[citation][nom]gm0n3y[/nom]While I think that BB needs to start innovating, I don't think they're going to die just yet. They're still one of the top makers of phones with keys. My GF who has had an iPhone and is on the whole crapple bandwagon recently told me that when she upgrades she's not getting another iphone 'because the keyboard sucks'. I'm hoping to get her to try an Android out, but right now she wants a Blackberry.[/citation]
It will take time for RIM to die, but RIM is dead. The problem is simple, they can't try to compete head to head with larger companies with more money and larger platforms to leverage (Google, Microsoft, and Apple). They need to focus on being different and leveraging their existing strengths, and right now they aren't doing that (strengths being enterprise, BES, and BBM), in theory they could have done that but each day their chances disappear, Apple is really dealing a blow to BBM with iMessage, Microsoft is going to start going after enterprise and BES with Sharepoint, etc. If they want to survive and thrive they need to be ahead of the curve and unfortunately their direction is killing them and by the time they figure it out they won't have time to change.
[citation][nom]otacon72[/nom]I have HUGE hands and fingers like most of my friends. We type just fine on the BB keyboard..lol I tried typing on an iPhone and it was ridiculous. Virtual keyboards have and will always suck. I can get almost 2 days out of a charge on a regular battery...can any Android or iPhone user say the same? My BB makes great phone calls and is the best for texting and email...all I need. I don't have time to be playing around with apps....I work for a living.[/citation]
Having both a BB and Android I can say my Android gets just as good battery life as my BB, if the battery is dying quickly on a smart phone it is generally due to the type of use. Yes, you'll have time surfing the net all day long on an Android phone and having it last as long as a BB if all you do on the later is talk on it, but try comparable activities?
As for the keyboards, use landscape, a landscape keyboard on Android or iPhone is way bigger than a BB keyboard, use Swype with Android and you don't even have to be that accurate, not to mention you pick up the accuracy with practice. There's a reason everything is moving in that direction, physical keyboards just don't compare when you weigh in the compromises.
As for not needing apps, they aren't games, apps can dramatically enhance productivity if you choose to use them that way. For example, I use widgets for Microsoft Exchange to check appointments, tasks, etc. without ever having to open a program like I do on BB, I can manage LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook (all connected to business), take pictures of barcodes for shopping, use Evernote and Springpad for gathering organizing and sync'ing information, have my business VOIP lines go directly to my cell phone, get turn by turn navigation going to my appointments, the list goes on, all business applications facilitated by apps.
[citation][nom]K2N hater[/nom]iPhones are smartphones for entertainment and Blackberries are made for businessmen. Let's see how fast is to write an email on any iPhone in comparison to the vast majority of Blackberries, which come with full QWERTY keyboards. Not going to argue about the reception of the iPhones or the issues with the clock but I guess not many are to rely on an iPhone unlike BB in general.[/citation]
Honestly, I'm way happier with email on Android than on BB, I type just as fast or faster and more conveniently with Swype than on my BB, the functionality I get such as "Create task" or "create appointment" from email, etc. are all radically superior. There's a reason an increasing number of business people are switching to Android and iPhone. The notion that BB is better for business is largely dated, there are some advantages if you're running BES, but that's a significant extra cost (what's up with the inability to connect to Exchange servers directly?) and is it really worth it? What if you want to connect with Sharepoint? Really, in some senses one would have to argue that WP7 is best designed for business people due to the Sharepoint support.
Most of my friends run their businesses from Android or iPhone, I run my business from Android and BB just doesn't compare.