Usually I have more in common with your opinions than I find faults, however we differ vastly on saying that general smartphone users "prefer" virtual keyboards.

Are you kidding? I absolutely love what my Android can do for me but absolutely despise the virtual keyboard. With Swype, Hacker's Keyboard, Thumb Keyboard ... doesn't matter. They are all substandard.

The first smartphone maker that puts Android (or dare I say IOS) on a Blackberry Torch-style hardware - full screen with hardware keyboard - will absolutely own this market. Blackberry still owns business communication because executives need to type emails. Period. I fail to understand why the vendors have not figured this out.