Photos: Touchscreen Blackberry Thunder

[BESadmin]

Photos: Touchscreen Blackberry Thunder
15th July 2008
blog.wired.com

Over at CrackbBerry, the BlackBerry blog, these photos of the Thunder have surfaced, and they confirm the speculation that the new device would drop a physical keyboard in favor of an iPhone-like on-screen keyboard. As you can see, the soft keyboard changes depending on orientation, although somewhat strangely in portrait mode you are forced to use Blackberry's SureType – which makes the keys do double duty – instead of a proper QWERTY keyboard.

According to CrackBerry, the iPhone similarities don't end with the keyboard. The Thunder also has a glass screen, which will feature multi-touch, and will be using a Webkit based browser, just like Mobile Safari. One big difference is haptic feedback, although that might not be the boon that it's made out to be: a quick buzz might tell you you have hit a button, but it doesn't help you find that button by touch alone.
The guys at CrackBerry also seem to have been smoking some of their namesake. Comparing the (non-existent) Thunder to the iPhone 3G, they write:

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 browsing, reading and viewing media [emphasis added].

The main (and with the iPhone 3G's Exchange features, possibly only) advantage is its real keyboard. Throw that away and you really have nothing to left to fight with.

[tony83]

Have to say I am disappointed with the Thunder... The whole reason I have always stuck to BB (and I believe many other people) is that they have a keyboard.. I hate touch screens when typing a SMS let alone an email...

I just think the touch screen would make the BB inefficient - just imagine when you have to type an email quickly...

Thats my 2 cents...

[brianh]

Unless voice control can be built in (that *would* be a killer.. ) then I also agree with the preference for tactile feedback.

[GaryCutri]

I think we need to keep in mind that RIM will still produce devices with a physical keyboard and offer the Thunder as an alternative for customers. As proven by the large number of iPhone sales there is a large demand for touch screen devices that have desktop grade web browsing and multimedia functions.