Technology

The BlackBerry Storm showed why you should never turn a touchscreen into a button

Published

2 years ago

March 31, 2022

The BlackBerry Storm showed why you should never turn a touchscreen into a button

In 2007, the iPhone ushered in an period of touchscreen devices that precipitated most buttons to fade from our telephones without end. However there was one temporary second within the grey, transitory haze between buttons and touchscreens that an unlikely firm tried to fuse the 2 collectively. BlackBerry cut up the distinction by boldly asking, “What if a touchscreen was additionally a {hardware} button?”

Thus was born the BlackBerry Storm, a tool whose complete touchscreen doubled as a pressable button. The Storm was one of many first (and final) makes an attempt to bridge the legacy world of bodily keyboards and the fashionable world of touchscreens. However to know the existence of the BlackBerry Storm and its weird clicking display screen, we first want to return and perceive BlackBerry on the peak of its energy — and why it needed to maintain buttons alive.

To BlackBerry, buttons had been the complete level of its merchandise. Once you image a BlackBerry cellphone in your head, you’re not seeing an interchangeable slab. You’re seeing a full QWERTY keyboard that spans the decrease third of a cellphone, with impossibly small keys which are by some means good to sort on. A BlackBerry with out the ever present, clicky keyboard for firing off BBM messages and emails was hardly a BlackBerry in any respect. Even the corporate’s brand evokes the chiclet keys that constructed its model.

Photograph by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

However even essentially the most beloved buttons can’t beat again the inexorable waves of progress: touchscreens had been the long run, and BlackBerry needed to bounce on board. As Steve Jobs commented in his now-famous 2007 iPhone introduction, telephones just like the BlackBerry or Palm Treo “all have these keyboards which are there whether or not you want them or to not be there, and so they all have these management buttons which are mounted in plastic.” And as such, they’re unable to adapt to particular purposes or consumer interfaces. It was an statement that might precede the announcement of the touchscreen-only iPhone and the start of the tip for {hardware} buttons on telephones.

BlackBerry received the message. And so, in 2008, the corporate made the Storm, its first touchscreen cellphone. On the time, the system had a 3.25-inch display screen, a lot bigger than its then-typical 2.5-inch screens. And it didn’t have a bodily keyboard.

As an alternative, the Storm had a singular “SurePress” show: quite than keyboard buttons, the complete show was a huge button that may very well be clicked down like a trackpad. On an iPhone, you merely tapped away at a digital keyboard with no actual indication that you simply had been urgent something. On the BlackBerry Storm, you bodily needed to “press” every key to sort, full with an ultra-satisfying “click on” sound, due to the mechanical change beneath.

It was a terrific thought, in principle. In follow, the Storm was horrible to sort on. (There’s a cause we use a number of little keys to sort quite than one large button.) The massive display screen on the Storm was gradual and needed to totally decrease and lift earlier than you can press one other key. The lightning-fast typing that BlackBerry energy customers had grown used to slowed to a glacial tempo — typing out one letter at a time.

The corporate would attempt to tweak the components on the Storm2 a yr later, changing the only mechanical change with 4 piezoelectric switches on the corners of the show (making it potential to “press” a number of keys directly). It additionally added a full-size QWERTY keyboard in vertical orientation (the place the unique solely supplied a wierd two-letter-per-key choice). However even then, the SurePress know-how wasn’t ok to copy the sensation of typing on one in all BlackBerry’s regular keyboards.

BlackBerry tried to supply prospects the most effective of each worlds when it made the Storm; as a substitute, it managed to harness the worst qualities of each bodily {hardware} and touchscreen typing. It resulted in a laggy, gradual expertise that wasn’t significantly fulfilling or simple to sort on. The bodily components had been louder and extra fatiguing for customers than a conventional QWERTY keyboard, with none of the tactile advantages of a number of {hardware} keys. The added friction from the bodily change detracted from any main advantages of a touchscreen for typing, too.

It’s no marvel that BlackBerry would abandon its SurePress know-how shortly afterward: in 2010, its subsequent flagship, the BlackBerry Torch, would provide a show that was the identical dimension because the Storm however with a conventional BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard.

BlackBerry would bounce between full touchscreen units and its acquainted {hardware} keyboard for years after the Storm (even providing each in lots of circumstances). However the firm by no means tried to construct a tactile touchscreen once more.

As a result of whereas buttons could be a great way to make use of a cellphone — and touchscreens could be a great way to make use of a cellphone — a large touchscreen-button hybrid turned out to be a horrible thought.

Technology

Silo season 2 hits Apple TV Plus this November

Published

3 hours ago

July 28, 2024

Press Room

Silo season 2 hits Apple TV Plus this November

The end of the world just got a little closer. Apple confirmed that the much-anticipated second season of its postapocalyptic series Silo will start streaming on November 15th.

Based on the trilogy of novels by Hugh Howey, Silo is set in the distant future and follows the remains of humanity, who live in giant underground bunkers — the titular silos — to avoid the deadly world outside. The season 1 finale ended with a big twist that made it clear there’s a lot more going on than the show initially lets on. It also only covers part of the first book, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of the story the new season covers. Silo’s second season will see returning cast members like Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, and Common.

Technology

How to connect your AirPods to your PC and Android devices

Published

3 hours ago

July 28, 2024

Press Room

How to connect your AirPods to your PC and Android devices

Just because Apple’s AirPods are designed for other Apple devices doesn’t mean they will only work on Apple devices.

That’s right, you can use your AirPods on your PC or Android-running mobile device. It isn’t as simple as setting up AirPods with an iPhone or Mac, but it’s also not too complicated.

Follow these steps to connect your AirPods to a Windows PC or Android.

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AirPods and an Android (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

How to connect AirPods to a PC

Insert the AirPods into their charging case, ensuring they’re at least partially charged.
Open the top of your AirPod charging case, but do not remove the AirPods from the case yet.
Tap and hold the circular button on the rear side of the AirPod charging case for a couple of seconds until the light inside the case blinks white.

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The circular button on the back of the AirPod case (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Now, open your PC’s Bluetooth settings by clicking the Bluetooth icon in the system tray (bottom right of the taskbar) or by searching for “Bluetooth” in your taskbar and selecting Bluetooth and other device settings.
Click “Add Bluetooth or other devices” at the top of the settings screen.
On the “Add a device” page, click the top option for Bluetooth.

Bluetooth and device settings on a PC (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Click the AirPods option from the list of all Bluetooth discoverable devices.
Wait around 30 seconds, and you should see a connection confirmation screen once your AirPods and PC are paired and connected.

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Troubleshooting a failed connection

When you take your AirPods out of their charging case, they should automatically connect to your PC. If your AirPods are having trouble connecting to your PC, don’t panic. Close your AirPods case and your PC’s Bluetooth settings and simply repeat the pairing process outlined above. Your AirPods should automatically connect to your PC after a few seconds every time you remove them from the charging case. If, for any reason, they don’t, follow these steps:

Open your PC’s Bluetooth settings by clicking on the Bluetooth icon in the bottom-right system tray of your taskbar. Alternatively, you can search for “Bluetooth” in your taskbar and select “Bluetooth and other device settings” when it appears.
Scroll down to the Audio section under your Bluetooth list and click on the AirPods listing.
This should reestablish the Bluetooth connection between your PC and AirPods.

Remember that Siri is Apple-only, so you won’t be able to use the voice assistant while your AirPods are connected to your PC.

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Pair AirPods with your Android phone

Connecting AirPods to an Android device is similar to connecting to a PC. Before doing anything, you’ll want to ensure that your AirPods are charged and housed in their case.

Swipe down from the top of the screen on your Android device
Touch and hold the Bluetooth icon
Turn on Bluetooth
Tap Pair new device

AirPods and an Android (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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Open the lid of your AirPod case, but don’t remove the AirPods from the case.
On your AirPod case, press and hold the button on the rear of the case until the case flashes a white light.
Your AirPods should show up in your Bluetooth devices list.

If you can’t find your AirPods in your Android Bluetooth devices list, check for them under “Available Devices” in your Bluetooth settings. You can also refresh the Bluetooth list by clicking More and then “Refresh.”

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Kurt’s key takeaways

And there you have it. Now, you can easily connect your AirPods to your Windows PC or Android device. Remember, if your AirPods don’t appear in your PC or Android’s Bluetooth device list, simply restart the Bluetooth pairing process. Also, note that Apple-specific features like Siri won’t be available with your AirPods if you use them from a PC or Android device.

What other Apple accessories or devices would you like to see become more compatible with non-Apple platforms and why? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Marvel is bringing the Russo Bros. back to direct the next two Avengers films

Published

10 hours ago

July 28, 2024

Press Room

Marvel is bringing the Russo Bros. back to direct the next two Avengers films

During Marvel’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the studio announced that the Russo brothers have signed on to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars — the former of which will see Robert Downey Jr, return to the MCU as Doctor Doom. Doomsday is due out in May 2026, while Secret Wars will follow in May 2027.

Doctor Doom showing up just as the Fantastic Four are about to arrive makes it seem like Marvel’s been cooking up a plan to send its beleaguered Multiverse Saga off with a bang — one that’s probably going to be orchestrated by a guy who looks just like Iron Man.