Whoa, I always knew this 
In this to survey by Strategy Analytics (yeah we love surveys and reports) conducted in US and Western Europe, a very debated point of iPhone / iPod touch physical keyboard was probed. While Steve Jobs has loaded a multitouch and I must say good enough onscreen QWERTY, the old horses in the industry like the Blackberry and Palm are still hell bent on promoting a physical hard keyboard. Personally having used both these types of keyboards extensively, I am convinced that the physical qwerty is much comfortable, but the UI and the full screen richness of the iPhone counters that for me.
However, back to the survey – it claims that out of the 2500 participants most had a strong inclination towards physical + touch keyboard. This shouldn’t be a surprise for us given the fact that products like iTwinge and 4iThumbs got noticed and then the approach of Palm Pre is something that worked.
“Despite strong interest in a touchscreen-only device, or a touchscreen combined with a physical keyboard, the traditional 12-key keypad still appeals to the mass market segment,” commented Christopher Dodge, Analyst in the Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice.
Paul Brown, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, “With interest in various keyboard combinations differing by segment, it is important for both device manufacturers and operators to offer a variety of keyboard options within their device portfolios.”
iPhone / iPod touch downloads
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