RIM holding on to QWERTY keyboards

This article has been updated.

During a technology conference in Toronto, RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said that neither a touchscreen-only, nor a QWERTY-only handset is capable of fully satisfying the needs of enterprise customers and consumers. According to the CEO, many customers of touchscreen phones intend to switch to a QWERTY device, because a touchscreen alone seems to be unable to provide them with the needed convenience and tools to carry out their daily tasks. In addition, however, Lazaridis explained that it's important for smartphone manufacturers to provide the users with an adequate choice of form factors, so that's why the company is continuing to evolve the Storm and its SurePress screen technology, while holding on to producing one of the best QWERTY phones on the market.

This actually fits quite well with the rumors of a BlackBerry slider currently in the works, which will reportedly combine both a touchscreen and a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard. Sounds like a fair solution to us!

source: Electronista