General BlackBerry® Functions and Features

[hinky]

It drives me crazy that only the Blackberry does not have a dedicated period key, perhaps one of the most used keys of all - for punctuation, email addresses, URLs, etc. I cannot stand this stubbon insistence to do so! If RIM won't change they keyboard layout, then someone MUST create software to reroute this key or the bold will again stand out like a sore thumb that makes standard typing frequently a chore.

Let me handle the defense: "All you do is press the spacebar key twice or once in the browser and you're good as gold!"

1) Other than the Blackberry browser, a period key is needed in virtually all other applications. If you're typing in the message area in an email or any other text/memo field in an application, you'll get hit with needless extra alt-M keystrokes that you'll frequently forget and double tap the space bar. (Then you must delete the space too.) Typing a URL, email address, or just a period at the end of a paragraph  is extremely frequent - FAR MORE frequent than using the "$" sign.

2) Not all applications use the space bar as a period. Opera still doesn't. Blackberry's own email application does NOT use the space bar as a period when typing in email addresses into the TO, CC or BCC fields. Thus every time you're entering data you're again being hit with a usage penalty and frequently adding in a space because the UI is NOT consistent between applications. Guys... even at RIM you aren't using the "space in a field where it doesn't belong like email recipients" mentality either so why lay it on the user?

3) Why not have a dedicated key AND a shortcut key combo of the doubletap adding a space after a period? Everyone else does FOR GOOD REASON!!!!

I'm ready to permanently brand the Blackberry Bold the "SemiBold" because if this mind boggling decision to bog down users needless by moving the period key from it's traditional spot.

[OzBBerry42]

Hi,

No offence but I've never had any issues with the period key.

I've never heard of anyone having issues with it either.

If you think its bad on the Blackberry, trying using some Windows Mobile devices........

[hinky]

No offence taken. You should:

(a) login to the 3 largest Blackberry forums. You'll see that at least 75% agree that it made no sense to move the period key to an alt and then make a dedicated key for the $ symbol - of all keys. 

(b) Use a Palm or Symbian device or enter data in a Windows Mobile device. For that task alone it's better than a Blackberry alone.

The other 25% couldn't focus on the above point and they did the same as you - "but the Blackberry is so much better than Windows Mobile devices..." Not the point. The keyboard layout has been perfected already. It's so good that, as I said above, most Blackberry apps aren't mapped to use the Blackberry's own unique layout!!!!! 

Give it up RIM. Put the period back where it belongs or let us map it that way ourselves!!!!!

[Xandrex]

I'm writing in french and my Curve has an AZERTY keyboard (instead of what people have in the US & UK : QWERTY). I'm used to french keyboards and on these keyboards, the period key has always been a combination ( [SHIFT]-[;] ) and I've lived like that for more than 15 years.

It's just a question of getting used to it.

That being said, I agree with you :

•   the currency key is useless
•   the period is used everywhere and should be easy to type
•   space-space is a good idea
•   the Blackberry Curve UI is not consistent (using SPC for dot or Shift-SPC for / , on some fields and not the others).

You can try and use Autotext to replace the currency character with a period. Works fine AFAIK.

[Bdesmond]

I agree. What I have done is use Auto-Text for all the major punctuation marks.

Eg.

mm = .

vv = ?

bb = !

gg = /

nn = ,

etc. etc.

Of course when creating the autotext you have to insert the %b macro in front of the punctuation mark to force it to backspace and place the punctuation mark immediately after the last word in the sentence.

Its amazing how much faster you can type without having to hit the Alt key every time you want to insert punctuation marks.

[hinky]

Love the idea but it is not a solution. You need to type a space and then type in two more keystrokes. If there was a way to include it within words, e.g. the endmm - you still have problems with the common words using two m characters like hummer, slimmer, etc.

It is absolutely idiotic to have the dedicated "$" key and, quite simply, the OS needs to be hacked and reversed so the period is the hard key and the $ sign is an alt key - just like it is on the damned keyboard we type on every day! RIM... where are you? Why are you not offering a solution to this simple, idiotic iteration that has not yet left the Blackberry world and is nowhere else to be seen... for good reason?

Message Edited by hinky on 07-31-2008 11:56 AM

[Bdesmond]

hummer is not a problem because the keystroke for a period is mm spacebar. the mm in  hummer is followed by an e not the spacebar. As for having to hit the spacebar before hitting the mm - its so automatic that it it really takes no more time. If you try it you will see that within a day it becomes totally ingrained. Likewise one can move along very quickly by creating autotexts for common words

t = the

n = and

w = with

wo = without

bbb = /Bruce -- that's me - which is how i sign off 

there are many more of course - my challenge is to type as fast on a bby (= Blackberry) as on a laptop so I can leave the laptop at home when I travel.

I'm not saying the period $ issue isn't legit. It is. just offering a work-around. 

[Oronte]

I fully agree, Rim should make it possible to remap/reassign keys. Here in South Africa our currency symbol is the R so the key is just wasted. I would also like a primary function for the 0 key. The autotext idea isn't a bad one (you can reassign $ to full stop but that's still 3 key presses).

[mattybaker]

hinky, have you found a fix for this yet?  i completely understand your original post and have the exact same frustration as you.  i would venture to guess that i have used the dollar sign less than 100 times in the entire year that i have had the curve...and i use the period 100 times a day.  it is amazing to me that rim has not yet realized this fact.  even when typing a dollar amount, there is often a decimal needed!  every website, every email address, every sentence uses a period, to make that a two stroke combo is ludicrous.  one more gripe about their space bar solution for email addresses, that doesn't even help me when my company's email uses first.last@company.department.location.  i get first@last.company....it's so special.  in this comment alone i count at least 15 periods. noticed the other day that two spaces after a period may also be disappearing from accepted typing form.  come on RIM, fix it!

[Xandrex]

hello,

there will never be a fix. Ever.

The only way is to buy a new device that has the period on a key on its own (like the Storm). In the meantime, you can use double space in text fields to add a period and a space.