The BlackBerry 10 is a big, big deal for BlackBerry. (BlackBerry is the new name for Research in Motion, its maker. Finally, they can stop explaining to people that “BlackBerry†is the name of the product, not the company.)
In my review in The Times Wednesday, I pointed out that it’s surprisingly good for a brand-new device with a brand-new operating system. But my original draft of the column was 2,000 words â€" much too long. So here, for your entertainment pleasure, is some of the overflow: my additional notes on BlackBerry 10.
* I’ve always loved the BlacBerry’s typing shortcuts. From the beginning, you could leave out the apostrophes in words like “won’t,†“can’t†and “shouldn’tâ€; the software adds them for you. And the famous BlackBerry end-of-a-sentence shortcut â€" hitting the space key twice to make a period, add a space and capitalize the next word â€" is now standard on all smartphones.
That tradition continues with some new goodies in the BlackBerry 10 software. For example, to change the on-screen keyboard to the symbols keyboard, you just swipe down on the entire keyboard. It pops back to the A-Z keys after you make the symbol automatically. (You don’t even have to change keyboard layouts to type numbers; they appear on a top row above the letter keys. Take that, iPhone!)
Similarly, tapping the backspace key deletes one character. But swiping left from the backspace key deletes one word.
* On the iPhone and Android phones, the keyboard is smart enough to widen the keys’ virtual surfaces to accommoda! te mis-hits. If you type TIMR, for example, you’ll get the word “time,†since “timr†isn’t a word; the keyboard virtually expands the letter E so it makes sense. But thousands of people still get “I live you†when they mean “I love you,†or “fir†when they mean “for.â€
BlackBerry 10 goes that feature one better. Over time, it learns where you tend to strike the individual letter keys, even if you’re slightly off. It self-adjusts its idea of where those keys lie, so you get fewer and fewer mistakes.
* As I wrote in my review, the BlackBerry’s keyboard does something special: it predicts each word as you start typing it, and sometimes before you do so. With each letter you type, three or four letter keys sprout finished words above them.
For example: You type “I,†and the BlackBerry keyboard proposes several possible words, positioned above the corresponding keys: “I’m†over the M, “I’ll†over the L, and “I’ve†over the V.
You flick pward on the M key, which flings “I’m†into whatever you’re typing.
Now a few more words appear over keys, like “sorry†over the S and “going†over the G. You flick “going.†Now, over the T key, you see “to.†You flick that one. And so on. (My video makes it clearer.)
Over time, the software gets smarter and smarter about predicting the words you want. It actually analyzes your e-mail, Facebook messages, and other activity to learn about the way you write. After a few days, the software gets freakishly good. You can often enter a whole sentence solely by flicking words.
(Many readers have pointed out that SwiftKey and other Android-phone keyboard systems also propose words â€" by displaying the candidates above the keyboard. But the BlackBerry puts the words on the letter keys, which is far more efficient. Your fingers don’t have to jump between the keyboard and the space above it; furthermore, each word candidate appears where your finger is going to trave! l anyway ! â€" on the next key you’d type â€" instead of positioned randomly above the keyboard.)
You can type in up to three languages simultaneously, without having to do anything special when you switch. The software automatically notices your language switch and begins proposing autocompleted words in the new language.
* There’s no Home button, and you don’t really miss it. To wake the phone, you just swipe your thumb up the screen. That is, you don’t have to press a button to wake it up.
When you’re finished using an app, you’re supposed to swipe upward from the bottom of the screen. The app shrinks into a widget: a quarter-screen-sized miniature that floats on your Home screen, still running. Up to eight apps can become instant widgets like this. They bear X buttons, so you can also quit one once it’s been widgetized.
You can now swipe to the right to see your regular app icons, or to the left to see your Hub.
* In the calendar’s month view, the digits for the days o the month vary in size, according to how busy you are. (There are also vertical color-coded bars that represent your business.) Days in the past appear in gray.
* BlackBerry Balance is the company’s name for the personal/work sandboxing feature, in which your work calendar, contacts and apps are maintained side-by-side with your personal stuff. To switch modes, you swipe down from the top of the screen and tap either Personal or Work. (In Work mode, your corporate overlords can install their own wallpaper, offer their own private app stores and even disable your camera.)
If you don’t enter your work password, you can’t see any of your work stuff; for example, your calendar appointments still appear, but their names all say “Event (locked).†(I asked the product manager: “But if someone steals your phone, isn’t it a security risk that he can see your agenda, even without appointment names†He looked at me like I was a little nuts. “If a bad guy knows I have a busy day, s! o whatâ€! )
* The Hub is the master list of in-boxes for each e-mail account, voice mail, text messages, Facebook and Twitter posts, notifications, and so on. Supposedly, it’s always there, at the far left of the Home screens. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t appear when you swipe from the left, as it’s supposed to; I still haven’t quite figured out why.
* Once the Hub is on the screen, swipe down to see your calendar for the day. It’s always there, easily accessible, without your having to open a Calendar icon.
* The browser can play Flash videos. (The feature comes turned off, but you can turn it on.) Take that too, iPhone and Android!
* The status bar at the top, where your battery gauge, cellular signal and time appear, disappears when you’re using an app. It’s present only at the Home screens. That gives you more screen space, but it’s not a good trade-off over all â€" you miss it.
Similarly, you can swipe down from the top to reveal one-touch controls for the silencer witch, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, alarm and so on, just as in the Android system. But that panel doesn’t appear when you’re in an app â€" only at the Home screen.
* More details: You can adjust the type size. There’s an HDMI output for connecting to a TV (you need to supply your own cable with a micro-HDMI connector on one end). There’s tethering, private browsing, parental controls, a rotation lock, a screenshot keystroke (press both volume keys simultaneously), and an optional “If found†message on the Home screen.
The BlackBerry 10 doesn’t assure the company’s future; I think it puts BlackBerry’s prospects teetering on a razor’s edge. But it’s a really great job for a 1.0 release â€" and a big sigh of relief for the 80 million BlackBerry fans who still love the satisfying little details of the BlackBerry Way.
