Database Info

Does anyone know of an application like Keycaps for WM5?

I used to have a Treo 650 with Pam OS, that's why I like the form-factor of the Ubiquio.
I used to be able to use the hardware keyboard alone for most things and had no need for onscreen keyboads because I used one free application that would allow me to press and hold any of the keys and it would alternate from lower case to upper case to option key.
For example if I pressed and held, I would get the following on the 650: gG6, aA&, oO" etc and could scroll up and down the list to select.
I use the special characters a lot and find it annoying to have to recourse to the onscreen keyboard for that. Right how press and hold just repeats the key pressed.
The application I used on Treos was called Keycaps. Right now I cannot find anything like Keycaps for windows mobile. I loved it and hope someone comes up with something similar for the windows mobile.
Does anyone know if there is native support within the Windows to do what I am looking for or if there is an add-in that would allow this functionality? I like to avoid the shift and option keys.

Magikblite?
Seems like this may be what you need:
http://mobiion.com/magikblite.html

lulugirl896 said:
Seems like this may be what you need:
http://mobiion.com/magikblite.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much! I will try that! Regards, w.

[Q] Keyboard Dock meta keys via ssh+GNUScreen/Vim?

Hello. So looking at potential use cases for this tablet; I do most of my work in a terminal in a screen session; with vim or similar. Looking at screen shots of the keyboard; I see Ctrl/Alt keys; Can I expect those to work in ConnectBot or similar?
ctrl-a-c, ctrl-r,ctrl-p, alt-. for bash/vim/etc shortcuts being the idea. Any thoughts?
If not; I'll probably end up tethering in bestbuy and remoting into one of my servers to test...

Interested, too...
I'm also interested in whether Ctrl or Meta / Alt works in any terminal applications on the Transformer. Anyone care to share their experience?
Thanks!

Just now trying connectbot.
It appears that ctrl isn't working for me.
Tab isn't working as a tab, but the right shift works as both a shift and tab.
Alt operates as '/'
When I get a chance, I'll spend a little time investigating more

In Better Terminal Emulator Pro, the Ctrl key works extremely well.
I'm also kind of able to remap the Back key and Search keys to ESC by ^[ and ^[1, but it doesn't quite work out the way I want it to. At least I can access VI by hitting ^[1 (Back key).

Any more updates/ first hand experiences?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Hacker's Keyboard

Ways you think TF could make more use of keyboard

I feel this is unique enough to merit its own thread and I looked at the first 30 pages for anything similar and found nothing.
What do you think would make the dock more worth it? Not necessarily more of a netbook, because if you want a netbook then buy a netbook, but more along the lines of functionality that should be there or is already there but needs improving. This is not really a gripe session, more of a brainstorm and also helping to make suggestions to other people if a solution already exists/comes into existence. But do try to keep it reasonable; keep your expectations realistic of an Android-running device.
I'm mainly talking about Android, since as far as I know, no other OS is stable just yet, but hardware is also a determining factor. Also, since a lot of Android is the apps, I think it would be alright to list an app functionality that would be nice (i.e., a video player, an SSH client, etc.)
And hopefully it would be nice if we followed the format of
What: What it is
Why: Why you believe it is necessary.
I'll start with a few I've noticed (I run Prime 1.6 [I think] currently):
Keyboard should provide all basic functionality
I found it odd that there's a menu button, but no app-switcher key on the keyboard. I find it strange that that core piece of functionality still requires the use of the touch screen.
Word processor should focus on keyboard
Just a bunch of stupid things that make it incredibly annoying to use and would never fly in a desktop processor.
-Ctrl+S should save
-Shift should be able to select
-Bullet indenting is horrid; should use tab
Dock-friendly SSH client is desperately needed
(Hear me out. I don't expect a full IDE at all, but a simple SSH client really is not too much to ask. Again, it works perfectly, just not at all designed for the dock.)
ConnectBot is ok, but it just fails if you have a full keyboard and want to use it as a simple SSH client. Shift acts as capslock, there is no way to do many shortcuts such as Ctrl+O (save in GNU Nano), and many characters like * can't be typed directly into the console.
That's what I've noticed so far. Hopefully you guys will think this is a good idea and chip in your opinions.
-notbryant.

I want to jump around in a document if possible.
I use the regular arrow keys way more than I do in Windows.
Also I'd like to see more Ctrl+combinations available.

notbryant said:
I feel this is unique enough to merit its own thread and I looked at the first 30 pages for anything similar and found nothing.
What do you think would make the dock more worth it? Not necessarily more of a netbook, because if you want a netbook then buy a netbook, but more along the lines of functionality that should be there or is already there but needs improving. This is not really a gripe session, more of a brainstorm and also helping to make suggestions to other people if a solution already exists/comes into existence. But do try to keep it reasonable; keep your expectations realistic of an Android-running device.
I'm mainly talking about Android, since as far as I know, no other OS is stable just yet, but hardware is also a determining factor. Also, since a lot of Android is the apps, I think it would be alright to list an app functionality that would be nice (i.e., a video player, an SSH client, etc.)
And hopefully it would be nice if we followed the format of
What: What it is
Why: Why you believe it is necessary.
I'll start with a few I've noticed (I run Prime 1.6 [I think] currently):
Keyboard should provide all basic functionality
I found it odd that there's a menu button, but no app-switcher key on the keyboard. I find it strange that that core piece of functionality still requires the use of the touch screen.
Word processor should focus on keyboard
Just a bunch of stupid things that make it incredibly annoying to use and would never fly in a desktop processor.
-Ctrl+S should save
-Shift should be able to select
-Bullet indenting is horrid; should use tab
Dock-friendly SSH client is desperately needed
(Hear me out. I don't expect a full IDE at all, but a simple SSH client really is not too much to ask. Again, it works perfectly, just not at all designed for the dock.)
ConnectBot is ok, but it just fails if you have a full keyboard and want to use it as a simple SSH client. Shift acts as capslock, there is no way to do many shortcuts such as Ctrl+O (save in GNU Nano), and many characters like * can't be typed directly into the console.
That's what I've noticed so far. Hopefully you guys will think this is a good idea and chip in your opinions.
-notbryant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alt+Tab works as an app switcher in the newer firmwares. They also added Shift+Arrow Keys to highlight text easier. This pretty much made the keyboard usable for me.
The more Windows shortcuts they implement the happier I will be.

Required dock features:
What: Crap load more battery. 11000mAh minimum.
Why: Useful
What: Programmable Hot Keys, menu hooks for any application.
Why: Speed. Touch is faster than mouse, hot keys would be faster than menu.
What: Hardware NIC port
Why: Sometimes wired wins over wireless.
What: Screen Orientation Controls (options - see Orientation Control app)
Why: Dock screws with orientation. Unscrew it.
What: Barrel charging vs ASUS 40 pin cable nightmare
Why: Fu*k proprietary charging.
I could think of more, but this is a start.

I'd love it if ctrl-w or ctrl-t in the Browser didn't sometimes "double-tap" and close (or open) two tabs at once. Maybe they should fix the dock keyboard problems before adding any more shortcuts. Though I would fully support and use more of the "standard" keyboard shortcuts if they implemented them.
Also, it would be nice if the apps that "lock" into portrait mode (I'm looking at YOU, ESPN, among others) could be "unlocked" when it's docked.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

Bjd223 said:
Alt+Tab works as an app switcher in the newer firmwares. They also added Shift+Arrow Keys to highlight text easier. This pretty much made the keyboard usable for me.
The more Windows shortcuts they implement the happier I will be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know that, thanks for the info. Does it work the same way as the app switcher button on the screen? Also, isn't the only Alt key on the right of the spacebar? Maybe I'm just being picky, but I use my Thumb+Ring Finger for my traditional keyboard.
As for the Shift+Arrow keys, I just used it the other day in class running Prime 1.6 and Shift+Arrow didn't work for me in Polaris.
@Bob Smith42
I would like some hotkeys; There were 2 on my Eee netbook and I found those pretty useful, and on Android it would be more so. They should have done that instead of the Camera, Browser, and Settings buttons.
Wired seems a bit beyond the scope of an Android powered device, IMO.
I concur about proprietary charging.

notbryant said:
I did not know that, thanks for the info. Does it work the same way as the app switcher button on the screen? Also, isn't the only Alt key on the right of the spacebar? Maybe I'm just being picky, but I use my Thumb+Ring Finger for my traditional keyboard.
As for the Shift+Arrow keys, I just used it the other day in class running Prime 1.6 and Shift+Arrow didn't work for me in Polaris.
@Bob Smith42
I would like some hotkeys; There were 2 on my Eee netbook and I found those pretty useful, and on Android it would be more so. They should have done that instead of the Camera, Browser, and Settings buttons.
Wired seems a bit beyond the scope of an Android powered device, IMO.
I concur about proprietary charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you have to use the right Alt which sucks for a little while til you get used to it. If the Alt and search keys were switched it would be better. If you root I think someone could easily remap the search key to alt also, but I am not 100% on this.
I am not sure if the shift+arrow keys thing is an OS thing or an application dependant thing. I do it in the email app primarily and never really tried it anywhere else yet.
For those wanting a wired ethernet port; one of the guys around here got a USB to ethernet adapter to work, but some applications don't use it correctly but I think someone will work it out. Not sure if you need root for it though.

The first thing we would need is the hotkeys for our devices, and other ways to use the keyboard. then we could worry about added functionality. does anybody know where one of tose lists could be found
found one that is being worked on
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1071739

What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications. Being able to do that with a keyboard switch rather than tapping ths screen and selecting from a menu would be more efficient.

Ability to swap functionality around a bit.
I'd love to be able to set the '<-' back button to ESCAPE (without using the root tricks to remap). Perhaps FUNCTION-'<-' is escape (or remapped to back)
More controllable key bindings
That whole top line of shortcuts should be more configurable. When using VNC/RDP, they'd be more use to me as standard windows function keys. Ability to quickly select them would be great.
The rest? Not too fussed, works great for everything else.
Asus were /really/ smart doing what they did. Hopefully they keep this standard (or even license the connector out).
Docking station variations
I'd still like to see variations of the keyboard. I might buy 2 with different functionality. Need the standard keyboard? Chuck the TF in and go. Doing a lot of remote work today? Drop it into the 'windows key compatibility' dock and use that.
Bigger/Heavier dock with bigger (and I mean monstrous!) keyboard.
One with RFID reader in/biometric scanners. (ok, getting niche here, but you're after what WE want!)
Keyboard dock that's another screen. TF drops into it, gets the extra battery life, but there's another display there, like the new Sony one appears to work. More screen real estate, on-screen keyboard if needed.
Game-board. stub joysticks, arcade quality fire buttons, nice trackpad area in middle. Would make an awesome portable MAME device.
Heck, can see a market for JUST a battery pack, no keys, trackpad, just a battery pack for the tablet screen.
Highend dock
Larger battery,
another few USB ports, maybe even a firewire port,
CD/DVD (if they get a linux kernal with the support compiled in).
Backlit keyboard
Turn it into a full on netbook. 250ish bucks.
Can't get over how cool a concept the docking is, sure there's a market for more flexibility. They just /really/ need to license it. Could be a long term money earner for them if there's others paying to make these things.

Oh, and whilst going off the point, might as well really go for it;
A new keyboard dock with (or a slot for) a HUGE HD(well, SSD preferred, power considerations really). Take the TF around, take some pics, small vids, drop into the dock, do some simple video work with a 200gb SSD to save to.
(and/or use that huge HD for some serious film/music/mame roms storage)

Something very important to me that I would like to see implemented is better text selection.
The cursors selection is good for touch screen, but it kinda defeats the point of having a touch pad.
I'd like to be able to select text with the touch pad cursor, just like you do on a regular PC with drag and drop...
It's really something mandatory for me as I copy paste very often between browsers, terminals and so on ..
Also a way to deactivate page scrolling with the touch pad, for example it's currently impossible to do a drag and drop of something on the screen , without triggering the scrolling of the page.
(usefull for cropping pictures in a web browser and such for example, or any other operation that requires drag and drop)
Alt+tab works ok in the latests firmwares, but it only works while being on the home screen, which is kinda a pain.
It's usefull to switch between applications, but it doesn't work that way.

Portrait
It would really smart if you had two connector sides on the tablet so you could choose between landscape (the present) or portrait mode if you want to use the Transformer for more serious writing assignments.

@Bjd223
I think things like shift-arrows are application dependent, which is why it's that much more of a disappointment that Polaris doesn't have it since it is supposed to be centered around manipulating text.
@Jyveafk
You should really try to use the format that I suggested; your post looks like a wall of text.
@Kumabjorn
If you really wanted that, a bluetooth keyboad might be more up your alley.

notbryant said:
@Bjd223
@Kumabjorn
If you really wanted that, a bluetooth keyboad might be more up your alley.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have a BT keyboard as well, just not any stand for the Eee Pad yet. It would just be nice to carry it around as one unit and then take it out of the dock and reinsert it in portrait mode. This is after all a wish list, and I'm sure people from ASUS lurk around here.

Kumabjorn said:
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to be there for Russian, only the shortcut is Ctrl+Space.
The way this works is quite tricky, though. First, you need to use the keyboard icon in notification area to switch to the keyboard to "ASUS Russian" (if needed, adding it as an option in Input Settings). After that, Ctrl+Space can be used to switch between that and English. I don't know if that is there for all non-English layouts, or only non-Latin ones, though.
Also, Ctrl+Shift will pop up the usual keyboard selector menu, which can then be navigated using arrow keys. Still too verbose, but at least you don't have to take your hands off the keys to tap the screen.

I don't ask for much, just a...
backlit keyboard...

Kumabjorn said:
It would really smart if you had two connector sides on the tablet so you could choose between landscape (the present) or portrait mode if you want to use the Transformer for more serious writing assignments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, interesting. I think having a 'universal' connector, for keyboards and other things is viable, and if 'other' things to plug in, having a base/side port to 'plug' to could work well. For keyboards (and the rotating around view IS great for writing), and... other devices we've not thought of yet.

Here http://code.google.com/p/connectbot/issues/detail?id=459 you can find a patched version of connectbot ssh app with correct support for dock keys (control, tab etc).
I like it very much..

Kumabjorn said:
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications. Being able to do that with a keyboard switch rather than tapping ths screen and selecting from a menu would be more efficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spell check? MY transformer doesn't seem to do any spell checking at all when docked. Am I missing a setting? If not I vote for some type of spell check.

Are there plans for right mouse button support for android?

I don't know what idiot made the decision to make the right trackpad button to work as "back" but he needs to be fired from his job. The transformer already has atleast 2 back buttons, and probably a few shortcuts for back that I don't know about. Why make the right mouse button also "back"?
The transformer would be a full laptop replacement, if I had a right mouse button like every other computer I've ever owned in my entire life. Do I need to write a letter to my congressman or something to make this happen? Hell, I'd be willing to learn to solder and rewire the keyboard just to make it work (not really, once I learn to solder I'll be moding my electric motorcycle, but that's not the point). Honestly, if someone makes an app to fix this, I will buy it, then send a nice letter to google/asus telling them to offer that person a job for being smarter than one of their current employees.

lol i completely agree. It would be great if the right click was the equvalent of a press and hold. would make everything so much easier

typci said:
I don't know what idiot made the decision to make the right trackpad button to work as "back" but he needs to be fired from his job. The transformer already has atleast 2 back buttons, and probably a few shortcuts for back that I don't know about. Why make the right mouse button also "back"?
The transformer would be a full laptop replacement, if I had a right mouse button like every other computer I've ever owned in my entire life. Do I need to write a letter to my congressman or something to make this happen? Hell, I'd be willing to learn to solder and rewire the keyboard just to make it work (not really, once I learn to solder I'll be moding my electric motorcycle, but that's not the point). Honestly, if someone makes an app to fix this, I will buy it, then send a nice letter to google/asus telling them to offer that person a job for being smarter than one of their current employees.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1!!!!!!
Don't know if its possible to change that. Kinda unfortunate

seems like every app has a different "hold" duration and not all apps have this feature
so implementation would be inconsistent

Could you exagerate or be any more of an asshole at all? Merely because you do not understand why it was made as a back button instead of *whatever you want it to be* does not give you the right to sit there and type a two paragraph rant about how ASUS is full of idiots. Talk about self-entitlement and impatiance.
It does not function as a "right click" (I don't know how the hell it could) because Android doesn't have a right click. It simply doesn't exist. A longpress is a lot different from a right click, and it isn't possibly/trivial to just map the right click button to be a long press.

hmm... I wonder if it would be possible for 2x or other RDP/vnc clients to "capture" the right-click on the pad and send it as a right-mouse button to windows/linux/etc that actually does make use...
That would be nice rather than me hunting for where the options in windows are without right-click..
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Personally, I like the right button being back button! In Andoid, you use the back button alot. If using the trackpad, it makes perfect sense to have teh right button be a back button - otherwise you'd be reaching up all of the time to press the on-screen or on-keyboard back button.
At least that my opinon! Same if using an external mouse... I use the right button constantly.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Far more configurations would be great here.
Under the keyboard/input settings where the mouse control is, and the keyboard 'do I want auto capitalisation', having an advanced button that takes you to;
Top Row AndroidControl|Function Keys
Back Button Back|Escape
Right Mouse Back|RightHold
And allow you to select the functionality/remap, without having to mess about with root, would be /really/ useful. We can change the cursor to a pointer/gestures, but can't remap the right click?
And as an aside, I can't find through googling, but does anyone know what the 1 and 6 numbers are highlighted?

jtrosky said:
Personally, I like the right button being back button! In Andoid, you use the back button alot. If using the trackpad, it makes perfect sense to have teh right button be a back button - otherwise you'd be reaching up all of the time to press the on-screen or on-keyboard back button.
At least that my opinon! Same if using an external mouse... I use the right button constantly.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remote RDP lite does this. Emailed him and he did it. Quite fast too.

dude2k5 said:
Remote RDP lite does this. Emailed him and he did it. Quite fast too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was about to suggest Remote RDP Lite as well, my problem with that over 2x though is Remote RDP Lite doesn't seem to fit perfectly on my tablet screen while 2x does running at the same resolution. Not to Threadjack, but have you noticed this as well?

crowboy164 said:
I was about to suggest Remote RDP Lite as well, my problem with that over 2x though is Remote RDP Lite doesn't seem to fit perfectly on my tablet screen while 2x does running at the same resolution. Not to Threadjack, but have you noticed this as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have Remote RDP Enterprise, And in each computer settings, you can change the screen resolution (1280x750) or try fit device (at bottom). Not sure if RDP lite has it. Fits my screen perfect.

Long answer: Seeing how the Transformer is the only tablet with a keyboard dock that has a trackpad, the answer is no. Issue is too small for Google to address it and it would only effect 1 device. Asus probably won't do it either since they didn't intend for the Transformer to run different OS's, such as Ubuntu where a right click would be necessary.
Simple and sweet answer: No, if you don't like it, buy a laptop
EDIT: After reading your original post again, you're the idiot. Why would a touch screen operation system need a right click? Android's right click is the long press. Asus decided to make a nice keyboard dock but like I said earlier, it was made for Android, not Ubuntu/Windows/etc.

FTR if you actually use a mouse plugged into the dock the middle mouse button is the Menu key. I agree with the back button being the right click. I use primary (left click), back and menu keys a lot more than I use long press [even without a mouse]

I may be an idiot, but i use "long press" often enough that it would be exceptionally useful to have a button on the trackpad that has the same function. Far more useful than another back button. Also when useing the trackpad/mouse, "long click" is really slow. Having an equivalent "right click" button would also make Android a more competitive operating system. Instead of having a laptop and a tablet, i can have tablet that transforms into a laptop. I'm pretty sure that was Asus's original idea, hence the name "transformer." Also, It's intuitive, a right button brings up additional options, like "back." It's how it works on every other computer.

actually, the right click button is always a back button in android. I have run android in an emulator before and right click was the back button (this was an eclair build as well). I think it's been in there for so long that it would be harder to fix than you would think. And, as mentioned before, the long press on items is inconsistent in different apps. Sure, it would be usefull for newbies to the transformer (my sister wanted to try it out and told me that the browser kept going back a page whenever she wanted to right click on a link to open it in another tab) but I am personally used to it when using an external mouse

dude2k5 said:
Remote RDP lite does this. Emailed him and he did it. Quite fast too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very Nice! Thanks for pointing out Remote RDP lite. I also manually typed in a resolution of 1280x753 and it fits the transformer screen perfectly.
In addition to using the right-click as a right-click on the windows RDP, it also tracks your mouse cursor as you move it, not just when you click, so mouse-overs Work!!! Very Nice!
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

typci said:
I may be an idiot, but i use "long press" often enough that it would be exceptionally useful to have a button on the trackpad that has the same function. Far more useful than another back button. Also when useing the trackpad/mouse, "long click" is really slow. Having an equivalent "right click" button would also make Android a more competitive operating system. Instead of having a laptop and a tablet, i can have tablet that transforms into a laptop. I'm pretty sure that was Asus's original idea, hence the name "transformer." Also, It's intuitive, a right button brings up additional options, like "back." It's how it works on every other computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Transformer isn't every other computer now is it? Stop looking at it as a laptop replacement, that's not what it's meant for. Tablets are extensions of your phone.
Yes it's called the Transformer because of the dock, but it transforms into an ANDROID laptop, not another OS. You really think Asus is gonna spend time hardcoding a right click into a OS that is pretty much based around the long press?
Having a right click button doesn't make Android any more competitive than it already is. You really think someone is going to say "Oh this has a right click but that has a nice flashly OS and it's made by Apple!!!" If you really think a right click is going to be a deciding factor for purchasing a tablet, you are just ....

SwiftLegend said:
Having a right click button doesn't make Android any more competitive than it already is. You really think someone is going to say "Oh this has a right click but that has a nice flashly OS and it's made by Apple!!!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch as apple comes out with a dock for their tablet saying "It's magic!! When I plug in the dock it becomes a computer complete with right mouse button support."
You show me a tablet with dock that will function just like a netbook/laptop and doesn't have Windows or Apple on it, and I'll definitely give it a try. If it works well, I'll buy it.
The transformer is the number one selling Android tablet right now, and I'm pretty sure it's not because of the tablet. It's probably because of the full keyboard with track pad. I take that as a pretty clear sign that people are expecting more than just an extension of their phone. They are looking for a tablet that can do more.
Tablet's are now competing with netbooks, and soon with laptops. There are plenty of threads here about people wanting to use their transformer for school, business, and work. To do these things require functionality. Functionality requires input options that are easy to use. Currently, for anything other movies, music and games, the transformer is a bit of a pain to use. Even browsing the internet isn't that great. Sure it can do these things, but not gracefully.
Google needs to step up their game. If they didn't plan to compete with laptops/netbooks, then I'm wrong. But I have a feeling this Android thing is going to go way past phones and extensions of phones, and Google was planning that. These recent updates of adding support for multiple SD cards and screen scaling after the hardware comes out is crap. Think ahead Goggle, and build your OS for the hardware that will come out next year, not what was released last month.
Don't defend Google because it's difficult to change their software. Challenge them to make the difficult changes now, so that when we buy new hardware next year, we don't have to wait for updates to make it functional and user friendly.

I think Asus or someone else from their company said that when google android 4.0 comes out they will port it to the tf and of course their future tablets.. so i hope android 4.0 will bring the big changes we expect..

I didn't know that it would've been an issue of the inability of an OS, I'm using a Prime and there is a thread in the forums that gives the ability to remap each individual keys of the dock. So I had a thought that wouldn't it be possible to map the right click button to the command 'bring up context menu' just like how long pressing brings up the context menu

[Q] Making the switch (from Android G2.3.4), have some questions

Hi all,
Thanks in advance for answering some questions I have.
I've watched a ton of vids, done a pretty good amount of research so far, but still have a few unanswered questions about WP7.5. I will be looking at getting a Lumia 800 as that's what my carrier is offering in Canada. I'm sick of Android being flaky due to the fragmented ecosystem and am looking forward to the 'closed' nature of WP7.5 - I just want it to work. Period.
So, on to the Qs:
Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
Thanks, I'll add more if I think of them.
O

>> Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
There is a Key which shows up all the numbers and other characters but its not like a popup and no long press.
>>Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Nope but there are apps which are purely number pads you can use.
>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
>>Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
No Idea on then but what do you use Feedly for ?
>> Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No

wpxbox said:
>
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WRONG!
It remember the last view you were in. if you leave in agenda view, when you go back, that is the view you will see 1st.

@ROCOAFZ Never Knew that so thanks a ton for that.

>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.

Been using WP from sometime but not sure how this works if at all possible.
Like when I type HAV it shows me Have but when I hit spacebar, it does not auto complete but adds a space.
nilsk123 said:
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

There are some words that it will auto fill in but they have to be the only possible thing you would be typing in context with the sentence. Most words have to be chosen from bar right above the text. (i like it this way)
No problem on the agenda view. Mine is always in that view so that's what i always see

1: To add to what others have said, you can tap-and-slide to add just a single number or punctuation in one motion. From the standard keyboard, put your finger down on the number/punctuation mode key, slide it to the number or punctuation you want (the keyboard will temporarily switch modes when you touch the key initially), and release. The key your finger was on (in the alternate mode) will be typed, but the keyboard will be in the original mode. Very handy.
Alternatively, you can add some registry values that will create press-and-hold options for the top keys to have numbers. I added a press-and-hold list to my comma key; sometimes it's a lot nicer than switching modes even briefly! (I use a lot of semicolons.)
3: For some reason, nobody has mentioned this yet. If the phone will auto-correct (including auto-complete), then the suggested word/completion will be bold. Pressing the Spacebar when there's a bolded suggestion will use that suggestion automatically.
If none of the suggestions are bold (because what you typed is already a valid word, or because it isn't sure what you meant to type), then you can tap on a suggestion to use it. The phone does have a setting to automatically add a space after you do this.
4: There's an app that comes up when you search for StumbleUpon, based on keyword match (it's not actually a stumbleupon app, but it targets the same kind of user). I haven't tried it (but then, I don't use SU either).
5: Vision and Music Search should both work just fine (they're not locale based at all, so far as I know). Scout... I think it works in Canada? I've never tried (I live close to the border, but not *that* close, and international data costs money so I always have it disabled). I assume Zune Pass and Directions both work as well, and those are the other two locale-sensitive features I can think of that might care.
6: Not really, but how often do you need to mess with settings? There are some apps that let you quickly reach the ones you use most often, or let you quickly reach ones that are normally a few levels deep, but no one-tap toggles yet that I'm aware of.
However, I really don't find it required to enter settings much at all. See a new WiFi network? The phone will prompt you. You'll only save a very small amount of power by leaving WiFi off when not in use; the phone is very good at putting it in a power-saving mode. I almost never need to touch any of the other settings.

Didn't notice the bold... good post ... i'm always learning something new in Windows phone