BlackBerry Onyx with optical trackpad is all smiles for Mr. Blurrycam

By on Jul 10, 2009 at 9:31 AM
General July 10, 2009

We’ve been saying that this would be the case for as long as we can remember, but today a new photograph has emerged which lends irrefutable evidence to our long-standing claim. The BlackBerry 9020, for now known by its codename Onyx, will be shipping out retail-style with an optical trackpad in lieu of the trackball. Based on the photograph above it’s impossible to tell if what we’re looking at is a late prototype or an early production unit, but seeing as the Onyx has already begun its factory journey we certainly can’t rule the later out. Mmmm, optical goodness.

Thanks, Nan!

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  • http://mobilemogulreport.blogspot.com/ Justin

    YES! Sure their OS needs work, but at least they do an awesome job on their hardware. I don’t think RIM has made a phone I thought was ugly either (though they better be careful with that Gemini… But I suppose it may be intended to not look as appealing).

  • gokmengs

    I love it how everyone jumped on the “new case same old shit” bandwagon after BGR’s RIM essay. In my opinion and many others currently the blackberry is irreplaceable, and for many its not and they obviously use other devices such as iphone etc. Why the need to comment about something that doesn’t work for you, that I don’t get. I guess that’s fanboy talk. Regardless I think RIM is improving its devices with every new one, and yes I would like a kick ass browser and a better OS but who says they are not working on it.

  • Coop

    WANT NOW.. Plz Drifwood/UMA/TMOB in Sept. Plz.

  • M

    Onyx with the trackpad will not be released this year. It hasn’t even started MP yet, and when it does, it’ll be the trackball, not trackpad.

  • Ben E. Lava

    Does anyone else feel that RIM has too many models?

  • dominic

    Expect this on T-Mobile in the fall..late fall early winter..trust me lol

  • Cliff

    So is the replacement for the current Bold? I remember seeing a rumor(not sure where), that the new Bold would lose the trackball and have a touchscreen instead.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • Truman

    Hold up… all carriers have a 3g BB EXCEPT Tmo. Clearly they have to address that gap next.

    OS 5.0 is coming.. and I’d imagine that it will have more changes than just SMS integrated with BBM… probably will fix the memory leaks as well. The OS is fine! No changes necessary. You’re tired of the layout? Download a theme and STFU. What else do you need changed? You just want more applications made for it.. cool. Otherwise, whats it NOT do?

  • http://www.hernandezlawAZ.com Conrad Hernandez

    Yeah, I sort of agree with “Truman.” I had the iPhone 3G and its vaunted OS. Loved it! It was a LOT of fun. But it didn’t have/do a few things I needed and was used to from my BlackBerrys.

    The BlackBerry browser blows. I have to use Opera or Bolt and they’re not optimal either. As for the BlackBerry OS, like Truman says, what doesn’t it do? God, I’m going to regret asking that… I’m perfectly happy with the OS. I hate the browser. Fix the browser. Make “work” your favorite.

    One last thing. What the hell is an optical trackpad? Looks like a Nokia navigation device; how is *that* better? How does it work? And how is it an upgrade to the trackball – which I love…

  • Truman

    The optical trackpad absolves the issue of your trackball sticking, breaking, etc.

    They need only to increase the room for applications, get a good browser, and roll out true-threaded sms. :) Loves me a BB!!

  • josh

    Is it just me or does the Onyx’s form factor really resemble that of the curve series? Ya the keyboard is different, but the overall form factor is too familiar. Hmm…will be interesting to see when and if Tmo gets the “Driftwood” version (thinking 2010) lol!

  • Mr. Obvious

    The two devices in the picture are different. Which one is the Onyx, and what’s the other one?

  • Mr. Hi-Definition

    I can’t wait to get this…

  • mitchell

    so if the SMS isnt actually threaded then what is it like?

  • Ted

    The optical joystick is a backward step in my view. I’ve used optical joysticks/trackpads on several devices, most recently Samsung and HTC-built WM devices, and I’ve eventually switched off the optical trackpad after a while in each case. The tiny tracking area simply isn’t big enough to be accurate with a thumb.

    The problem is that for accurate positioning and selection on screen you need to make contact with the joystick using a pointy bit of your thumb. However, most of the pad area of your thumb is flat, so you have to use the top ‘pointy’ bit.

    Then, you have the twin irreconcilable problems of having to scroll many times to get across the screen, or you bump up the tracking sensitivity to solve this and lose accuracy.

    By contrast, the scroll wheel is ideal because the wheel is physically raised and has texture, so you can use the whole of the fleshy part of the pad of your thumb to control the cursor position.

    Trying to position the caret accurately when editing text is a frustrating experience with a tiny joystick/trackpad.

    For a similar but not exactly identical example of this, compare the jog dial of the previous generation BB devices with the touch sensitive strip of the HTC Cavalier family of devices. I’d rather take the trackwheel any day for its greater accuracy and usability.

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