. hopefully others follow.

[CarrotAndStick @ Jul 13th 2008 5:46PM]

I cannot foresee a day when we'll have a digital display that can physically form buttons on it when required and eliminate it when it's not needed- the available materials for engineering such a product, and the reality of screen distortion due to friction and wear, can never be eliminated; atleast not the latter problem.


The only way to get around the problem of wear is to have a screen that can organically renew itself, sort of like our epidermis. We'll have created artificial life meanwhile.

[Saad Rabia @ Jul 13th 2008 5:50PM]

@ CarrotAndStick: Ever heard of Nokia Morph Concept? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX-gTobCJHs&fmt=18

[Erik @ Jul 13th 2008 5:55PM]

CarrotAndStick - Checkout Sony Navitus universal remote. Tactile feedback is unreal, you never had to look on the screen to know where the bottons were.

[Chris McDowell @ Jul 13th 2008 6:04PM]

So all this does is make a mechanical click noise and vibrate? The problem people had with the iPhone keyboard was that you had to look at it to type because the buttons were all smooth. This is going to be the same thing. The screen is smooth and flat so youll still have to look at it. Only difference is it makes a mechanical click and depresses. what is wrong with a software clicking noise to confirm that the key has been accepted. This is people getting excited about something because it is said to compete with the iPhone. Everyone hates the iPhone now a days but this is not a fix to the problem that people were saying the iPhone had.

[ryan @ Jul 13th 2008 6:11PM]

Chris, Reread the definition of tactile keyboard. If that doesn't help, she the succession of comments above yours. If that doesn't help, consider wearing a helmet from now on.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 13th 2008 6:16PM]

The word "tactile" just means "sense of touch". So a "tactile keyboard" could really mean anything.

In this case, the "tactile keyboard" is referring to their attempt to provide touch feedback when typing on the touchscreen. As with some other touchscreeen smartphones, the Thunder's screen will emit a light vibration to confirm a key press was received by the touchscreen. Apparently, in contrast to other devices, this vibration will be somewhat localized to where you touched. Also, supposedly the whole screen will be sort of a "button" and will indent and "click" when you press it.

Now of course the holy grail of all of this is to create an artificial tactile response on a touchscreen that a normal person cannot differentiate from a real physical button. And NOT just "virtual" buttons in a fixed square grid pattern, but completely dynamic and adjustable "buttons" that would emulate the different shapes and locations of on-screen controls. I'm sure we'll be a lot closer to this in 3-4 years from now than anything RIM or Apple has now..

[Ace b @ Jul 13th 2008 7:03PM]

I have the perfect song for this phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXuxRWXisUQ

..."I don't wanna ever love another,You'll always be my Thunder...."

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jul 13th 2008 8:09PM]

I don't think a persons fingers really require bumps as feedback. I'm sure just the proper electrical stimulation is close enough to think there are actual bumps. I've never used a haptic keyboard so I don't know what it feels like. I'm just certain the human skin can be fooled, so to speak, to think there are real keys. When laboratories to experiments on mice with electrodes attached to their brain, it's good enough to make mice experience various sensations. The proper feedback on skin should be sufficient. I'd like to see a system like that. I'm sure they could arrange something for blind people that use braille to read yet would work for sighted people as well.

The Thunder keyboard is a nice 3D replica of a keyboard. Although it won't do more than an iPhone keyboard it looks a heck of a lot better than a lame 2D look. That and the wide horizontal arrangement seems they have something going for them. Of course, it should be quite easy to duplicate the look, but not the feel. I like it. RIM could even have a squishy sound with a keypress and that might even help with auditory feedback.

At some point keyboards are not going to be necessary in most conditions if voice input can be improved. Maybe the handset processors are not up to that task now but in a year or so they should be.

[Chris McDowell @ Jul 13th 2008 8:47PM]

@ryan

Just saying it sounds like a solution to a problem that doesnt really need to be fixed. Is it that hard to type on something because it doesnt depress and vibrate as you press it. More things to wear out on it.

The complaint people have with the iPhone was you have to look to type which slows you down. This doesnt solve that problem which virtual keyboards have. How does this help improve anything.

How does your comment help? I didnt insult you at all. I can spell see just fine. Unlike some commenters.

"Research In Motion's upcoming touchscreen phone -- the infamous Thunder -- will feature a virtual keyboard so realistic you'll swear you're sitting in front of 1986 IBM Model M. CrackBerry says "reliable sources" have told them that the device's screen will utilize a number of advanced technologies to create such an effect, including localized haptic feedback, which allows the screen to be literally pushed in while rewarding you with a vibration and click sound,"

[CarrotAndStick @ Jul 13th 2008 11:08PM]

@Saad Rabia

@Erik


Read what I wrote again. Nokia's concept is a pretty cartoon, nowhere near reality, and the Sony TouchEngine remote is still a flat normal LCD with indirect tactile feedback.


All those dreams of LCD screens raising portions of itself to form buttons is just imaginary, and will continue to be so, for a long time coming. Current physics and material science does not permit a screen to be a temporary button AND remain optically defect-free, for too long.

[Freakin Ijit @ Jul 13th 2008 5:12PM]

Sweet!

[good912 @ Jul 13th 2008 5:13PM]

just waht i was waiting for! lookn good!

[white_ultras @ Jul 13th 2008 5:14PM]

Finally some interesting iPhone competitor.

[Saad Rabia @ Jul 13th 2008 6:02PM]

Well, you want an iPhone killer? here it is: Samsung Omnia.

http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Samsung-OMNIA-Preview-review-r_1973.html

With all love to the outdated iPhone 3G. :)

[Reality Check @ Jul 13th 2008 6:12PM]

The Omnia's not even out yet, dunce.

And it's running Windows Mobile, which is about 10 years behind Mac OS iPhone.

Isn't it telling that WinMo has to be hacked to high heaven in order to be semi-usable? (i.e. TouchFLO 3D, Omnia)

No serious iPhone competition will come from any Windows Mobile device for years to come.

Android, however, is interesting. Really interesting.

[Lloyd @ Jul 13th 2008 6:53PM]

dude seriously, did you just defend the iphone by saying windows mobile had to be hacked? the iphone was the king of 'needed to be hacked' even so much so that people like the woz even jailbroke their phones.

[pete @ Jul 13th 2008 7:01PM]

Yeah, using my iphone is so much fun when doing basic functions like recording video, looking at flash video, writing MMS, voice dialing, and getting files from my computer over bluetooth. My favourite thing to do is to write and edit my Office documents while on the bus. Expandable memory is a great feature. Windows Media Sucks!

[BrianB @ Jul 13th 2008 8:48PM]

Now I can't decide: iPhone 3G or BlackBerry Thunder? Wait, what's the pricing on this one?

[Scott @ Jul 13th 2008 9:02PM]

Pete, my favorite thing I *don't* do on my iPhone is mess with a task manager just to keep the thing from bogging down! :)

[TareX @ Jul 13th 2008 9:12PM]

iPhone won't be killed by hardware. The beauty of the iPhone is it's OS, UI..etc
How are ppl not seeing that yet.

So, the only real potential iPhone killer would be:

- An Android device.
- A WM7 device. (esp if Tegra was running it)

Software, not hardware.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 14th 2008 2:18AM]

@Saad Rabia

You don't have to like the iPhone, but attempting to downplay it as "outdated" and and play-up YET ANOTHER UNRELEASED "iPhone Killer" just makes you look stupid.

Beyond the fact that this device isn't even released, It's running Windows mobile for god sakes. This will never compete with the iPhone or any variant thereof.

Windows mobile has been a complete failure for 10+ years, and even the latest version 6.1 barely improves on the terrible interface and non-existent usability. WinMo does have a lot of features, but my god, not even the technically-literate can operate it properly because it is complex and so badly designed. For god sakes, a START BUTTON does NOT belong on a mobile device. Your average user just wants to give up smartphones after trying windows mobile. And I haven't even mentioned the poor performance, significant bugs, and frequent crashing and freezing.

The iPhone is not a great device because it offers so many features, or has the best camera, or the highest resolution screen. It's a great device because the things it DOES DO are so well designed and integrated. Email, Calendar, Phone, Media Player, and especially the Web Browser are extremely well designed and absurdly easy and convenient to use. Now, the app store

[Angus Hedger @ Jul 14th 2008 6:41AM]

I wonder what version of windows mobile you have all used?

Half of the problem with WM, is the bloat that carriers load into there roms, if you try using one of the custom ones, you will see how dam fast it is.

My TyNT Has a 400mhz cpu, and about 24meg of ram, and even if i load up everything I have installed on the phone its still dam fast.

I like the WM UI, maybe its just me though, but it seems logical after using windows for so long, I cant say that the iPhone doesn't have a very, pretty, UI, never had a chance to play with it myself though.

Anyway, Im a qwerty man myself, I don't think I will ever want to change, unless something like this REALLY feels like a physical keyboard.

[Jeff Snugglebutton @ Jul 13th 2008 5:16PM]

Looks like it's as big as a dinner plate.

[Macro @ Jul 13th 2008 5:17PM]

Is Android ever coming out?

[TareX @ Jul 13th 2008 6:18PM]

I was thinking the same thing.

I guess their smart move is releasing an Android phone pre-Christmas, right around the time WM7 phones with Tegra processors start surfacing all over the web.

Stupid people...

[Squid7085 @ Jul 13th 2008 5:17PM]

And they said that a software based touch keyboard would never catch on. In either sense, I love my iPhone and I an a huge Apple fan, but I am loving seeing all these phones try and take on the iPhones dominance. Pushes Apple to do more and vice versa. Everybody wins. Now that we got fair practices with the hardware, its time to take on the carriers. Lol

[christopheraven @ Jul 18th 2008 4:31PM]

amen.

AT&T Wireless.. is mine..

[Varuna @ Jul 13th 2008 5:30PM]

Oh so the iPhone fans are now unbiased are they ?

But I agree, without competition its no fun.. Microsoft wouldnt be doing what all it has now if Apple and others hadn't given their best shot at something.
Makes it interesting and fun.
I like apple for starting something.. but they are just arrogant and certain other things make me sort of go away from them.
Thats just MY OPINION.

[Wolfticket @ Jul 13th 2008 5:44PM]

"...but I am loving seeing all these phones try and take on the iPhones dominance"

They may be dominating press coverage, but they aren't really dominating the smart phone market, let alone the wider mobile phone market. Last quarter Apple actually lost market share to RIM.

[Erik @ Jul 13th 2008 6:49PM]

@wolfticket
LOL is that possible cuz apple stopped shippnig phones that quarter?
Dumbass

[Mark Anderson @ Jul 13th 2008 7:02PM]

@Erik

Well, no, because the figures refer to Q1 when they were still shipping.

[CraigJ @ Jul 13th 2008 7:35PM]

@both. Those figures were completely lame and essentially meaningless because they were Q1 08 to Q4 07 comparison. There's this little thing called the Christmas holiday in Q4, and apple focuses on consumers. Apple sales are highly seasonal and Apple's Q1 will always be a lot smaller than it's Q4. Rim on the other hand is very much business oriented and many new fiscal years start Q1.

The real comparisons will be Q3 and Q4 year over year.

Personally I like both, I own stock in both (witch is painful on the RIMM side these days). Heck, I have a Mac AND an XP box too. The only tech I really hate is Vista...

Carry on.

[Mark Anderson @ Jul 14th 2008 8:08AM]

@Craig

Seasonal figures also affect every othe rmanufacturer though, that's why we're talking about market share not sales volume.

Carry on.

[SupaYoYoMan @ Jul 13th 2008 5:18PM]

hopefully they improve the media player..

[小小小猪 @ Jul 13th 2008 5:20PM]

Another iPhone?

[Erik @ Jul 13th 2008 5:23PM]

Software will most likely suck. Unfortunatly.
My gf got a blackberry. And to be honest I'm not sure how ppl put up with them. Hard to use and old techknology don't mix well. Good luck rimm, with this and your falling stock (-40 pts)

[initialxy @ Jul 13th 2008 5:30PM]

i know it's a business phone, but i still hope they can make the UI look prettier before release.

[CraigJ @ Jul 13th 2008 11:50PM]

yeah, comic sans does not belong ANYWHERE.

[jkr @ Jul 13th 2008 5:33PM]

Now weren't the masses saying that the iPhone could never be suitable for business because it lacked a physical key pad. Now, the #1 (disputably) business phone/pda has just dropped the physical key pad. Does this mean that everybody that made the anti key pad statements should feel silly for letting their own assumptions get in the way of reality, or has the blackberry just made a useless device for business. food for thought. I personally don't care for a physical key pad, but to each his own. I actually liked HP's iPac, some time ago it came w/ a detachable thumb board, I never used it much, but I thought it was a good idea for those that wanted it.

[letstakeawalk @ Jul 13th 2008 5:53PM]

I think you're referring to the iPac 63** series... the detachable keyboard was a good attempt at making a smartphone that didn't alienate either the people who wanted a QWERTY keypad of those that thought it was superfluous. The market still vacilates between those users.

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/hp-ipaq-pocket-pc/1995-6452_7-30981393.html?hhTest=1 *

*(iPhone fanboys need not click the link, no need to understand how smartphones evolved)

[Andrew T. @ Jul 13th 2008 5:54PM]

Although it's really early, I'm saying it's a consumer model that will go against another consumer model, the iPhone. Until power users show RIM that a touch keyboard is actually be better than a physical keyboard, I'm going to assume anything that isn't a physical keyboard will be a consumer model (also depending on specs, i.e. Curve vs. 8800).

I don't see how it would make sense to compare a business model to a consumer model. Business model will lack features (specifically media features) that a consumer model has and the business model will have all the necessary features to be productive over a consumer model.

[jkr @ Jul 13th 2008 5:58PM]

@letstakeawalk
yes, I had the 6305

[Lazaro @ Jul 13th 2008 6:03PM]

blackberry hasn't dropped the physical keyboard. they are just expanding their phone line up, which is why they did a clam flip phone as well.

blackberry will continue doing physical keyboards for a long time thankfully.

[Lazaro @ Jul 13th 2008 6:04PM]

blackberry hasn't dropped the physical keyboard. they are just expanding their phone line up, which is why they did a clam flip phone as well.

blackberry will continue doing physical keyboards for a long time thankfully.

[John @ Jul 13th 2008 8:40PM]

No, if RIM stopped making devices with actual keyboards and people kept buying them anyway, THEN we'd all have to eat crow. RIM could start making phones with Dora the Explorer themes, that doesn't mean that those are what people want to use. Power users still buy primarily buy keyboarded phones. Some don't, and RIM wants that market too. Some are waiting for a fully touchscreen phone that executes the keyboard better, and again, this is what RIM is trying.

[caniac_01 @ Jul 13th 2008 9:16PM]

RIM didn't "Ditch" the physical keyboard, they still have lots of phones that have physical keyboards, this is simply widening their range of devices. The VAST majority of their phones still use physical keyboards.

[Andrew T. @ Jul 13th 2008 10:10PM]

all the reasons above, why RIM dominates the smartphone market. Appeal to the masses with various handsets instead of just one.

Personal opinion, although the iPhone has it's pros and cons, unless they make more than one handset, I don't think they will ever top RIM. If Apple keeps one handset and then adds features to it every year or whenever, you're only gaining a small amount of new users because previous owners won't be willing to get a brand new iPhone just for one or two upgrades. With RIM, you get the whole spectrum. Starting with the Kickstart to the Pearl. Then you have the Curve to the 8800 and finally the Bold and soon to be released, the Thunder.

Slowly, RIM is materially increasing investment to achieve dominant global handset status.

(Does anyone know the total amount of first generation iPhone users and the running total of 3G users?)