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So... just how important ARE physical keyboards nowadays?

Nowadays, it's just so tempting to get one of the latest 'slate' phones and just settle with it. Particularly because keyboard-less phones are a lot thinner than keyboard phones and have a much better selection. Also it seems like no one is considering making a 4"+ phone with a physical keyboard (not with Android, anyway...)
But still it feels like physical keyboards have some features that can't seriously be replicated with software such as
- ability to play emulators and other games. Touch control frankly sucks. By the way, how compatible are Android games with physical keyboards? Are there times when software that should support keyboard input only supports touch screen controls?
- half the screen doesn't get obscured just to input some text.
so the choice is pretty difficult. Can I get some opinions from people who made the switch to slate phones?

Your most certainly right with the drawbacks, but those are the only ones. Now that we can hook up a wireless ps3 controller to our phones I'm not so worried about loosing hard buttons on a KB. Using swype you can actually type much faster on screen then with a phone KB now. Its certainly a different then the old styluses but I like it much more, even WM 6.5 is pretty finger friendly now. I went from a TP2 with the best KB around to an HD2 with no KB. I was worried for about 10 minutes till I tried out the HD2 screen and it being so sensetive I was in hog heaven, no more pushing buttons 3-4 times to get them to click. Just get my finger within .5mm of the screen and it detects my finger and presses the button.

completley agree Pickx.
maxpower097 said:
.... Using swype you can actually type much faster on screen then with a phone KB now. ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many people have claimed this but not once have I seen anyone using it to anything near what I would call "quick" and certainly not as quick as a proper keyboard. I tried Swype for a few weeks but its just not possible in my experience.
I now have a HD2 and frankly, despite all its awesomeness I still desperatley miss a proper keyboard. I use my phone frequently at work to make notes/take minutes in meetings and sadly this is simply not possible to do this accurately and quickly on a touch screen keyboard - even with Swype!
The previous phone I had, an Acer m900 was ok and had a great keyboard but it was no HD2.... if only i could plug its keyboard on to my HD2!

Oh god I suck at phone KB's and have large hands so that may be why I have so much more luck with swype then the normal touch KB or normal KB. For me swype is incedibly accurate. I only get may be 1 word wrong out of 100. In fact I hated it so much with my TP2 I didn't even text message. People would msg me and I would just call them back. Now that I'm on the HD2 I actually TXT back because its actually doable without hitting 100 wrong keys.

I´ve just switched from Rhodium to Leo and my typing speed decreased a lot, several errors touching the screen...
I decided to change because slow Rhodium processor but as soon as a good real hardware keyboard device appear with modern specs I´ll switch back again.
You can never compare typing REAL keys and the speed...

I think its gonna be different for everyone. For instance I'm a mutant and have one thumb 1 inch shorter then the other. So one thumb is long and slender, the other is fat and stubby. No matter what KB I used on a phone I always hit wrong keys with my big fat thumbs, both of em. Granted I'm 6'4 and 235 pounds. But with the touch screen swype I can just use my index finger to slide around which for me personally is much more accurate and easy them my big thumbs. Another issue I would have with real phone KB's is I would hit w button and it would type wwww_.

So now that a(n early) PSX emulator has been released and an N64 emulator is being worked on, a device with a keyboard would be great. Screw Samsung for not releasing the Epic on GSM.

Anyone trying the 8pen keyboard? (now FREE)

New keyboard at: http://www.the8pen.com/index.html
I'm a keyboard geek, so I'll be trying it for a couple of weeks to see how it feels. If nothing else, looks kind of fun, but I have to say that my original hunch is that the learning curve is just too high for most people. The big question is how speedy an expert can be on the keyboard.
I've also written a couple notes to the team (no reply yet) with some early thoughts.
My biggest problem is the layout. I agree that a strictly alphabetical one wouldn't make most sense, but their layout seems ... well, I sure can't see the logic behind it. I've asked that how hard it would be to program it so we could make our own layouts (and for fun I made one that makes a lot more sense to me).
So anyone giving this a shot? After one day of use, it's slow going, but the delay is figuring out where letters are. If you know where the letters are (like I tried to type "This is a test" a bunch of times in a row) then it seems this can be a very speedy input method. Very much reminds me of shorthand or cursive writing on a keyboard!

Installed and uninstalled, I couldn't get through the tutorial without problems...
but maybe i'm just 'slow'

I wanna try it... but I dont want to spend a dollar on it if I dont like it... The DEV should have put a trial version on the market first...

w00tn3ss said:
I wanna try it... but I dont want to spend a dollar on it if I dont like it... The DEV should have put a trial version on the market first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can uninstall it and get a refund within 24 hours...
I tried it, hated it... uninstalled it

For the haters - I'm curious as to what you didn't like. Was it the learning curve? One look at a screen grab would confirm to me to expect to put in at least 2 weeks or regular use to get a feel for the keyboard.
I'm not sold on it yet, but I feel that 1 day isn't enough to pass or fail it. I'd still really like to see an expert with a couple months practice go at it (ie, if the experienced person isn't very fast then don't bother trying to learn).
App kinda reminds me of MessageEase - might be good but the learning curve is just so bad - you have to tough it out for a while to see if the payoff is worth it.
Oh - if the letters were in a different location would it matter to you?

polstein said:
For the haters - I'm curious as to what you didn't like. Was it the learning curve? One look at a screen grab would confirm to me to expect to put in at least 2 weeks or regular use to get a feel for the keyboard.
I'm not sold on it yet, but I feel that 1 day isn't enough to pass or fail it. I'd still really like to see an expert with a couple months practice go at it (ie, if the experienced person isn't very fast then don't bother trying to learn).
App kinda reminds me of MessageEase - might be good but the learning curve is just so bad - you have to tough it out for a while to see if the payoff is worth it.
Oh - if the letters were in a different location would it matter to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just couldnt be bothered to learn where the letters were and I felt like the program did not like waiting around for me to locate them... this is just like swype really but with swype you dont have to learn where the letters are...

yeah its pretty weird and difficult prefer swype or shape writer

Interesting, but I note they have no real user typing in the demo....

looks weird hahaha i dont even wanna try it

Its kinda hard because you need to memorize all the letters position. After that it can be really good. You wont need to look at the phone as we now must do.
I didn't try it for very long but the idea seams good. Will be hard to make it work because its so different from keyboard :\
Also, it needs other languages integration or i wont be able to use it as good as it is supposed. Because the letters aren't at the "perfect" position for Portuguese and because it also has a dictionary that is not working since it doesnt have portuguese.
If you can get used to it you probably wont be able to return to a regular keyboard :\
this just my opinion

8Pen usage
So going on about hour 4 of having 8Pen on the fascinate and so far my biggest complaint is my finger sticks on the screen during long words.
All in all the letter layout is growing on me the more I learn it the faster I have been able to go. I did increase the diameter of the center circle\starting point and it actually increased my speed.
I wish I could move the backspace to the right side but overall the button layout works pretty well for me. It definitely has a learning curve, practicing certain words I am as fast as swype. Just like with swype i have found errors with long words or typos. The predictive text is not as as good but that is something I may have to tweak in the settings (of which there are a lot). I am going to continue to use it at least for a few more days.
With my thumb I can actually type (albeit slower) without looking for some letters now which means one handed usage is possible.

cool idea, but i think you need to memorize all the letters in the 4 sectors. that's will take some time for people to get use to

Don't condone warez on xda

It's a dollar. Jeez.
As for the app itself, I could see this being a great boon for people who want to be able to type without staring at the keyboard. It appears intended for no-look typing, since the only actual spatial abilities you need are to hit the center area and move in 45/90/270/360 degree angles.

kr8r said:
So going on about hour 4 of having 8Pen on the fascinate and so far my biggest complaint is my finger sticks on the screen during long words.
All in all the letter layout is growing on me the more I learn it the faster I have been able to go. I did increase the diameter of the center circle\starting point and it actually increased my speed.
I wish I could move the backspace to the right side but overall the button layout works pretty well for me. It definitely has a learning curve, practicing certain words I am as fast as swype. Just like with swype i have found errors with long words or typos. The predictive text is not as as good but that is something I may have to tweak in the settings (of which there are a lot). I am going to continue to use it at least for a few more days.
With my thumb I can actually type (albeit slower) without looking for some letters now which means one handed usage is possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try the larger circle, but I actually practicing making as small of a circle as possible for better speed. Maybe I have it backwards.
I just re-watched their video, and they were saying their layout was based on figure 8 motions (as to why they put certain letters somewhere). I would rather have a longer learning curve IF it meant that I would reap the rewards of a more efficient layout later. Hope they knew what they were doing.
I also did a test where I took short sentences like "This is a test" and just did it over & over till I had it memorized. Then I compared typing it in 8pen vs Swype vs Ultra Keyboard and I have to say... it was pretty darn smooth and natural on the 8pen method. I'm kind of looking forward to getting to a point where I know where all the letters are just so I can really give this keyboard a more realistic test on day to day usage.
Also looking forward to being able to just have the 'dot/circle' and nothing else and confusing people watching me. When I get to that point, I might request a smaller vertical height to have less of the screen covered by the keyboard.
Finally, I have auto-correction & suggestion turned on, but I'm a bit confused on using the suggestions. I see if I type a few letters that my target word turns yellow - and if I lift up on the screen it will auto-complete.
BUT if I want to pick a different word in the suggestions I'm not sure how I'm supposed to go get it. If I lift up, it picks the yellow word. So I'm kind of drawing a straight line up, then lifting my finger then picking the alternate suggested word.
(BTW, with suggested words, they would need to eventually add custom dictionaries, make more common words the default, etc)
Have not tried 1 thumb typing, but will give it a shot. I can say that when I have the phone in my car mount (and I get better), this would be a great keyboard for entering quick things (short sms/map search) since you don't have to worry about hitting specific keys dead on. (no typing while driving, guys!)
Finally, I added a couple gestures for my 2 emails (a ^ and an upside down one) and that works very well. I forgot how useful gestures can be. In the video I saw them do a circle gesture, lines - I'll need to make a list of good gestures & figure out what I use a lot.

its basically an awful idea. To learn a shape just to trace 1 letter... is like writing one letter... except a symbol for a letter.
The gestures are were it can get somewhat useful but I just dont think it adds enough to the keyboard to make it efficient. Even adding gestures is so similar to swype ..
I just cant comprehend how this has any benefits as far as speed goes compared to a swype enabled keyboard.

I kinda like it. I'll admit it will probably take a good bit of getting used to, but then so did typing on a regular keyboard.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

trillonometry said:
its basically an awful idea. To learn a shape just to trace 1 letter... is like writing one letter... except a symbol for a letter.
The gestures are were it can get somewhat useful but I just dont think it adds enough to the keyboard to make it efficient. Even adding gestures is so similar to swype ..
I just cant comprehend how this has any benefits as far as speed goes compared to a swype enabled keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even in swype you need to look to the keyboard. with this app you dont need to look as long you know the combination. i dont think is "an awful idea" as you say :\

warez info removed
and i tried it for a good amount of time how ever it still doesnt compare to Swype or Smart keyboard.
ok i understand theres a learning curve, learning a new keyboard layout sucks when we are used to qwerty's on laptops and phones, but another this is that it will take longer swipes to get to certain characters and i just didnt find the keyboard as a whole convenient enough. but its a good attempt, and i hope to see others

trillonometry said:
its basically an awful idea. To learn a shape just to trace 1 letter... is like writing one letter... except a symbol for a letter.
The gestures are were it can get somewhat useful but I just dont think it adds enough to the keyboard to make it efficient. Even adding gestures is so similar to swype ..
I just cant comprehend how this has any benefits as far as speed goes compared to a swype enabled keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it and actually agree. Based on the original idea of having a "unique gesture for each letter", e.g. down + left + right for the letter 'e' - then might as well scribble the actual letter as it will remove the learning curve.
Which opens the question, is there such an app (similar to the old palm phones)?

[Q] Is there a recent gen android phone with hardware portrait keyboard?

I'm not sure if this exists, but I thought I'd ask.
I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate (and loved it) up until about 1 month ago, when I got sick and tired of 30-35 effective WPM on the touchscreen keyboard and switched back to my old first generation Blackberry Bold. Believe it or not, the relief of going back to the blackberry was HUGE even while sacrificing all of the obvious advantages of Android. Touchscreen keyboards just arent for me. I spent nearly a year hoping I would get better at it, and I'm not particularly bad, but I'm just quite quick on a hardware keyboard (65-75wpm) and that is hard to ignore. I do a lot of typing (emails for work and also fairly heavy SMS user ~6000 in+out per month).
So to the point, can anyone recommend a phone for me? I've tried the landscape style hardware keyboards and I am not a fan unfortunately, because I think there are a couple of those to choose from.
Any portrait hardware keyboards? Blackberry style? It would need to be a slider of course to avoid having a tiny screen.. still looking for a ~4"+ screen.
Thanks <3

jammin1911 said:
I'm not sure if this exists, but I thought I'd ask.
I've been using a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate (and loved it) up until about 1 month ago, when I got sick and tired of 30-35 effective WPM on the touchscreen keyboard and switched back to my old first generation Blackberry Bold. Believe it or not, the relief of going back to the blackberry was HUGE even while sacrificing all of the obvious advantages of Android. Touchscreen keyboards just arent for me. I spent nearly a year hoping I would get better at it, and I'm not particularly bad, but I'm just quite quick on a hardware keyboard (65-75wpm) and that is hard to ignore. I do a lot of typing (emails for work and also fairly heavy SMS user ~6000 in+out per month).
So to the point, can anyone recommend a phone for me? I've tried the landscape style hardware keyboards and I am not a fan unfortunately, because I think there are a couple of those to choose from.
Any portrait hardware keyboards? Blackberry style? It would need to be a slider of course to avoid having a tiny screen.. still looking for a ~4"+ screen.
Thanks <3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC makes the T-Mobile Dash and the Ozone with portrait hardware keyboards, and 12 other phones with the more popular landscape slider keyboards and the big screens. It's gonna be tough to get a 4" wide screen with a portrait keyboard. That would be one big phone!
Happy shopping!

for the 4" I was thinking more like the Blackberry Torch slider style to avoid the phone being huge
Thanks for the input!
//EDIT// I would LOVE to see a phone that is basically what Motorola is showing off right now, the Droid 4 with slideout qwerty keyboard, except for it to slide up and down instead of requiring i turn the phone sideways to use it (aside from these keyboard being too wide to type comfortably on, using an android phone sideways in most cases is pretty obnoxious).

Have you checked out the DROID pro? I know it's a little old now but I owned this phone and I loved it, my first smartphone was a treo and that's all I've been use to. I don't care what anyone says, physical keys especially portrait style keyboard is so much netter then landscape

MO3iusONE said:
Have you checked out the DROID pro? I know it's a little old now but I owned this phone and I loved it, my first smartphone was a treo and that's all I've been use to. I don't care what anyone says, physical keys especially portrait style keyboard is so much netter then landscape
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree with you more. That is a pretty wicked phone and that's exactly what I want but with a current generation OS and specs

I have a i9000 and a Droid Pro to replace it on the way.
But I think it will be too slow.
How's about the LG Optimus Pro

NON qwerty keyboards

I'd make this a poll but I probably don't even know of all the available options,
But I have just started using messagease, and though I long for 2i from snapkeys.
I do wonder if I am missing other alternatives...
The reason I am trying to find non qwerty systems is actually because I think the T9 systems used in android pale in comparison to my old K770i. I haven't paid for any keyboards but have tried just about every free one going, Are they all this bad?
If it's not just me thinking this, whats your ideal typing system?
And
Is qwerty going to die?
For me, ideal is 2i, and yes qwerty is dying...I hope anyway...time to move into the next century.

I disagree, QWERTY is NOT dying. Not even close.
MOST computer systems use a QWERTY, and it would make sense for the same keyboard to be on a phone since you're used to where the letters are etc.
So if you think qwerty is dying, then that would ultimately mean that all the keyboard standards would have to be changed as well. Some people prefer non-qwerty, but that population is incredibly small compared to who DO use QWERTY.
Also i think this is in the wrong section, no?

I wasn't thinking this is the wrong section at all, okay perhaps my dislike for qwerty might be, but asking in the general android apps sections about alternatives to keyboard apks, definitely not.
And I wouldn't expect pc's to get rid of qwerty, there have been alternatives for that for a long time now, and none have stuck it out or gained real attention. excluding the graphics designer mouse thing that I can't remember the name off...
But I was referring more to portable devices, tablets, consoles, smartphones, etc, things where real estate is at a real premium, a full keyboard, plus arrows, enter key, space key, it's too much especially when devices are getting smaller, and can now ever be worn around the wrist.
I am half expecting the next i device to be keyboard-less actually...

I didn't know about Snapkeys, I'm going to try it. I've been using MessagEase for a long time and I just love it. I type in Spanish more often than not and it's extremely good for adding accents (´) and other symbols. The best part is that it doesn't rely on word prediction, which I don't like very much.
You should try 8pen, too, it's another alternative, I used it before changing to MessagEase.

Keyboard cases that aren't terrible?

So recently, I got sick of my Samsung Epic 4G despite it running the latest Android and being, generally, a great phone. I decided to go to the S4 when I saw bluetooth keyboards were available for it. I like the idea of slider keyboards as my Epic has a five row one that works flawlessly. I'm now asking for any keyboards that people have found that aren't god awful.
So I bought this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MJ0V5E/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And it is honestly the worst product I have ever bought. Not only is it IDENTICAL to every slider case that exists on amazon (A lot of different brands, too), it has MANY problems.
-The buttons are hard to press down
-The space bar is the width of two letter keys across. TINY
-Delete key is intuitively placed BETWEEN KEYS.
-Delete key is also the size of one letter key.
-No spacing between keys
-Caps and FN keys are not toggle-able.
-Only a 4 row keyboard, so numbers are "FN" buttons
-This requires holding down the FN key to use a series of numbers
Overall, it was the biggest disappointment in my life. It's bad enough where I'm selling the S4 and going back to my Epic. If anyone finds a good BT keyboard and wants to stop me from making this decision, by all means. And there's a white version floating about that's exactly the same that prices anywhere from $30-90.

Go back to your epic. If you really need a slider keyboard THAT bad then this isn't the phone for you. Doubt you'll like any bluetooth keyboard.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4

elflip88 said:
Go back to your epic. If you really need a slider keyboard THAT bad then this isn't the phone for you. Doubt you'll like any bluetooth keyboard.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been waiting on a post like this for a while. I'm in the same spot. Love my Epic, wish I had 3 extra processors.
I've been looking at this case recently:
http://www.hypercel.com/best-sellers/bluetooth-keyboards/bluetooth-keyboard-case-galaxy-s4-white
and am waiting on some feedback as I'd hate to go all in only to be let down.

elflip88 said:
Go back to your epic. If you really need a slider keyboard THAT bad then this isn't the phone for you. Doubt you'll like any bluetooth keyboard.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the problem that there's really only one bluetooth keyboard. If one is to look on Amazon, they all have an identical design, aside from the ones that really are full-sized keyboards.
The problem is that the iPhone crowd started a trend of "buttons are so barbaric". Every phone company jumped on board because adding a keyboard meant higher manufacturing cost. Back when the HTC Touch Pro was on the market, it was thee biggest phone. Now keyboard phones are released with last-years mid-range specs. To get latest specs, you have to axe the keyboard. I simply don't know why Samsung doesn't release their own BT add-on. It's possible, and with a real company behind it, it might actually be a good add-on. There wouldn't be so many clones on Amazon (and there are near a hundred different "companies" that released the same bluetooth keyboard on Amazon) if there weren't a significant amount of buyers.
dannyzen said:
Been waiting on a post like this for a while. I'm in the same spot. Love my Epic, wish I had 3 extra processors.
I've been looking at this case recently:
http://www.hypercel.com/best-sellers/bluetooth-keyboards/bluetooth-keyboard-case-galaxy-s4-white
and am waiting on some feedback as I'd hate to go all in only to be let down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the exact same keyboard only in white. The fact that it's $80 adds layers of insult to injury. Sorry man, wouldn't make the purchase.
I mean, this add-on makes the phone significantly thicker than my Epic, but I'm a guy. They put pockets on our jeans.

TPMJB said:
It's the problem that there's really only one bluetooth keyboard. If one is to look on Amazon, they all have an identical design, aside from the ones that really are full-sized keyboards.
The problem is that the iPhone crowd started a trend of "buttons are so barbaric". Every phone company jumped on board because adding a keyboard meant higher manufacturing cost. Back when the HTC Touch Pro was on the market, it was thee biggest phone. Now keyboard phones are released with last-years mid-range specs. To get latest specs, you have to axe the keyboard. I simply don't know why Samsung doesn't release their own BT add-on. It's possible, and with a real company behind it, it might actually be a good add-on. There wouldn't be so many clones on Amazon (and there are near a hundred different "companies" that released the same bluetooth keyboard on Amazon) if there weren't a significant amount of buyers.
It's the exact same keyboard only in white. The fact that it's $80 adds layers of insult to injury. Sorry man, wouldn't make the purchase.
I mean, this add-on makes the phone significantly thicker than my Epic, but I'm a guy. They put pockets on our jeans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/TOP®-Wireless-Removable-Bluetooth-Keyboard/dp/B00D03KVYE/ref=pd_sim_cps_4
http://www.amazon.com/Arbalest-Remo...&sr=1-16&keywords=wireless+keyboard+galaxy+s4
These look like the other option you have, but I don't see anything else. The delete key seems to be in a better position.
i prefer physical kb also. not sure the battery drain from having bt on all the time would be worth it.

Phatdawg said:
http://www.amazon.com/TOP®-Wireless-Removable-Bluetooth-Keyboard/dp/B00D03KVYE/ref=pd_sim_cps_4
http://www.amazon.com/Arbalest-Remo...&sr=1-16&keywords=wireless+keyboard+galaxy+s4
These look like the other option you have, but I don't see anything else. The delete key seems to be in a better position.
i prefer physical kb also. not sure the battery drain from having bt on all the time would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*sigh*
I'm wondering if I could frankenstein something out of my spare Samsung Epic and my S4. Would likely require more know-how with the software than I currently have.

epic 4g is still a great phone, the most ergonomic i've ever used and the keyboard really comes in handy not only for typing but as a "holder" to view the screen & navigate
these days i use it as a remote/mouse when i hook my PC up to the tv and it works flawlessly