Steve is tickled by the latest trends in the mobile device industry towards qwerty keyboards. He just knew the rest of the world would come round in the end... Read on...
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Episode III - Revenge of the Keyboard
Hmmm....I'm still not completely convinced. True I love my 9300 to bits and for messaging, be it email, text or IM, it's ideal...
But. A keyboard does add a large amount of bulk to a device and it's not always the best solution for input especially when it comes to web browsing. On a phone, it can turn into little more than a gimmick without too much trouble (i.e. E71 and it's predecessors). Alternatively, it can become impractical, especially if you want to enter stuff on a flat surface using a keyboard like the one found on the Treo. The only device that has got this right so far and with the right combination of style and functionality is the Psion Revo and it's kind. By having a touch screen for web browsing and a slim keyboard that's large enough for serious text entry it works really well as a device. One (Nokia 9300) or the other (Palm, PPC) on it's down doesn't cut it.
A Pocket PC line with good keyboards and touch screens was HP's 720 and similar devices.
But nowadays a device like a 9300i with a slightly higher touchscreen and maybe 3G/UMTS would give the MDA pro a run for his money...