Thoughts on the Q10 I am very optimistic about sales of the Q10 and know many individuals waiting to try it before upgrading. I have tried the Z10 and love it, but also want to try the Q10 before making my decision. That being said, I do have a few concerns that I hope BB has already given considerable thought to:
1) Precision: lack of a cursor/trackball and bb/esc keys may prove frustrating, and result in a high return rate. Although I agree the Z10 is an awesome typing experience, for those who do lots of emailing and require editing, the 'button' shortcuts of moving the cursor and then highlighting the area of text to be used is sooooo much faster than doing so on a touch screen. Case in point: when I want to type on my playbook I always bridge with my Bold9790 so I can use the remote feature. Trying to select a precise spot in the middle of text is timeconsuming and frustating with a touch screen. Yes the Z10 is more responsive then the current OS on the playbook, but it still remains a touch screen requiring mutiple touches to achieve the same goal. I really don't see how any touch screen could be more precise than the trackball type function. BTW, I am not the only one with this concern, and have seen comments from a couple users on either crackberry or seekingalpha that were hardcore QWERTY fans, tried the Z10, returned it and went back to their OS7 devices due to lack of precision without these keys.
2) Form factor: the screen size is not proportional to the Z10 (i.e. more square than rectangle) so won't this cause issues with some apps? Basic screen specs: Z10: 4.2" display, 356ppi vs Q10: 3.1" display, 330ppi. It seems to me this will cause fragmentation of app development and could be a deterrent for future app development. Yes hardcore keyboard fans are more concerned with the keyboard, but they still will want to maximize the potential of the brower and OS. With an aspect ratio of 15:9 for the Z10, this is slightly off from the 16:9 for the playbook. Again I thought the strategy in avoiding fragmentation would have been to retain the same aspect ratio across all devices---or at least have a standardized format the same as can be done with widescreen tv's---black border on both sides when watching non-widescreen formats. Personally, I never used a Torch but some of the concept sliders I have read about would have allowed BB users to get the best of both worlds from a QWERTY phone:
https://t.crackberry.com/blackberry-blade-blackberry-10-phone-thats-too-hot-be-truehttps://t.crackberry.com/hows-blackberry-10-slider
3) There has been speculation that upon comparing the Q10 to Z10, future buyers may actually choose the Z10 due to form factor and excellent typing experience. I hope BB has thought this through since Z10 demand may actually increase shortly after the Q10 release, so adequate supply needs to be in the channels
I am a BB10 believer and BB represents a lopsided portion of my stock portfolio, so I hope they get this right. Just my thoughts. Feel free to share yours.
IFC