I know people complain that the n900 screen is resistive, but I am *REALLY* starting to like it. It is accurate, I can take notes in xournal, and the sensitivity seems just fine.
All I had to do is glance at that keyboard to know that i'd never buy anything like that. It looks terrible. I'd honestly be embarrassed to take that thing out in public. Its either no keyboard or a full qwerty. The iPhone and iPod Touch really have proven that an on screen keyboard can replace a physical one without too many compromises. So something with out a keyboard might not be that bad.
I have an N800, so I don't know how it feels like developing on the device itself using a nice keyboard... On-screen is really a pain to do anything but texting. But my plan is to get a bluetooth keyboard someday, and either use a real keyboard for "serious" things, or on-screen for "leisure". I have never tried the N810 or N900, but I don't feel like full QWERTY is a must. i.e. lack of keyboard is not a "deal braker" for me.
This single-row keyboard looks like an interesting half-way between what is good in both worlds: in the one hand, it avoids the slide design. I the other hand, it avoids wasting screen space with the keyboard, what I find a great nuisance.
If it makes the device cheaper and smaller, I say go for it. I also hope that, if we are getting less keys, they could perhaps use nice keys. A bunch of "The-mother-of-all-keys" might be better in the end than a full qwerty with not-so-perfect keys...
I am nuts, I like stuf like the Dvorak keyboard and chorded keyboards! If I ever get my hands into a Maemo phone with a keyboard like this I would soon try to implement a keyboard like these people here did:
