Smartphone users just don’t know what they want. One of the biggest, loudest complaints about all-touchscreen phones like the iPhone is its lack of a hardware keyboard, and now a survey shows Pre users most want a soft keyboard.
The survey shows that users like the hardware keyboard but don’t like sliding it out every time they want to type something. Certain Android devices have both soft and hardware keyboards, but they’re very much in the minority. It’s an interesting problem for Palm, whose rumored next WebOS device, the Eos, features a fixed hardware keyboard but a much smaller screen. Still, Palm wouldn’t have too difficult a time updating the Pre’s firmware with a soft keyboard—after all, Android did it already.
Today AT&T and Sony Ericsson announced the addition of the CyberShot C905a to AT&T’s lineup of camera phones. The C905a’s primary feature is an 8.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, xenon flash, and video capture. The C905a has a number of advanced shooting modes and image editing features that allow users to fully customize how the camera functions. It also has a number of dedicated camera buttons to help increase usability of the camera. Other features include quad-band GSM/EDGE and support for AT&T’s HSDPA 3G network. It has a scratch-resistant mineral glass screen, Bluetooth, GPS, an FM radio, media player and support for 16GB M2 memory cards. The C905a will be available starting July 19 for $180 after rebates with new contract.