Related
Hi, I recently read about a review of x7510 can allow some sort of touch typing on its attached keyboard.
Just wonder if anybody has actual experience on this. I am using a Shift... Excellent machine, great keyboard but the 2 hrs battery is not good enough for me and I don't really need Vista on my mobile tool. So looking at x7510 again... but would like to understand the negative productivity impact of the keyboard.
I am Asian having not so big fingers and was previously using Sigmarion III as my primary tool in office. Even comment on current x7501/x7500 would be useful to me.
Thanks much for sharing.
I'm have my X7501 for about 45 days and using mostly of the time the softkeyboard which is not that bad due to the increased size of it on the 5" screen. The detachable keyboard I leave in my backpack for when I have a table where I can place X7501 with the hardkeyboard. At hand I rather use the softkeyboard which can be improved using alternative software as you can check on this Forum. For serious work with long texting just get a slim USB keyboard which is very cheap and wide available and connect through the 4x1 cable. I'm also don't need Vista or XP during the day and rather work with a ligth set up like the Advantage. I had several other PDA's during the last years but the small screens were very frustating for real work. Hope you get one and enjoy!
Thanks RCF2 for your comment. Can you please share a little bit more on the attached keyboard on a desktop?
Is it touch typing possible for small fingers? Comparing to a normal keyboard, is it 50% or worst?
typing too fast... I meant when using the hard keyboard on a proper desk...
One more question, on soft keyboard, is it mainly thumb typing? Any possibility to use more than just thumb? It might sound silly... After doing texting/emails on various tiny WM devices for a few years, now having some problems with my palm (thumb typing motion) and doing accuputures... Looking for options to do thumb typing less...
Stanip, I would say that 50% is close to the correct figure on the hard keyboard on a table. Keep in mind that this depends on how fast you are on a regular keyboard. If you are really good with the 10 fingers you will takes much longer than twice on the X7501 for sure. One of the critics I heard about was they lack the tactil feel but the sound made by the typing is enough for me. The softkeyboard work well with the tumbs, never tried differently but if you find a proper way place the PDA/screen I'm sure that will work also. Again, if you need to produce long texts just get a cheap standard keyboard and connect.
stanip said:
One more question, on soft keyboard, is it mainly thumb typing? Any possibility to use more than just thumb? It might sound silly... After doing texting/emails on various tiny WM devices for a few years, now having some problems with my palm (thumb typing motion) and doing accuputures... Looking for options to do thumb typing less...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, not using the 7500 for typing much, but I guess I could learn typing with 6 fingers or so.
When typing a short message I dont even bother getting out the keyboard, I just use the softkeys, which work perfect considering the 5 inch screen.
You could attach an external keyboard if you use typing a lot, or some keyboard software to get a large touchpad keyboard on WM
Thanks for sharing Kowen and rcf2. This is very helpful.
Will wait for x7510 and give it a try.
You mentioned that you're an Asian. Do you need to input in an Asian lanaguage such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, etc? If the answer is yet, then you have to rule out using the hardware keyboard, I think. Software keyboard is so much more versatile. It can take so many different layouts and forms. For English software keyboad, I find Tengo to be the best. It is small enough to cover only a little space on the screen, but have the largest hitting key areas (sound like contradiction I know) to allow finger typing. It is possible to go to 60 words per minutes with this keyboard. I'm able to take Sermon notes as the guy speaks, not word for word, but the main points with Tengo.
I never miss my hardware keybaord.
The idea of carrying another separate bluetooth keyboard just for typing is hard for me to understand, I must say.
Eaglesteve, do you use your thumb on Tengo to get to 60 wpm? That's fast. I am trying to use less of my thumb due to some problems developed over the years... Are there other ways to type on tengo?
I input mainly on English but am too lazy to carry a BT keyboard around in the office too.
stanip said:
Eaglesteve, do you use your thumb on Tengo to get to 60 wpm? That's fast. I am trying to use less of my thumb due to some problems developed over the years... Are there other ways to type on tengo?
I input mainly on English but am too lazy to carry a BT keyboard around in the office too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally can't achieve that speed. To see others who can, visit the demo at Tengo website.
After using Hero for about a month I noticed that I can perform almost every task on this phone only using my right thumb. While multitouch seems to many including me like a revolutionary UI concept making user experience more comfortable I'd like to ask do we really need multitouch for anything except games?
Would you like to see more multitouch functions on Hero?
Don't you find gestures which can be performed using only one finger more suitable for small devices like cell phone?
well, i'd guess that that's the reason why there are no more multitouch gestures other than the zoom... i couldn't think of any other right now, but it for me it is similar to mouse gestures. there are like hundreds of them pre-made in any firefox add-on, i use maybe four of them. wouldn't wanna miss them though, same as the browser zoom
Well, when we get Eclair, and multitouch is actually part of android rather than just an HTC add-on, I imagine more and more android apps will adopt and take advantage of it.
I do see games getting much better with it. It'd be nice to have a more verbose on-screen controller for the SNES emulator, which is rather unusable on the Hero right now.
But yeah, I agree... as of right now, multitouch doesn't do a whole lot for us. I think the future has good things in store though.
multitouch is good for the keyboard, when you press and hold shift, you can make a capital letter easily for example.
Aside from that; a VNC app where 2 finger scroll is pan screen, and 1 finger is change mouse-cursor.
or two finger scroll down gesture on the screen will pull down the 'android-notification bar'.
Don't know. I guess I feel the same as you guys; I didn't really miss is it after coming from a iPhone 3G
Multitouch is extremely important if you want to type fast on the keyboard ! It will recognize your second character, even when your other thumb is still on the first character... without multitouch, you have to elevate your thumb first, before you can tap another letter with your other thumb (still following ? )... so it makes the typing experience A LOT better ! just try it yourself: type on a hero and then on a magic... there's a difference ! (well, for me there was )... also multitouch in the browser is pretty handy ! I use pinch & zoom ALL the time, because with double tap it doesn't zoom like I would want it to ...
So for me, multitouch is a pretty important factor !
Someone out there have any news about an android port for our device?!
Thank's in advance!
PS: yeah yeah i have seen wing-linux project but it seems it's too early...
I don't understand why you would want it on this device? Its not touch screen and would be mainly useless if ported...just saying
BTW: Im not saying it wouldnt be cool. But i have not heard or seen anything new lately..
same question here ...
hi,
well ... same question here. the snap looks awesome, and although there are other candidates in the qwerty candybar department (motorola charm, acer betouch e130 and htc salsa), none of them are out (yet) and none of them seem to be able to match the clean-cut, minimalist looks of the snap.
the salsa's front is fine by me, but the leaked images show a bit too much ornamentalism on the back, the motorola ... well, somehow, i've never been a fan of motorola's designs, the only device i loved being the f3, but that's a different league entirely. something about their decorative use of metal just puts me off. and, finally, the acer. it actually might be ok, we'll see how it actually looks in real live.
right now, i have a nokia e72 and a hero in use, and it really is a shame to see how poorly the hero's text input performs in my (somewhat unique) situation of writing mixed in english, german and chinese. the nokia with it's physical keyboard and a very well integrated ime switching just works soooo much better for that (actually, previous to s60e5, i.e. with a e71, i had to rely on 3rd party software, but it certainly worked).
on android, there's the google pinyin keyboard, which works well for switching between pinyin and a us keyboard, but typing on 3.2 with no autocorrection is a pain.
now, i do imagine a non-touch screen will cause some ui issues ... but that's an ui problem, not an os problem, right? isn't there any example that at least provides a core phone functionality (calls, contacts, text, maybe even email) with a non - touch screen? anyone?
so: i need a physical qwerty OR a software keyboard that works as well as apple's when it comes to switching between international keyboards.
.rm
in fact, wing linux on the htc dash is partly worlking. so i don't think that there are any physical problems in running android with a non-touchscreen phone.
an.ghezzi said:
in fact, wing linux on the htc dash is partly worlking. so i don't think that there are any physical problems in running android with a non-touchscreen phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm...Well I don't know what to say but it would be quite hard to use with a track ball but its whatever people want todo in their free time.
The other problem with running Android would the hardware requirements. If I recall devices with only 400-500Mhz CPUs can only run up to Android 1.6 (maybe 2.0?). Also how much RAM this device has could be factor in actual usability.
Hello
Ive been looking into putting ANDROID onto a WIND MOBILE HTC MAPLE. This issue is I can not seem to conclude the procedure to how this would be done.
I've recently posted this topic in general assistance under the HTC maple subsection of the boards, and had the thread closed as the topic was referenced in this post. Im still quite unclear on how this is to be accomplished.
Ive looked into WING LINUX but it SEEMS there is no .cab file for the HTC MAPLE only for the excalibur, etc. There seems to be no file specifically for use with the HTC MAPLE and this is the part that is confusing.
If anyone can be of assistance with determining how to go about the process any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for all your time everyone.
i believe that google made android to work with both touchscreen and non touchscreen phones.. i remember seeing it in some video long ago (2-3 yrs ago?)... not sure if it is actually developed on...
any idea on how to make it work on the snap? my phone keeps randomly shutting down.. probably android would work better? haha..
Android on the Snap/Dash3G/Maple would be pretty sweet. I doubt it's usability though. Long story short - if you want Android, get a touch screen phone.
I would sure love to see an Android mockup though!
I had android working (partialy at least) on the original dash for t-mobile, it was buggy and the view being in landscape as well as control by track pad was slow at best but it did work. My point being it may not be as nice as running androir on a TP2 or an actual android device, but for anyone who doesn't have anything else to play with it is one step in the right direction. If anyone is interested in following the original project, just go here:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/wing-linux/wiki
Hi guys.
Some time ago my laptop broke down. I haven't bought a new one since I'm low on cash so currently I'm borrowing my mates netbook.
I've been about a lot about a Tablet + keyboard solution. My primary objective is to take notes in my school, not writing big assignments (I have a desktop).
Is there any proper office alternatives for Android?
What do you guys think?
I replaced my netbook with this tablet. So I would normally say yes. However, I have yet to find a virtual keyboard that would be fast enough for keeping notes in a class environment. That said, there are plenty of bluetooth and USB keyboards that can work with the tablt and have a small form factor to make carrying it around between classes not a big deal.
Other than the need for fast typing, I would say yes, it definitely can replace a netbook. As for office replacements, it of course can use Google Docs, but there is Quick Office and similar paid-for apps to replace MS Office.
Thanks, that was really helpful!
I'm going to buy the USB folio case that's on ebay.
I'm from Denmark, and we have three extra letters, Æ Ø and Å, obviously these are not in the keyboard, but I recall on the Desire Z keyboard, if the long-press O, a box with Ø will pop.
Can you test also applies in honeycomb + usb keyboard?
If no one else chimes in, I'll test this when I get home. I know there are a LOT of extra/special characters available via long-press of certain virtual keyboard buttons, but I am not familiar with your moon-speak
not if you want to use iTunes....etc to load your iPod.
Amdathlonuk said:
not if you want to use iTunes....etc to load your iPod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used iTunes for years!
Amdathlonuk said:
not if you want to use iTunes....etc to load your iPod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though I suppose that one might get it to work with some hacking and libimobiledevice...
Other than that, I am using an A501 (i. e. the 3g version of the A500) and a FreedomPro BT keyboard for university work every day, even doing presentations with it. To prepare slides and documents I use LaTeX running in a debian chroot (try Linux Installer) , though there are some apps that claim to be MS Office - compatible (never tried, I get a lot better results considerably faster with LaTeX).
Can you by any chance change the keyboard layout in honeycomb? Maybe remap the buttons?
If you are rooted, I think you could. I completely forgot to check out the long press and see if your special characters were there. If I go home for lunch, I will check, otherwise, I will check when I get home from my office, in about 7 hours
If you want to run MS office, forget it. If you want to re-calculate a 500mb spreadsheet, it's probably not going to do it.
The Office apps, like Polaris, QuickOffice, Docs to Go, can do simple things, like make changes and stuff. But they lack in understanding the formulas that are sometimes embedded in these documents. This is understandable.
It also does not have the raw processing power for graphics editing, audio and video encoding and conversion.
As an on the go replacement for mail, doc reviewing, and other general things, yes. It's great, and I never leave home without it. I send sms, skype, chat.
Is it a replacement, 75% yes.
---------- Post added at 08:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 PM ----------
Prozel said:
Can you by any chance change the keyboard layout in honeycomb? Maybe remap the buttons?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lots of keyboards in the android market, with lots of functions. Most of them for free.
Moscow Desire said:
If you want to run MS office, forget it. If you want to re-calculate a 500mb spreadsheet, it's probably not going to do it.
It also does not have the raw processing power for graphics editing, audio and video encoding and conversion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A Netbook can't do any of this stuff either haha. Ok I guess it can run MS Office, but these netbooks aren't really much more powerful than the current tablets.
In terms of the long press on a hardware keyboard. It's likely not going to do it as long press will just repeat the letter you are holding down (I think? I actually haven't tested that on my keybo!)
I'm using the Acer A500 hardware keyboard. It's a BT keyboard and has lots of function keys on it. I'm sure there is a way to get those letters you need to pop up.
Moscow Desire said:
Lots of keyboards in the android market, with lots of functions. Most of them for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant remap a physical keyboard.
@All thanks for your answers, still heavily considering it!
As Android maps the physical keys to their corresponding software keys by key code and not by 'letter' (whatever that may be in terms of a keyboard) remapping keys is trivial: just change your software keyboard layout to the one you want, the same way as you would do it with any other computer...
If you are going to be using it to simply take notes and such, I would say yes, it would be a good replacement for a netbook. My tablet is way faster and better than my netbook for most things. As far as the keyboard goes with the special characters, I'm not sure about physical keyboard mapping. THere are a lot of software KBs on the market that allow you to assign special characters/functions to certain buttons. I use Thumb Keyboard and it has that feature, I'm sure there are many others too. All the keyboards I've installed have multi-language support so you're probably safe. I'm assuming that they make USB/BT keyboards for your country so they should work as well.
If you use go launcher, there are a bunch of go keyboards in different languages and I am pretty sure it says danish. I use OfficeSuite Pro 5 which was a free app of the day on amazon a while ago. Definitely if you are getting the keyboard /case combo, you should be able to do a lot.
Hi Guys,
anyone got an idea which Keyboard would be the best as an alternative to Kindle Key board and also in addition what of of pen could one
use with it for just writing notes? (free hand) etc.! Any suggestions?
Thx
regards
mjay
I have no recommendations or comments on using a pen, but in terms of alternate keyboards I am a big fan of Thumb Keyboard. It has different layouts you can use depending on how you like to type including a neat split portrait layout and multiple split landscape layouts perfect for holding the sides and using your thumb. My favorite feature is that there are two spacebars; one will use autocorrect and one does not. Takes moving a couple files around to get it to work on stock, just like any other keyboard.
skourg3 said:
I have no recommendations or comments on using a pen, but in terms of alternate keyboards I am a big fan of Thumb Keyboard. It has different layouts you can use depending on how you like to type including a neat split portrait layout and multiple split landscape layouts perfect for holding the sides and using your thumb. My favorite feature is that there are two spacebars; one will use autocorrect and one does not. Takes moving a couple files around to get it to work on stock, just like any other keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks gonna try that one ASAP
Does it also support freehand-writing or Do you know such an app which can transform your free-handwriting into to text?
cheers
I've got some inside news that Thumb keyboard is going to get specially modified theme for kindle fire, due to lack of hardware buttons. So yeah I recommend it too.
For a pen, I just grabbed a random one from the iPad aisle in target.
+1 for Thumb Keyboard though I tend to share between it and Swype. I especially like the Preset keys you can set for sentences for things I need to type over and over but are harder to type (Like an SMS commands to a gateway server which needs a specific format).
As for a pen, I wouldn't hope too much there. The best you can do is one of the capacitance pens (same as what the iPad uses). They have large rounded tips and don't do well for real handwriting.
Even on something like the ASUS Transformer Prime, the stylus there does not work very well.
However, there is new stuff coming for some devices like the ASUS Transformer Prime. There is a company which is unlocking the hardware that is already in those devices which then allows you to use a real active stylus with a small tip that in the demo's I've seen had lots of control and worked very smoothly.
I don't think you will see anything like that on the Fire though.
krelvinaz said:
+1 for Thumb Keyboard though I tend to share between it and Swype.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreeing here. Swype is for my portrait-mode quick-typing of random messages when I'm not doing a whole lot of typing that requires commands, like on the forums or when I'm writing emails. Thumb is perfect for my ssh stuff and irssi use, however, so I stick with that in landscape.
Holding out hope for a nice BT keyboard if BT support gets thrown into a rom anytime soon