Submitted 2 months ago by jqubed@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://mobilesyrup.com/2025/02/15/blackberrys-expired-keyboard-patent/
I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I’d heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would’ve kept them in the market if they’d launched it 5 years earlier.
Finally we can begin to chip away at BlackBerry’s dominance.
They’ve had it good too long!
That said, as a Canadian, it’s always fun to look back at Blackberry’s history and remember a time when a home-grown gadget was the star of the tech world.
Others that fit description were ATI Techologies (now the AMD graphics card division that makes Radeon) and Nortel networks, a maker of corporate and commercial telecom gear (including hardware routers and firewalls).
Oh the sweetest raspberry, mother of jam, What is this abomination?
Clicks.tech keyboard case of you really want to know
I need this to be a slider.
It looks so flimsy. The size of the keyboard compared to the screen feels like it would be nearly impossible to type on it with the thumbs comfortably and without the phone falling out of your hand.
I had a phone with a keyboard that small. Surprisingly easy to work with.
I actually have one and it’s actually SUPER secure. Zero risk of it sliding out. It’s plastic all around and not flimsy rubber.
I remember this. Was it a kickstarter?
I can’t find any mention of it being on Kickstarter, but here’s an early promo for it:
So for 20 years, it wasn’t possible for anyone but BlackBerry to manufacture phones with the revolutionary technology of… checks notes keyboards, and now that it is irrelevant to modern devices, if free for anyone to use.
Patents should be abolished.
BB being able to protect itself from the big players is actually a success story of patents. The 800 lb gorilla’s of the industry never made as good of a keyboard, but if they could have copied BB’s superior design, they would have stomped them in a heartbeat.
There’s a lot of shit about what happens for a dying company and selling patents and so forth that absolutely is scummy. Serious discussion needs to happen there, but calling for them to be abolished? That’s just naive.
Patents should be abolished.
I disagree.
Remembering the BlackBerry keyboard leads me to remembering the Palm Pre, which had so much potential. In many ways, still my favorite phone ever. It’s sad to see WebOS reduced to Smart TV shit.
I got an LG largely because the options were WebOS or shitty proprietary OS.
And yeah, LG haven’t been kind to it.
It was such an innovative Mobile UI for its time, and the physical slide-out keyboard of the Pre, was a really satisfying typing experience. These days, people take for granted that they can dismiss an app by simply “flicking” it up and off the screen on your mobile phone, but that whole visual metaphor and activity came from WebOS. It felt like the first true multi-tasking mobile phone. shucks I miss it.
I still keep it around. It doesn’t work, but it is such a nice object. That was my favourite phone. I miss interesting phones
I still have mine too, and really for the same reason. It is such a great design, and the aesthetic of a water-smoothed river stone was really cohesive. The Pre was all smooth lines and soft curves. Just gorgeous.
My friend in high school had every palm pre, that thing was awesome
I used a Palm Zire 31 and Later a Dell Axim 51v (Windows Mobile) in high school. People thought I was weird, but it kept me organized. I miss how simple and functional those programs were. This was largely pre-enshittification.
I found one of those in the back of a taxi before my first smartphone.
I read through the guys messages and decided he was an abusive asshat. Kept it, wiped it, used it as an mp3 player until the screen cracked in my back pocket.
To this day I cringe whenever I see someone keeping their phone in a back pocket.
I miss phone keyboards so much. I wish I still had a slide out keyboard
With all the crazy to make phones super thin, soon they’ll be so thin you could add a sliding keyboard on it, and it’ll be thinner than phones of a year or two ago!
I loved my N900. Think it would be doable right now with that thickness.
They were so fantastic for gaming. I could actually see what was happening on the screen.
My HTC Desire Z (aka T-Mobile G2) got many years of extra use as a dedicated emulation machine for exactly that reason.
I never had a blackberry, but gained a hatred of them. Not for anything the phone was, but at how bad at software they were. The blackberry software to allow them to read emails from the company mail server was an over bloated, buggy and slow POS. It would forever break and the solution was always to remove and re-add it which would take a day and disrupt email for everyone.
But some CEO “needed” to use a blackberry as it looked corporate.
It’s wild to me how hodgepodge the software was. It’s the software equivalent of the Ford pinto, great and then boom! But for a long time it’s all there was.
There were competitors, but nothing offered everything like the blackberry platform in the early 2000s, the (user facing) software and keyboard combo were nuts, and when the trackball was released (Curve? Pearl? Idk) it was like having a little computer in your pocket.
I used to be a mobile developer (mainly Windows CE, Android and iOS) but once in 2010 I got put onto a project producing a TV-guide-like app for Blackberry. I was absolutely blown away by how fucking awful the developer tools were. Even during the development phase, an app had to be fully signed before it could be deployed to a device and tested and the signing servers were almost always down or operating under a severe delay. Even worse was that the framework code was divided up into umpteen billion different modules, each of which had to be separately signed, so the more modules you made use of the longer your app took to be signed (I often found myself writing custom functions that should logically have been handled by the framework, just to avoid the inclusion of one more module). Some days, even a one-line change to your code took 30 to 40 minutes to get onto your device - or else it was impossible because the signing servers were completely down. They did have emulators but they were worse than the physical devices and everything still had to be signed anyway.
The built-in UI tools were horrible and there wasn’t anything that could be used for a TV guide, so I ended up having to do literally everything with Graphics primitives - although that was actually the fun part of the project. The most annoying thing was the 16-bit graphics, which probably made a bit of sense in 2003 but certainly not in 2010. And of course Blackberry was crashing and dying at that point anyway, so my work was pretty much useless.
The scroll wheel was awesome, though. It allowed for a super-precise UI controlling aspect that just isn’t possible with touchscreens.
The one on the picture is actually a Keyone. It runs Android 8 which was just fine.
What’s special about Blackberry keyboards that every early slider phone didn’t have?
I would love to have something like my HTC G1 again with modern hardware and screen.
The article is absolute trash for not mentioning this. “Their iconic keyboards…” is the closest it gets to describing them.
Thankfully, there is a link to the patent at the end.
Abstract
A keyboard comprising a plurality of transparent keys. In use, the keyboard is attached to a device such as a mobile device, to overlie a display screen of the device. One or more images displayed on the display screen are made visible to a user through the keys, which may be pressed by a user. User input is determined by identifying a pressed key, and the image or part thereof visible through the key when pressed.
Basically a detachable keyboard of transparent material as a display overlay, providing tactile feedback while the LCD allows for backlit and customizable key labels. I don’t remember seeing a practical implementation of this IRL or in media but I might be too young for that.
So changeable keys on a touchscreen, but with physical buttons on top. Sign me up!
That sounds pretty rad. I’m almost 40 and haven’t ever seen this either. Perhaps it was just the coke addicted business tycoons of the 1980s and '90s that got to experience this tech.
Wow really I never saw that before, sounds crazy.
The build quality and tactile feedback were much better. I never owned a BB but the keyboards were definitely something that I envied.
The only one I ever had experience with was the Blackberry Touch that my wife had. It was a total piece of junk and I think she went through 2 or 3 during the warranty period. This was after their heyday, though, when they were trying to jump on the smartphone bandwagon.
It’s hard to explain. The keyboards they built just felt and worked better. They clicked just right, they had the shape right. Once they licensed out production like their Android branded phones it wasn’t as good.
There was a device called Typo that copied their keyboard exactly but attached to iPhone that was good but they must have really copied BB because they got sued into smithereens.
I’m guessing OP means the build quality, as defined by the mechanical and material standards that are needed to recreate the keyboard.
I want the Palm Pre form factor back. Sooo satisfying to slide that thing open or snapping it closed.
Keyboard was ok but not as good as the BB, IMO.
Maybe the layout or that little nipple that could work as a mouse.
The first Android phone had the nipple, so must be the layout or something.
I had the Motorola droid, it was pretty sweet
Forgot about this one. I loved this phone back in the day. Remember when it would say DROID when you booted it up?
It was the first good phone. It was great to have the Verizon marketing thrown at an Android flagship phone.
Loved that phone! I had a little gamepad for it that would click onto the keyboard. I ran emulators on it, perfect for my daily commute to uni.
I really enjoyed my Sidekick from TMo. Great device to play Google roulette back when feature phones were king.
But the dual slide on the Helio Ocean was pretty dope too. The screen was just too small for most people to care.
Yes, the sidekick LX was the perfect phone, it’s too bad they shit the bed when they tried to bring it back with Android.
As far as androids with keyboards, the Moto Droid and the HTC G2 really hit the sweet spot. They are tiny little things though compared to current flagships.
Surely you mean the slider style of the Xperia X1 and not the more common folding style of the LG
5 line keyboard!
LG had the best phones out of the box, hands down. But as soon as they’re updated, they turn to shit. Excellent hardware, shitty after-sale support. I think that’s what killed their phones.
Just last week I upgraded from an LG V30. It was still running Android 8 and the battery would only last half of a day but I loved that phone.
RIP LG phones, I will miss you.
Can someone explain how something as generic as a keyboard can be a subject to patents?
SEND IN THE CLONES!
I absolutely loved my passport. It was smooth, and it was a pleasure to use. the keyboard was amazing. At the time with bb10 os, it could do things android and apple could only dream of. Too bad they shit the bed with damn antenna desoldering it’s self.
I hope we see more keyboard phones. I’d buy an iPhone with a keyboard.
I have a Unihertz Titan and love it. I guess they skirted around the keyboard patent. www.unihertz.com/products/titan
Blackberry’s design patents have expired as well. So you can go nuts.
Oooh I might look into that once my 3310 dies
My 2001-era Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 PDA had the best slide out keyboard ever made, nothing has come close at all. A CF wifi card brought it so close to being a smart phone before there were smart phones.
I would buy it today as a phone if they’d just remake the original with an updated linux with QT equivalent option.
There have been a bunch of other phones and devices using that style of keyboard. I used a Nokia E63 for years. Were they under license? What about the one Lilygo sells now? Maybe whoever manages RIM’s portfolio just stopped caring. Anyway this is kind of interesting. I always liked that keyboard.
Oooooh guuurlll!
Meshtastic phoneless devices with BB keyboards, let’s goooooo!
remember some of the older phones had a sliding keyboard from under the phone.
Any takers? Any?
Hopefully that means somebody other than Unihertz will make a keyboard phone.
I don’t need it to be super high end, I’d just rather not own a Chinese made phone with all the data they send back.
I was pretty good with T9 back in the day, then the keyboard on the BB Pearl changed everything. I loved the keyboard on the BB Curve the best, banged out tons of messages with friends with BB messenger.
Un popular opinion when I had to support those damn things I actually hated the keyboards, always felt the keys where too small
I loved my BB Bold 9600, but the physical keyboard did reduce the screen size to a rather small form factor compared to modern phones. And I dare say that swyping is faster and just as accurate, so even if there would be new phones coming out with hardware keyboards of the same quality as old BlackBerry’s, I doubt I would switch back.
I used a Q10 as my first phone and I miss the keyboard so much, hopefully someone does something cool now ;)
Best keyboard I ever had was a Motorola Q. The phone itself was mediocre, but great keyboard.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Yes please I hate fucking virtual keyboards and haptic feedback.
someguy3@lemmy.world 2 months ago
God I don’t know how anyone like the haptic feedback. Turn that shit off.
Swiping is pretty cool though.
ShepherdPie@midwest.social 2 months ago
Haptic feedback maxed out plus the tap sounds with the volume turned up to 100% is the way to go.
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’ve been swiping for years. I can’t believe no one else in my tight circle does it.
asbestos@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I fucking love haptic feedback. They suck only when the system used is a motor with a half-weight. The linear oscillating weight ones are amazing.
user224@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
I can’t even use they keyboard properly without haptic feedback.
satans_methpipe@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Boomers and normies appear to love it.
Dindonmasker@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I never tried swiping. Maybe i should look into that.
WolfmanEightySix@piefed.social 2 months ago
Check out Unihertz. Can’t offer any advice or if they’re good, but they look interesting.
Suburbanl3g3nd@lemmings.world 2 months ago
Keyboard feels great to use but their current layout sucks majorly
pedroapero@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
I’m very satisfied with mine. Some UI tweeks were required to adapt to the small screen.
morrowind@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
What keyboard do you use? They are not all the same
hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
tell me about it. i’ve recently been sort of forced to switch from android to ios (some special circumstance) and holy shit, the virtual keyboard is atrocious.
I would immediately jump on a blackberry keyboard phone when and if one ever gets released.
narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I can type 60-70 WPM on the virtual keyboard of my phone without autocorrect. While that’s nowhere near the speed of me using a regular-sized physical keyboard, I can’t type that fast on a physical phone-sized keyboard like a Blackberry one.
I know quite a few people miss these physical smartphone keyboards, but I’d argue they were never all that great. YMMV.