BlackBerry Windermere hybrid trackpad/keyboard gestures revealed

We first heard about BlackBerry's upcoming high-end smartphones last December. They are the handsets codenamed "Ontario" and "Windermere". Now, a new leak has shed more light on the latter handset. One of the biggest curiosities to come out of Waterloo, the "Windermere" has a 4.5-inch screen with a high pixel density (452ppi) that suggests a high display resolution - perhaps 1440x1440, which matches the diagonal and density. It also has a "touch-sensitive" QWERTY keyboard with keys that integrate physical feedback (when pressed) and touch-control (when touched, but not pressed). At least that's how we interpreted the innovative keyboard's patent description in a previous article from February.

Now, a BlackBerry user has discovered that said keyboard will support some familiar touch-screen gestures. There is swiping in four directions, along with touching, moving, tapping, and clicking gestures that let the user arrange items and content inside BB10. The Windermere keyboard is essentially described as a trackpad, which matches these newly discovered gestures. We also have a photo to go along with the news, and its subject looks exactly like one would imagine a BlackBerry trackpad will look. But where are the physical keys, then?

Apart from the odd trackpad/keyboard mash-up, the leaker said that the Windermere will show five columns of four icons on its 4.5-inch screen, while the Ontario will have a 5-inch display with 440ppi pixel density (possibly 1080p resolution) that shows four columns of five icons. Obviously, the Windermere will be a wider device, while the Ontario seems to be in line with the portrait-oriented 5-inchers we know. 

source: CrackBerry via BerryReview