nerdhook

In admitting they rushed the Blackberry Storm out the door in order to meet an artificially imposed deadline, RIM also has apparently seen the error of their ways with how the Storm keyboard functions:

RIM adds that it’s also expecting to fix the remaining problems with the Storm in upcoming patches and confirms a recent firmware leak which shows that the handset will abandon RIM’s longstanding SureType portrait keyboard in favor of a more iPhone-like QWERTY layout.

As you read right here back in November, inclusion of the SureType keyboard was a flawed design decision from the beginning. It’s good to see RIM willing to correct its mistake.

This episode also demonstrates the benefit of limiting actual hardware features and designing around a touchscreen; major changes to key design pieces can be updated through software, and users won’t be stuck with the odd SureType keyboard much longer.