Any upcoming Pocket PCs with *built-in* thumb keyboard?

[gadgetboy]

I'm a die-hard Pocket PC person, but the built-in keyboard on the Sharp Zaurus interested me enough that I picked one up to test it out for a while, and...

I love it!

I know lots of people complain about the small keys on these keyboards, but the size really hasn't bothered me that much. I have always had bad luck with text input on PDAs; I have atrocious handwriting, and I don't do well with the stylus and on-screen keyboard either. But with my thumbs and the built-in keyboard, I can really fly!

I had a contest with a couple of my friends - one of them used the Letter Recognizer, one used the on-screen keyboard, and I used the Zaurus keyboard. They were pretty convinced they would be able to keep up with me.

Results: I could easily enter text 2-3 times faster than them, and when we examined the input for errors, mine had 0-1 errors, while theirs typically had 4-5.

In short, I am sold on the built-in keyboard.

Now I just need to convince a Pocket PC manufacturer to make one for me!

Does anyone know of one that may be on the horizon? (fingers crossed)

Thanks!

[Malacandra]

Not built in, but for $20 you get Typango: works great as a thumb keyboard.

www.previsionary.com

Whaddya think?

[gadgetboy]

Well, that's an interesting way of going about it! It would certainly be easier to type on that than on the default on-screen keyboard.

However, it doesn't look like the interface for moving the text between the keyboard application and other programs is ideal. IMHO, this should be a real SIP so that it automatically integrates with all other applications.

Malacandra, do you use this? What do you think of it?

Have other people used this? Opinions?

It's too bad there isn't a demo version of the software. I'd certainly like to try it out, but don't really want to buy it and then discover it won't work for me.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Jason Dunn]

What Pocket PC do you have? I have a snap-on keyboard for the Jornada and love it, and there's two for the iPAQ. So they certainly do exist....

[gadgetboy]

I have an iPAQ 3630, so I could do a snap-on, but what I would really like is an integrated keyboard like on the Zaurus or Handspring Treo.

I realize this adds a little bit of bulk, but on the Zaurus it is barely noticeable (both it and the iPAQ fit in my pocket about the same).

The reason I am keen on it being integrated is I don't want to add any more bulk to the existing device (it seems that the snap-on keyboards for iPAQ require the sleeve to be attached and extend the length of the device?), and I also don't want to have to remember to drag the keyboard around as an additional 'accessory'. If the 'peripheral' isn't a native part of the PDA, I inevitably don't have it when I need it. :D

How much additional bulk do the iPAQ thumb keyboards add? Which one is the best in people's opinions?


Thanks!

[Brad Adrian]

Of the designs I've seen, the one thumb-board system that it the most streamlined is the Jornada 56X with the add-on board. It replaces the flip-up cover and does not really extend the overall length of the device much at all, not nearly as much as other snap-on ones.

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/jornadathumb.gif

[topps]

I know lots of people complain about the small keys on these keyboards, but the size really hasn't bothered me that much. I have always had bad luck with text input on PDAs; I have atrocious handwriting, and I don't do well with the stylus and on-screen keyboard either. But with my thumbs and the built-in keyboard, I can really fly!

I had a contest with a couple of my friends - one of them used the Letter Recognizer, one used the on-screen keyboard, and I used the Zaurus keyboard. They were pretty convinced they would be able to keep up with me.

Results: I could easily enter text 2-3 times faster than them, and when we examined the input for errors, mine had 0-1 errors, while theirs typically had 4-5.

In short, I am sold on the built-in keyboard.



Try the Fitaly SIP - much faster than regular Qwerty. Typically 2x for most of my users. I am faster on Fitaly than I am with thumbs.

But why have a built-in one? This means you have more bulk all the time. If you have it as add-on then can use it or leave it depending on situation.

I "grew up" with HPCs, the HP100LX, and devices previous to this, which all had keyboards. I used to find the same as you...speed is bound to be better with two thumbs than with one pen...until I got good with Fitaly. The combination of macros, sliding, gestures, etc make this a really powerful input method.

What's your input speed with thumbs? Have you timed it? We tested our users. My user tests have showed:

8-20 words per minute with Graffiti
7-18 wpm with Qwerty SIP
12-25 wpm with Thumb keyboards
18-44wpm with Fitaly

Being able to create macros for commonly entered strings such as

"http://", my email address, my email signature (yes, they can be multiline), today's date, common url's, expanding abbreviations into full names etc.

all make this very powerful.

Is there macro software available for use with keyboards (any sort...Targus, thumb, SIP) that can do this latter stuff? I have not seen any but would be interested in hearing if there is. There are phrase insertion utilities, like the one from Agenda, but I have not found them to be as well integrated - takes too long to bring up the alternative SIP and find the phrase.

[Malacandra]

Well, that's an interesting way of going about it! It would certainly be easier to type on that than on the default on-screen keyboard.

However, it doesn't look like the interface for moving the text between the keyboard application and other programs is ideal. IMHO, this should be a real SIP so that it automatically integrates with all other applications.

Malacandra, do you use this? What do you think of it?

Have other people used this? Opinions?

It's too bad there isn't a demo version of the software. I'd certainly like to try it out, but don't really want to buy it and then discover it won't work for me.

Thanks for the suggestion!


As for the interface, it is a cut and paste step. When you exit the keyboard itself, you go to an editing screen. You can clear, cut, paste, or change the keyboard skin. If you simply Exit, whatever's there will be put on the clipboard (so you don't have to actually cut or copy). Then you just paste into the program. I would say that this step is balanced by the fact that the keyboard is on the PPC and not a hardware extra. Sorry, no thumboard can beat that!

I use it frequently. My preferred method is with my two index fingers, and accuracy is probably a little less than a hardware thumboard, since you can hit the wrong keys by touching sideways, but again, for price and size, that's outweighed.

I don't know why they don't have a demo version. That's dumb. But, I took the plunge and haven't regretted it.

There's a review of it at www.pocketpcaddict.com Check the top left column.