Text input on the SmartPhone [Archive]

Mike Temporale

07-08-2003, 06:21 PM

What's the text input like on the smartphone? What options are available, and are they any good?

I have used the T9 method on my current cell phone, and I assume it's one of the options on the smartphone.

And am I concerned with something that I shouldn't be? I would hate to purchase one and find out it's just to cumbersome to type on. :cry:

Jason Dunn

07-08-2003, 06:28 PM

I haven't looked at any third party options yet, but T9 is basically it. It takes some practice, but you can get pretty good at it. You also have the standard ABC and 123 modes. And don't forget about responding to email messages with a voice recording - it's lots of fun! :-D

David McNamee

07-08-2003, 06:43 PM

T9 has done the job pretty well for me so far. The Smartphone isn't much of a data entry terminal, and I haven't tried to use it as such. I've done plenty of SMS, and the occasional short email. I think the most input I've done is during MSN Messenger chats, and they'be been less painful than I had expected.

If you think that you'll be sitting down to bang out some lengthy emails or doing some other data entry, you might want to look at an external keyboard. I believe that there is one available for the HTC-produced line of phones sold by Orange in the UK.

Mike Temporale

07-08-2003, 06:59 PM

If you think that you'll be sitting down to bang out some lengthy emails or doing some other data entry, you might want to look at an external keyboard.

Oh god no! Nothing grand, just the occasional email, chat, or SMS.

I've done plenty of SMS, and the occasional short email. I think the most input I've done is during MSN Messenger chats, and they'be been less painful than I had expected.

So it's not bad enough that you would not chat again, or anything like that?

And don't forget about responding to email messages with a voice recording - it's lots of fun! :D

Does that just show up as a .wav attachment when the recipient gets the email? Outlook doesn't do anything stupid like "auto play" the voice response, does it??

Robert Levy

07-08-2003, 07:10 PM

you might want to look at an external keyboard. I believe that there is one available for the HTC-produced line of phones sold by Orange in the UK.

Yup - that's made by Eleksen and works with the SPV and Tanager. I'll have something exciting to post about that keyboard in a few days so stay tuned 8)

Jason Dunn

07-08-2003, 07:11 PM

Does that just show up as a .wav attachment when the recipient gets the email? Outlook doesn't do anything stupid like "auto play" the voice response, does it??

Yes, just a plain-jane WAV file - no issues with anyone not being able to play it AFAIK. Outlook doesn't auto-play it. :-)

David McNamee

07-08-2003, 07:12 PM

So it's not bad enough that you would not chat again, or anything like that?

No, nothing like that. From a speed perspective, it's just a little slower than doing handwriting recognition on a Tablet PC into MSN Messger 5. Plus, it's always fun to tell people where you are talking to them from! 8)

Janak Parekh

07-08-2003, 08:15 PM

Does that just show up as a .wav attachment when the recipient gets the email? Outlook doesn't do anything stupid like "auto play" the voice response, does it??
Yes, just a plain-jane WAV file - no issues with anyone not being able to play it AFAIK. Outlook doesn't auto-play it. :-)
I can verify that Jason has sent me WAV file responses and I've heard them without any problems using WMP. :D

--janak

ppcsurfr

07-08-2003, 08:40 PM

@Janak Parekh: On your desktop PC right?

Mabuhay! ~ Carlo

Robert Levy

07-08-2003, 09:10 PM

@Janak Parekh: On your desktop PC right?

Mabuhay! ~ Carlo

No reason why it wouldn't work just as well when receiving on a Pocket PC or Smartphone...

encece

07-09-2003, 03:40 AM

I'm a long time graffiti/blocks writer (in my old Plam days and more recently in my PPC days). I even used to write that way on paper at times.

I really miss a touch sensitive screen for this purpose alone as I am not used to typing on the keypad quickly yet.

Maybe they'll come out with a touch screen smartphone one day...but by that time, I'll probably be a wiz at tap typing!

David McNamee

07-09-2003, 04:47 AM

encece

07-09-2003, 04:56 AM

I think navigation could remain the same...the touch screen would/could be an added for ease of text entry when necessary!

I LOVE my smartphone...even over my PPC...the convenience of text entry for emails/notes is the only thing I miss.

But I would take a convenient keyboard as well.

Robert Levy

07-09-2003, 05:00 AM

Maybe they'll come out with a touch screen smartphone one day

I hope not. I think that one-handed operation is a very important design constraint. Especially considering how prevalent phones are in the car.

Totally agree. Another plus to the lack of a touch screen is that there is one less layer in the display - which means there is less that needs to be overcome to create vibrant, clear screens which work well indoors and out.

encece

07-09-2003, 05:08 AM

But there's plenty of PPCs that work well indoors and out.

encece

07-09-2003, 05:21 AM

wouldn't this be cool....if it could be made thin enough to not bulk up the phone.

a keyboard that slides from the back down 1/3 of it's length...swivels around a corner, then clicks into place.

Or just steal the Nokia 6800s keyboard.

BTW...if someone makes this...I get a piece of the action! :D

http://www.encece.com/kb.jpg

PS...I draw better than this during the day...I swear!

Mike Temporale

07-09-2003, 10:58 AM

I'm really surprised at the lack of a built-in thumb keyboard in the microsoft world. I would have expected more devices to have the RIM/Treo style of text entry by now.

I'm not really interested in carrying an extra attachment around with me all the time.

David McNamee

07-09-2003, 03:10 PM

I'm really surprised at the lack of a built-in thumb keyboard in the microsoft world. I would have expected more devices to have the RIM/Treo style of text entry by now.

There might be were it not for legal action by RIM.

I don't personally like the Treo-style phone with the built in keyboard. However, I agree that it would be nice to see a more varied garden of devices.

jenneth

07-10-2003, 01:05 PM

Something worth noting is that the T9 implementation on the Smartphone leaves a lot to be desired. Unlike most other mobile phones that have T9, the Smartphone doesn't save custom words (though for some reason it works for a select few), ie no dictionary you can edit. So if you have a name like .. jenneth for example, you'll need to enter this in every time manually using multitap. Yek. There's an elaborate workaround outlined at MoDaCo (http://smartphone.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?t=66584) that gives you a T9 custom dictionary of sorts though.

ppcsurfr

07-10-2003, 02:19 PM

You can train the T9 of the Smartphone.

Try this.

Type jenneth using multitap. Hit action button which does a carriage return...

shift to T9 and type 5 3 6 6 3 8 4 and press 0 to shift through the choices... it works.

Mabuhay! ~ Carlo

jenneth

07-10-2003, 02:27 PM

oh holy crap, it did work. nah, this definitely wasn't happening before I hard reset my SPV. really!

Mike Temporale

07-10-2003, 02:46 PM

Thanks ppcsurfr & jenneth! If I have to suffer with T9, it better be able to learn. I'm glad we could resolve this, and that it is a capable of learning. :D

BTW, back on the voice response feature. Is this hard to do? or is it just click reply, click record, and speak? If ou have to go and run some windows recorder, and then save your WAV file, then go back to the email and attach it... That would really SUCK.

ppcsurfr

07-13-2003, 12:19 PM

To send a Voice recording via email... it is simply done as in te PPC...

New message, insert recording, start recording, stop recording, send.

Mabuhay! ~ Carlo

Mike Temporale

07-14-2003, 12:59 PM

spg

07-14-2003, 05:43 PM

To send a Voice recording via email... it is simply done as in te PPC...

You can do that on the PPC!?!?! Never looked, never tried. :oops: I know what old feature I'm gonna play for the next couple days. :wink:
Amazing how such simple things can slip past sometimes isn't? :wink: Glad to hear it is simple to use on the Smartphone... this is one of the biggest reasons I'm looking at them.

ppcsurfr

07-14-2003, 08:20 PM

To send a Voice recording via email... it is simply done as in te PPC...

You can do that on the PPC!?!?! Never looked, never tried. :oops: I know what old feature I'm gonna play for the next couple days. :wink:

Yep... you can on the PPC 2002... :D

It's not in the menu... See the icon that looks like a Cassette Tape? That's it! :wink:

Mabuhay! ~ Carlo