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Getting shirty about the Samsung Q1 Ultra's mini-qwerty keyboard
The new Q1 Ultra looks great but I am a little disappointed in the split, mini-qwerty thumbpad. You can see it on the picture (left), provided you can keep your eyes on the product. The thinking behind it is clear: a big potential market for these machines is in places like hospitals where staff will use them in their hands rather than at a desk. Mobile phones have got people used to these pads, and no doubt the Blackberry generation will love them.
My reservation is partly personal. I've have suffered bad bouts of RSI and find using my thumbs in this way very tiring, and probably very bad for my hands and wrists. But the keypad also puts the Q1 Ultra into a niche: a market consisting of Crackberries and medics. The fascination of mobiles is the challenge of creating the most comfortable, truly portable, general purpose working platform. If you can't write War and Peace on it, then it does not qualify.
True, you can still plug a keyboard into the Q1 Ultra. I'm not a great texter, again for the sake of my hands, so I may not be the best person to judge. But I'd bet that thumbpad is a passing phase in ultra-mobile design.
Incidentally I had a long and very interesting talk with Microsoft's man at the launch, Bill Mitchell, who is corporate vice president of mobile and tailored platforms. As usual at these events I have more to write up than I have time; but watch this space.
Posted by Clive Akass on March 15, 2007 | Permalink
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