There was a time when Nokia really seemed to like smartphones with hardware QWERTY keyboards, releasing models like the N900 (above). For a while, it felt like that might carry over to the company's work with Windows Phone, and while we awaited its first Lumia devices back in 2011, we heard some comments that made it appear like a hardware QWERTY Lumia could one day become a reality. Obviously, we never saw that hardware surface, and as Windows Phone 7 has given way to Windows Phone 8, the platform in general has moved away from hardware keyboards. In a new interview with a Nokia exec, we get to hear what the company currently thinks about these kind of devices, and it's not good news for their fans.

Nokia's David Akinjise explains that customers just aren't demanding QWERTY models so much anymore, and as Nokia's goal is to give its users what they want, it's focused on the sort of touch-only models that are currently in vogue.

We realize that shouldn't be so surprising, as that's clearly been the way the industry as a whole is leaning, and despite holdouts like BlackBerry, the clock could really be ticking down on the days of the hardware keyboard.

Source: WMPoweruser