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Lacks the standard android buttons for a more iphone like single button interface. On android you need to have the home, menu & back button or else most apps w

Lacks the standard android buttons for a more iphone like single button interface. On android you need to have the home, menu & back button or else most apps won't work. The search button is also needed but the lack of one would probably not break most applications. Designs like this are great, but often the achieve their elegance by ignoring physics or some other constraint that makes them completely unworkable.

todd3834 16y ago
Could search be a double click of the home button like the iPhone?
- jrockway 16y ago
  Yeah, having to know Morse code to use the phone will make it easier to use.
  - IgorPartola 16y ago
    Funny you should mention Morse code. At some point someone suggested adding a Morse code interface to cell phones in order to speed up text messaging. A decent "Morse coder" apparently can beat the best teen texter in speed and accuracy. I can't remember where I read this but I'll post a link if I find it.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - jemfinch 16y ago
      I saw a demonstration of that on Letterman one night awhile ago.
- joubert 16y ago
  Search is not a double click on iPhone. To search, you click to get to home, a second (regular) click takes you to search. Double click invokes multitasking panel (iOS 4).
mey 16y ago
Things that came to mind the "kick stand" would be hard to engineer due to speaker location. the UV light while charging thing is a bit off If you want to design a phone for the ages, it needs to be somewhat expandable, a sd card slot and/or a changeable main board might do the trick
- axod 16y ago
  I think the last one is a very good point. Why not go the whole hog though and make the mainboard upgradable? The phone could just be a really nicely designed and well built 'shell' to hold the main board + display etc. Then every 2 years, instead of buying a whole new phone, you just get an upgrade to the internals. It seems a little silly to pay too much attention to the external design of phones since most people only have them for a year then change. I'd sort of like a beautifully designed custom phone shell into which I slot the latest internals with the new chips etc. Having the same phone shell for 10+ years, but seeing the internals upgrade would be nice.
  - cgbystrom 16y ago
    Replacing just the internals could work. But don't forget that both the battery and exterior gets worn down quickly.
  - jonknee 16y ago
    > I'd sort of like a beautifully designed custom phone shell into which I slot the latest internals with the new chips etc. Having the same phone shell for 10+ years, but seeing the internals upgrade would be nice. Maybe we treat our phones differently, but unless it was made of diamond it would be beat to hell well before 10 years passed. Not to mention that mobile changes so quickly that internals will be hardly recognizable in 10+ years (at least 5G and god knows what else).
    - axod 16y ago
      I think most people keep the same wallet/card case/key rings etc for 5-10 years at least. So I don't see why a mobile can't survive either. I'd actually quite like a metal/leather one. And no, a case/protector just isn't the same. Do people here remember the Nokias where you could buy different facias, backs, etc - They kinda separated the case in that way which I thought was a step forward. And if the facia gets scratched you just bought a new one and slotted it in.
mortenjorck 16y ago
I always thought those should just be soft keys anyway. Why not make the home button bring up a soft version of the 4+1 (last one actually confirming the "home" action)? As long as there's no lag, it would be a lot better than accidentally hitting them while typing.
- usaar333 16y ago
  That would be so much slower. I use back and home quite frequently on my phone; I would hate another key press. Also is accidentally hitting keys a frequent problem? On my hero, that has never happened.
  - jsz0 16y ago
    It's a big problem on phones that use touch sensitive keys placed directly under the screen. Your back or home button can be uncomfortably close to the spacebar on the keyboard.
    - hasanove 16y ago
      Using Nexus One for 6 months, and have total of may be 6 accidental hits to those keys.
      - vollmond 16y ago
        Using Droid Eris for 6 months, and probably do it every 2nd time I type something.
  - moron4hire 16y ago
    I am constantly accidentally hitting the touch buttons on my Moto Droid.
  - usaar333 16y ago
    Based on all of these responses, I'm wondering if the Hero's key layout (2x2 matrix of buttons) is better than the droid/N1's. The hero's buttons are farther from the screen, therefore impossible to ever hit accidentally. (Also those who have issues with accidental keypresses should give swype a try -- since you rarely tap keys, the accident rate should drop.)

todd3834 16y ago

Could search be a double click of the home button like the iPhone?

jrockway 16y ago
Yeah, having to know Morse code to use the phone will make it easier to use.
- IgorPartola 16y ago
  Funny you should mention Morse code. At some point someone suggested adding a Morse code interface to cell phones in order to speed up text messaging. A decent "Morse coder" apparently can beat the best teen texter in speed and accuracy. I can't remember where I read this but I'll post a link if I find it.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - jemfinch 16y ago
    I saw a demonstration of that on Letterman one night awhile ago.
joubert 16y ago
Search is not a double click on iPhone. To search, you click to get to home, a second (regular) click takes you to search. Double click invokes multitasking panel (iOS 4).

mey 16y ago

Things that came to mind the "kick stand" would be hard to engineer due to speaker location. the UV light while charging thing is a bit off If you want to design a phone for the ages, it needs to be somewhat expandable, a sd card slot and/or a changeable main board might do the trick

axod 16y ago
I think the last one is a very good point. Why not go the whole hog though and make the mainboard upgradable? The phone could just be a really nicely designed and well built 'shell' to hold the main board + display etc. Then every 2 years, instead of buying a whole new phone, you just get an upgrade to the internals. It seems a little silly to pay too much attention to the external design of phones since most people only have them for a year then change. I'd sort of like a beautifully designed custom phone shell into which I slot the latest internals with the new chips etc. Having the same phone shell for 10+ years, but seeing the internals upgrade would be nice.
- cgbystrom 16y ago
  Replacing just the internals could work. But don't forget that both the battery and exterior gets worn down quickly.
- jonknee 16y ago
  > I'd sort of like a beautifully designed custom phone shell into which I slot the latest internals with the new chips etc. Having the same phone shell for 10+ years, but seeing the internals upgrade would be nice. Maybe we treat our phones differently, but unless it was made of diamond it would be beat to hell well before 10 years passed. Not to mention that mobile changes so quickly that internals will be hardly recognizable in 10+ years (at least 5G and god knows what else).
  - axod 16y ago
    I think most people keep the same wallet/card case/key rings etc for 5-10 years at least. So I don't see why a mobile can't survive either. I'd actually quite like a metal/leather one. And no, a case/protector just isn't the same. Do people here remember the Nokias where you could buy different facias, backs, etc - They kinda separated the case in that way which I thought was a step forward. And if the facia gets scratched you just bought a new one and slotted it in.

mortenjorck 16y ago

I always thought those should just be soft keys anyway. Why not make the home button bring up a soft version of the 4+1 (last one actually confirming the "home" action)? As long as there's no lag, it would be a lot better than accidentally hitting them while typing.

usaar333 16y ago
That would be so much slower. I use back and home quite frequently on my phone; I would hate another key press. Also is accidentally hitting keys a frequent problem? On my hero, that has never happened.
- jsz0 16y ago
  It's a big problem on phones that use touch sensitive keys placed directly under the screen. Your back or home button can be uncomfortably close to the spacebar on the keyboard.
  - hasanove 16y ago
    Using Nexus One for 6 months, and have total of may be 6 accidental hits to those keys.
    - vollmond 16y ago
      Using Droid Eris for 6 months, and probably do it every 2nd time I type something.
- moron4hire 16y ago
  I am constantly accidentally hitting the touch buttons on my Moto Droid.
- usaar333 16y ago
  Based on all of these responses, I'm wondering if the Hero's key layout (2x2 matrix of buttons) is better than the droid/N1's. The hero's buttons are farther from the screen, therefore impossible to ever hit accidentally. (Also those who have issues with accidental keypresses should give swype a try -- since you rarely tap keys, the accident rate should drop.)