- Browse Archives -      March 2007 April 2007 July 2007 August 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 August 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 September 2023

The iPhone's conspicuous lack of a physical keyboard is at once a draw for those in-the-know and a deal-breaker for the virtual-QWERTY-wary. By nixing a physical keyboard from the iPhone's design, Apple has been able to further their minimalistic design philosophy with the iPhone and iPhone 3G. But, clean lines and sleek style come at a price - namely the absence of a physical keyboard.

Despite much improved enterprise support in the iPhone 2.0 OS firmware that will be available as a free update for iPhone users and pre-installed on all iPhone 3G hardware, Apple is rumored to be testing prototypes for an iPhone with a physical, slide-out keyboard. The prototypes are said to have been seeded to unnamed wireless carrier executives for in-the-field feedback.

Steve Jobs previously criticized the need for physical keyboard on touchscreen handsets, but that doesn't necessarily mean he and Apple won't be going after another profitable niche with a keyboard-toting iPhone.

Physical-QWERTY lovers out there might do well to keep their hopes from flying too high for now, however, since Apple is known for throwing us for a loop with leaked misinformation.

If true, we could see yet another iPhone variant hit the market - iPhone Pro, anyone? Or, at the very least, support for Bluetooth keyboards…

Labels: Iphone

---

---