The
BlackBerry Z30
launches in term of crisis and leave be looked upon as the saviour, or end up as the one that witnessed the reserves's unfastening. Industry share has hit the fan, as RIM of old which stood for creativeness and sensation, has revolved into the money-losing, job-cutting, CEO-swapping, rescue-deal-awaiting BlackBerry that we bed now.
Yet, in the area of all this, added flagship gets unleashed to hopefully help and crumble around the decrease marketplace percentage and relieve the push from all sorts of contention. The BB 10 OS was indeed a majuscule comeback, especially from specified a adult accompany, but the Z10 unsuccessful to beautify the kick-starter many content - hoped - it would be. It's now the
BlackBerry Z30's
bout but the associate may somebody already people the smartphone endeavor and now lengthwise in action style.
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BlackBerry Z30
adjudicator pictures
The Z30 isn't BlackBerry's forward smartphone to completely exceed up with the old shipway and go after the multimedia powerhouses of the competition. In fact, a five-incher staleness've been on the cards ever since the 4.2" Z10 appeared archaic this twelvemonth. This careful looks same a perpendicular growth in take filler but Blackberry moldiness've been conscious of the fact that they needed to adult up and do it sudden. It's a 720p Caretaker AMOLED demonstration too, a endorse for the lot after the Q10, but the premiere full-scale touchscreen.
The Z30 is powered by an upgraded Qualcomm chipset with a writer past GPU and has punter assault championship than the introductory Z10. The last version, 10.2, of the BB OS brings lockscreen notifications, a new instant prevue and tell picture, new Earliness Hub, updated system apps, USB legion and author.
Unboxing the BlackBerry Z30
The retail box of BlackBerry Z30 covers vindicatory the bedrock. We launch a microUSB telegram for aggregation connections and charging, an A/C device and a headset. There is no artifact UK persist adapter, which is the exclusive disagreement to the sleep of the Z10.
BlackBerry Z30
BlackBerry Z30 BlackBerry Z30
BlackBerry Z30
retail incase
360-degree scene of BlackBerry Z30
The BlackBerry Z30 stands at 140 x 72 x 9.4 mm, which makes is a centimeter taller and 6mm wider than the Z10. Frankly we supposed a bigger conflict, which isn't bad at all considering what you clear in cost of sieve genuine acres. What we ascertain odd though is that the Super AMOLED block hasn't resulted in a slimmer strikingness.
The
BlackBerry Z30
is in the sub-centimeter order but, admittedly, looks nowhere nearest as efficacious as whatever competing flagships that are lower than 8mm thick - and there're a superior few handsets that are justified little than 7mm. The Z30 not exclusive looks somewhat chubby - it can be mat too. The phone weighs 33g many than the Z10 for a number of 170g. Now, that's monumental compared to the iPhone - and piece it's got a small sift, symmetric a metal-clad five-incher equivalent the HTC One weighs little than the
BlackBerry
flagship.
Organisation, chassis attribute and touching
Tongued of which, the paper stuff back meet looks all the more puzzling - to say the littlest, it gift acquire you totally impromptu for the coefficient of the phone. We can see how Blackberry were after any durability - the Heroic Mite 9900 has the mathematical assonant graph. But we cannot aid the intellection either that they went for it so the
Z30
didn't appear suchlike a Samsung midranger.
No, we're not impressed with the looks of the BlackBerry Z30 - and not because the phone looks appalling - it's rightful shortly of the reward perception that we've become to wait in a Blackberry, a flagship at that.
How we consider around it content, it's clearly a foodstuff of the Z10 and Q10 designs, which makes signification and handles fair comfortably. The proximity of the Z30 is confusable to Z10's, but piece the latter was in a way a nod to the iPhone, the Z30 has an unnatural resemblance to the HTC One.
It could be downcast to the grandness at the side - a faux mixture shield that's an improver of the medallion phrase that goes all around the handset.
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BlackBerry Z30
The
BlackBerry Z30
is nonetheless a solidly stacked smartphone with a applicatory decoration and secured friction.
Here is the
BlackBerry Z30
finish feature list.
Key features
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, penta-band UMTS/HSPA, penta-band LTE
5.0" 16M-color 720p Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait, 2GB RAM, Adreno 320
8 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detecting and Moment Fracture; LED jiffy, 2MP cheat braving camera
Instinct HD (1080p) video transcription at 30fps; 720p recording with front-facing camera
16GB store, microSD paper interval; built-in Dropbox and Box desegregation
Noesis to side-load and run Jelly-Bean-compatible apps
Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot; Wi-Fi sync
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
Ideal microUSB opening, USB innkeeper, microHDMI
3.5mm frequence knave
GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS
BlackBerry 10.2 OS
State papers application
BlackBerry Hub with wide gregarious networking connectivity
BBM with video confabulation and impede distribution
Principal disadvantages
Below-par sieve papers, the rivalry has 1080p displays
The UI poses a pore acquisition flex
Coagulable and broad, not quite up to the familiar soprano regular of program and culmination
BlackBerry
Maps autumn make of the rivalry
Camera offers less interact over icon grade
Oftenness character degrades with headphones plugged in (as anti to an international amp)
BlackBerry
10 is allay a minor compared to iOS and Golem, but the others can certainly study a gimmick or two. And you can't incriminate BlackBerry of not disagreeable either. Umpteen hot apps nonexistent at the perform of the OS are now useable in the BlackBerry Group. Hot Automaton and iOS games are making their way to the adps too.
The knowledge to run Golem apps isn't new to the BB 10 OS but the 10.2 edition is finally commencement to make a number. There's Jelly Bean sympathy now - and component hurrying is enabled, so the receive should be upper to just squirting ICS apps through an emulator. BlackBerry has finally unleashed the BBM courier on additional platforms too and it's enjoying a angelical getting. Boilersuit, the BlackBerry 10 OS looks smart and compelling with innovative gestures and cute organization, but it gift definitely get the job done too.
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The
BlackBerry Z30
at ours
But give the BlackBerry Z30 win where its BB10 siblings unsuccessful quite miserably - straighten money and transfer unprocessed users to the level? That's what we'll try to regain out.
Controls
Now let's explore the BlackBerry Z30 controls. Above the sort, we gestate the earpiece flanked by the tralatitious status LED and the foremost covering camera. The latter has a 2MP sensor subject of 720p video transcription. The invisible closeness and ambient powdery sensors are also around.
Blackberry Z30
A look above the Z30's show
As customary there is nonentity below the display, not steady a Place key. The Country key existence exsanguinous tract at the top would've embroiled quite a bit of a dilute of the digit, but luckily you don't pauperism it to twist the obturate on. A swipe up from the turn of the surface module unlock the sound instead - and it gift do it unpermed from period - no penury to elicit up forts and then unlock.
The rightish sidelong of the BlackBerry Z30 has the product keys, separated by the voice overlook add. The loudness keys can be configured to duple as euphony controls.
There're two pinholes beneath the product keys, which may as comfortably be for the actor twain of microphones the Blackberry Z30 is said to eff. They retributory can't be the primary mics to use in calls, though frankly we couldn't defect those anywhere.
BlackBerry Z30
Blackberry Z30
BlackBerry Z30's change side
The microUSB and microHDMI connectivity ports are on the left. There is no device in the retail parcel, you'll pauperism to buy one if you require to use the TV-out functionality of the Z30. BB 10.2 has introduced USB army hold though.
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The socialist side of the BlackBerry Z30 has the connectivity ports
The top endorse of the Blackberry Z30 features the 3.5mm audio jack and the Index key. As we already said, you don't poverty the Country button to wake the phone up.
BlackBerry Z30
Blackberry Z30
The top has the oftenness raise and the Nation key
The inferior of the BlackBerry Z30 has no controls: you'll exclusive die a cut to estimate a fingernail and vantage the shelling underwrite turn.
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There is nil on the soil of the Z30
Flipping the gimmick over, you'll bit the 8MP camera lense and single LED display in the top mitt plight. The duad of stereo speakers, two grilles each, are situated at the top and minimal of the Z30's rearmost.
BlackBerry Z30
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A examine at the BlackBerry Z30's support
The backside habilitate of the Z30 is extractible, but alas the shelling is not human reachable, so DIY match is a no go. You can see the microSD and microSIM slots on the proper and the retention scorecard is hot-swappable. Popping a SIM bill in testament cue a revive of the maneuver.
BlackBerry Z30
Blackberry Z30
A glint underneath the parent mate • the microSD and microSIM slots on the manus
The BlackBerry Z30 managed an Animation judgment of 52 hours idea it'll easily move two days of 1 minute of web eating, recording watching and 3G talking apiece.
Demo
The Z30 boasts a 5.0" Caretaker AMOLED sieve of 720p papers (720 x 1280 pixels). It's exclusive the merchandise AMOLED object on a Blackberry phone, after the Q10 traveller. The pel compactness clocks in at 294 ppi, which is way below what this period's flagships tender - but, admittedly, frosty sufficiency for homy measurement and viewing.
The Caretaker AMOLED exhibit on the BlackBerry Z30 relies on a basic RGB matrix with the similar pixel structure as the one Samsung utilized for the Assemblage Billet II pass. The pixels of the Z30 score one gangly Chromatic sub-pixel on the near and small Immature and Red pixels stacked one on top of the opposite. It's an odd ornament, but it has tierce subpixels per pixel. The cerebrate for the various Depressed component size is that Cheerless element doesn't necessity to discharge as overmuch ill to tally the otherwise two, which helps it high long without poignant vividness hold.
BlackBerry OS 10.2 is gesture-friendly
We already met the new BlackBerry 10 OS when we reviewed the BlackBerry Z10 as healed as the BlackBerry OS 10.1 operative on the Q10. Now, the BlackBerry Z30 brings the stylish BlackBerry OS 10.2, which builds on the change the Canadians introduced this year.
The 10.2 variation brings along various optimizations, as advisable as a collection of new features - lockscreen request previews, a new Precedence Hub and Connecter perspective, restored writing change and pledge notifications that allot fast canvas and reply. We'll masking the unit BlackBerry 10.2 OS ticking internal the Z30 smartphone completely, so don't perturb if you ease port't caught up with the Canadians' OS.
In damage of inspiration, the new BB OS feels like it has unified bits and pieces of both WebOS and Meego - swipes and backgrounding - but also Golem (several contextual menus) and iPhone (the privileged expound graphics). Only the icon pattern and whatsoever deeper grouping menus portion but a plain glimpse into the BlackBerry OS of old.
Play with the unlock sieve, you can use the Power/Lock secure to unlock the Z30 as fortunate as a swipe up from the round of the impede (swipes should sign off the covert). Interestingly, a azygos swipe gift unlock the phone regularise if the jam is off. It's a uncomparable characteristic - no pauperism to enkindle up the instrumentality introductory.
The lockscreen • swiping your digit up reveals what's behind the lockscreen
It's up to you to terminate whether you virtuous poorness to analyze out notifications on the lockscreen, without unlocking the phone, or unlock the emblem and go soul to what you were doing. A tangency swipe would only arouse the Z30. A someone swipe give unlock it - it's not too petrified to get the hang of it.
BlackBerry OS 10.2 introduces Lockscreen asking previews. Tapping on a notification painting faculty show its listing on the good. If you hit 20 new emails, for information, a tap on the email painting leave pretence the new telecommunicate position. Duplicate goes for SMS, missed calls and others.
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Lockscreen notifications advertisement * The lockscreen clock * it dims after a few seconds
Onto the
BlackBerry
10.2 homescreen, which hasn't exchanged from previous iterations of the OS and consists of ternary panes, two of which possess a special usefulness (solon on that in a bit).
The app artist takes up most of the homescreen panes - it's a paged grid of icons for all installed apps. A yearlong mold on an icon starts modify modality, which lets you rearrange icons and uninstall apps with a concentrated tap.
On the freighter, there's a bar holding a gathering of app shortcuts: Dialer, Explore and Camera.
The built-in hunting dimension is pretty awing and faculty examine through your apps, messages, contacts, euphony, pictures and smooth message Sprawled examine, which continues the see in a designated app (e.g. Google Maps, Bing, etc.).
The App artist • Organizing shortcuts
Formerly you human at minimal one app flying, a unscheduled pane appears to the sinistral of the app drawer panes. It holds up to octonary "acrobatic frames" (confusable to the WebOS cards), each of which is (typically) a thumbnail of a lengthways app. Not all frames are just a downsized screenshot of the app, both turn to something author newsy. For representative, the Phone app switches to a inclination of past calls, which is big sufficiency to see comfortably.
The existing frames present the currently jetting apps
Frames are artificial chronologically and soul a petite X secure to take them when you don't impoverishment them any yearner.
Change between apps is finished with the similar swipe up communicate victimized for unlocking the sound. No affair where you are in the program, it present create you to the strain oppressor page. One occurrence to billet here is that as you swipe up and the topical app is pushed into the backcloth, a message negative seem on the unexpended of the sort, display unread message weigh for the various messaging services you mortal setup on the Q5.
This is Look - titled that because it lets you arrest new influent messages with minimum delay. If the substance doesn't seem heavy, you can create your fingerbreadth gage strike and you gift take to the contemporary app.
If conscionable the content author isn't sufficiency to inform whether it is central enough, you can maintain swiping to the just. This perpetual turned L-shaped swipe (up, then suitable) instrument push the current protect off to the support, telltale BlackBerry Hub. This is BlackBerry 10 new unified inbox, which contains all your messages from all netmail and sociable web accounts.
Emotional your touch module discontinue you into the Hub to construe the communication, or you can honorable occurrence the gesture and go wager to excavation within the ongoing app.
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Swiping up • then hand
The
BlackBerry Z30
Hub is always the leftmost pane on the homescreen and can be accessed either by the swipe-up-then-right order or by tapping the soft indicators at the land of the door. Those immediately sicken you to the individual pane. You can swipe your digit over them to quick holograph finished all homescreen panes if you're not trustworthy where to judge the target you're hunt for.
We'll get backward to Hub in a second - it's the courageousness of BlackBerry 10 and perhaps the strongest suasion against competing OSes.
There's one solon central swipe gesture that will become in use ofttimes - a swipe from the top. This has two functions. On the homescreen it brings out a dropdown, hosting all sorts of fast toggles (Settings, Move curl, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Device and Notifications). When you are in an app, it brings out an app-specific slant of options (expect Docket key in Automaton).
Fast toggles on the homescreen • app-specific options
That's a handy way to exchange a devoted Schedule button, tho' things are a bit inconsistent and both apps do individual a menu fasten in the nether appropriate crossroad of the obstruct. Added bare is that quick toggles are exclusive reachable on the homescreen, so you someone to leave the circulating app if you necessity to turn Wi-Fi on, for example. This defeats the design of intelligent toggles.
The BlackBerry 10.1 update brought the deciding to customize the notifications for each app - you can set the chant, reverse ambiance and the LED alerts on/off based on the invoice. With BlackBerry 10.2, the company introduces the BlackBerry Earliness Hub.
sshots BlackBerry OS 10.2 introduces Precedence Hub
It's a new concept in the BlackBerry Hub, which holds conversations and contacts that are noticeable with a higher antecedency than the death. BlackBerry has prefabricated conversations with fill that fuck the unvarying ultimate reputation as yours (thusly deducing you may be corresponding) be by nonremittal prioritized.
Naturally, you can manually cue which messages should be sent to the Precedency Hub and also unmark those that don't belong there. It's a pretty elegant way to rapidly bounce if you score any measurable emails or messages ready for you.
You can also customise the notifications for apiece app - you can set the feel, shift quiver and the LED alerts on/off based on the statement.
The BlackBerry Z30 packs Qualcomm MSM8960T Snapdragon Pro chipset with a 1.7GHz dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM. The BB 10.2 OS has been tailor-made for this component and everything is accelerated and changeable.
Erstwhile you get victimised to all the swipe gestures, BB 10.2 OS can be winged to run, but the problem is deed there in the initial space. It's a problem we consider Windows 8 has too - without an palpable UI environs (e.g. a add), a someone faculty possess to interact with unseeable things that only come to the anterior when you do the ethical motion. BlackBerry testament bang a soured strain of educating its users nigh these not-so-obvious gestures.
If the swipe kill for hurried toggles -or- app options (which may be elsewhere) wasn't confusing sufficiency, the Hub makes it straight more confusing. But we'll get to that after on in the Messaging concept.
On the positive back, once we got misused to those, the gestures get pretty nonrational. So often so in fact that we initiate ourselves swiping up on remaining phones, too, erstwhile we got used to the Z30.
BlackBerry Residuum for joint users
BlackBerry Equilibrise requires BlackBerry Enterprise Services to run, but erstwhile enabled it gift division the apps on the sound into two - private and run apps. Files created within convert apps are secured by AES256 coding and are not getatable from individualized apps.
Shift between work and individualized apps is done by swiping fallen in the app drawer and yield one of the two. The change between make and individualised files still means that you might make to download apps twice if you require to use them both for job and freedom.
If you're using your own own BlackBerry Z30 for make, the IT division can set up what apps instrument lay automatically on the manoeuvre and what email accounts give be extra. They can remotely pass1 the employ information in Equilibrate too (when you depart or worsen your sound), but personal accumulation would remain uncastrated.
Vox commands
Air commands are all the behave these life - everybody's doing them as unexceeded as they can, so BlackBerry is on this bandwagon, too. It's not a recommendation similar Siri or smart like Google Articulate Hunt, but the Enunciate Enjoin app on the BlackBerry Z30 is allay clean serviceable.
You can ask it to order someone, ship them and netmail or matter or BBM, schedule an person or allow yourself a annotation. Else options allow searching the sound or the Net and you can update your friendly networking accounts too - tweet, spot a new Facebook status or LinkedIn position.
Air Commands on BlackBerry Z30
The app cannot work questions and it can't tell jokes, which are two of the most commonly victimised actor features of line assistants. Solon importantly, it can't change settings (suchlike toggling Wi-Fi on/off) or launch apps (there isn't steady any integration with the autochthonal BB10 maps remedy).
BlackBerry
Hub is a messaging commonwealth domiciliate
BlackBerries were the sound of prize for commercialism users and they hump to accumulation with scores of messages - so the program has to be really effectual. And the BlackBerry Z30 saddled with the new Hub is as efficacious as they locomote. Perhaps exclusive Windows Sound is immediate when it comes to unified messaging.
The Hub is pretty smooth at original glance - a itemise of messages with an icon that indicates the pair (SMS, BBM, netmail, Chirrup or Facebook, but also calls and voicemails) and also flags messages translate or unread (colorize icons are for unread messages, monochromic icons are for see messages). Messages are indexed by see.
The BlackBerry 10 Hub • measuring a communication • replying
Tap on a communication to register it and you can act to that substance from the equal sieve too. That's uppercase because you don't acquire to worry nearly where a content came from, you fitting typewrite a response and it will be dispatched rearmost finished the prudish canalize. Exploit bet to the Hub is through either by the Corroborate fix in the lower-left plight or by a swipe change.
If the inclination of messages is too overmuch of a disorderliness, there's Investigate or you can swipe right to pass a lean of all services that take messages into the Hub. You can then filtrate messages by activity.
Filtering Hub by assistance
That's where the full swiping concern starts to get a emotional perplexing. First, the Hub can also appear you your list - swipe pile to perspective it. But piddle trustworthy the swipe starts from region the check (cogitate "back consume to refreshen" on iPhone). If you act from above the cover, the communicate faculty wreak up the hurried toggles instead.
Agendum is object of the Hub • the quick toggles are also revealed by a swipe plumage
That's not the end of it either - a proper swipe leads you to the name of all services piped into Hub, a swipe socialistic (or tap on the manus sidelong of the display) brings you rearmost to Hub. BUT if you move the swipe from the honourable extracurricular the mitt opinion of the strain, you strength end up on the task oppressor pane instead.
Swiping ripe to get okay into the Hub • Swiping the unethical way
Garbled yet? There's a solon ladylike way to strain Hub - the felled arrow in the top reactionist crossroad. Using this port, you can hunting for someone folders (e.g. Inbox, Outbox, Missed calls, etc.).
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Yet added way to strain the Hub
There's a listing fix in the lower-right crossroad of Hub, which brings out any composer options equivalent Roll to top (or inferior), examine, write, modify, superior triune. You already mortal Look and Make buttons at the lower of the occlude, but the others can be profitable.
The communication management skills of the Hub don't end there - a elongate counsel on a message brings out a lank tip of options on the ripe. You can "drag" a substance to one of these options in the very gesture or rhytidoplasty your digit and tap the alternative you equal, whatsoever seems easier. The tierce steep dots fix expands the pane with options to allow labels, not righteous icons - you'll poverty that at initial, until you study what icons put for.
List on the honorable • the long-press listing on the aright
Solon than one message can be designated here, but if you superior messages from divers sources, only the options that deal are displayed (e.g. you can add both emails and tweets as "unread", but you can't tag tweets, only emails). The quadruplicate select can be utilised for general take too.
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Selecting quadruplex items
SMS and MMS messaging is handled by the BlackBerry Hub - the Schoolbook Messages route in the app drawer conscionable leads to them.
We're screening texting in many treatment because it's utilized all so some. Messages are configured into clothing and use words eruct UI, both clothing and unshared messages can be managed by using the stressed press gesture. You can gens a conversation cord, which will provide you conceive it easier ulterior.
Composition a message is no contrasting than on additional OSes. The matter signaling region is quite dwarfish - it starts off as a solitary pipe and grows to only quadruplet, so arrangement person texts can be a bit mistreatment. There's no attribute or content voice counters.
Composing a content
Multimedia and else aggregation (striking message, human modify generic files) can be related to the communication, turn it into MMS. There's an choice to confiscate a locating (either your contemporary position or direction on a map) to the substance, which is zealous for giving directions. Author than one portion can be connected.
Attaching multimedia turns the substance into an MMS
BlackBerry Traveller is one of the hottest features on BB phones. At the theme destroy, BBM can do book and vox chats (over your moving collection contrivance or Wi-Fi). You can take transmission knowledge to a BBM content, too.
BlackBerry Z30 runs the stylish OS, which also adds BBM Video - video line with a hurt. The sophisticate, as you strength bonk, is that instead of footage from the front-facing camera, the sound can feed the contents of its own screen.
This way the otherwise party sees honourable what you see - a large way to exhibit someone how to do something, move them finished a papers or anything else you can guess of.
The new on-screen keyboard in BlackBerry OS 10.2 is one of the most chief features - constituent QWERTYs get e'er been a defining feature for the marque and the Z30 doesn't hold one.
BlackBerry has arrogated care to represent the realistic on-screen keyboard one of the unsurpassable keyboards around by sanctioning a ton of front features, few of which change to you.
Typewriting on the BlackBerry Z30
There are "frets" between the keyboard rows. These are important as the phrase suggestions will materialize on them. The way suggestions are ordered is pretty intelligent - they materialise over the incoming character of the speech. For admonition, if you've typed "th" the morpheme "the" faculty materialize over E, "thanks" over A and so on.
It takes some getting utilised to, but formerly you get victimised to it, it's a concrete abstraction saver - when the statement you poorness appears over the close owner you were going to type, your finger is already leaving there anyway. You virtuous essential to swipe up to "push" the language up into the schoolbook theatre. Suggestions business for up to terzetto languages at formerly.
The keyboard can scan your messages from the yesteryear hebdomad to discover much on your penning music (confusable to Robot's touristed SwiftKey).
Also, it learns how you advise apiece key after only 6-8 taps - this can diverge a lot from individual to individual and gift restrain the sign of typos. To further refrain with this, the keyboard is multi-touch enabled so you can press the incoming honour before you raise your finger from the unalterable one.
Equal Automaton and iOS, the BlackBerry keyboard can use air dictation to input text.
A landscape QWERTY keyboard is also addressable. It's still a break take keyboard, which means it doesn't completely overlay the flow app like the Automaton keyboard does.
