PDAMill's TopKey -- a better way to key? [Archive]

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Don Tolson

06-11-2003, 07:00 PM

Looking for a new way to share your knowledge with your Pocket PC? PDAMill provides TopKey - a alternative input method, similar to the soft keyboard provided in the Pocket PC O/S, but with customizable skins and keyboard layouts. It may not be for everyone, but if you use the soft keyboard, TopKey looks more professional and has some neat features. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/don-may03-topkey-0.gif" /> <!> Although the soft keyboard is not my primary method of input, I occassionally use it when I can’t use my thumb keyboard. The keyboard provided in the Pocket PC 2002 operating system is OK, but it looks utilitarian and lacks polish. It’s also not customizable, so you’re basically stuck with it. PDAMill’s TopKey gives you a much more professional-looking alternative which has extensive customization abilities. Not only can you change the layout of the keyboard, but you can also select from one of four pre-defined skins to change the overall look of the keyboard. PDAMill expects to have a skin editor available soon which will allow users to create their own looks. Coupled with the ability to support characters from multiple languanges, and an intelligent predictive-input engine, TopKey becomes a very worthy replacement for the soft keyboard. Installation Installation of TopKey is fairly straight-forward, using the ActiveSync Remove/Add Programs facility. It requires 974K of memory and normally installs to main memory. Note: After it has finished installing, TopKey will present a message on the Pocket PC saying that a soft reset is required before it can be used. Tapping OK on this message causes an immediate soft-reset of your machine. This was a little startling the first time I saw it. I think maybe the message needs to be reworded to warn that this is actually going to happen. It is possible to install TopKey to a CF card, but I found that when I did this, I got a message saying that the .CAB file was not valid. After tapping OK, the installation seemed to proceed normally (including the soft reset) and the software behaved normally. I did notice, however, that switching between keyboards was noticeably slower when running from the CF card. DUMMY ALERT! – if you install TopKey to your CF card, don’t take the card out if you expect to use TopKey for input :oops: Not thinking, I switched out my memory card and got a nasty message saying that there was a linkage missing when I tried to input a new task. :iamwithstupid: Using TopKey After installation, TopKey simply becomes another one of the input options available for your Pocket PC. You activate it from the Input menu in the bottom right corner of the screen. TopKey’s keyboard takes up about 1 or 2mm more vertical space than the soft keyboard provided with the O/S, so there may be some overlap of buttons, etc. on applications who are tight on space. Input sensitivity seems the same as the regular keyboard, and visual feedback is provided for key taps. It’s a little subtle on some of the skins (e.g. ‘Black’ simply changes the key to something that looks like it’s been pressed), so you may miss it. I also found the black keyboard difficult to read in outdoor lighting. There are four default skins provided with TopKey. Here’s what they look like: <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/don-may03-topkey-1.gif" /> Figure 1: TopKey keyboard skins The skin editor (to let you create your own keyboard looks) wasn’t ready yet at the time of this review, but PDAMill says it should be available shortly. Switching keyboard layouts in TopKey is very easy. You tap the Language Abbreviation key in the bottom left of the keyboard and layout shortcut buttons are displayed along the top of the keyboard. Simply select one of these to switch to the new layout. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/don-may03-topkey-2.gif" /> Figure 2: Language Abbreviation Key and Layout Shortcuts The Layout Shortcut keys are customizeable, and I really appreciated the fact that I could use characters from any one of the layouts in my documents. It was like having up to six different character sets available at once! As PDAMill notes in the documentation, some languages (e.g. Hebrew) will require additional fonts to be installed on your Pocket PC. Predicting the Future The predictive response feature of TopKey is similar to that provided by the Pocket PC O/S, but it is limited to only three words. (The O/S version allows up to four words) It seems to ‘learn’ much faster though, because within about three minutes of use, it was already guessing my name and user-ids (which I use frequently), whereas the O/S version has never cottoned on to these. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/don-may03-topkey-3.gif" /> Figure 3: TopKey Predictive Response TopKey also provides stylus gestures (similar to those in the O/S version), but adds Backspace and Enter. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/don-may03-topkey-4.gif" /> Figure 4: TopKey Stylus Gestures Not being a power user of the soft keyboard, I didn’t find these particularly useful as shortcuts. It was just as easy to tap the appropriate keys. Customizing TopKey Customizability is one of TopKey’s strong suits. As with any of the input methods, you access the options using the Options section from the Input selection menu in the bottom right of the screen, or from Start/Settings/Input. Once TopKey is selected as the input method, an Options… button appears. Tapping this button takes you to the customization screen for TopKey. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/don-may03-topkey-5.gif" /> Figure 5: TopKey Customization The top section lets you select which language layouts will be available on your shortcuts (only six are allowed), while the bottom section lets you select the font style (normal or bold) and size of letters on the keyboard, and the skin for the keyboard. Tapping the Layout editor button takes you to the screen where you can rearrange or replace any of the keys on the keyboard with any character from any font, then save the result to an existing or new keyboard layout. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/don-may03-topkey-6.gif" /> Figure 6: Keyboard Layout Editor Gotchas TopKey only really surprised me during installation. I don’t particularly like the fact it ‘forces’ a soft reset after installation. It think the message either needs to be reworded or the functionality changed to allow the user an option to do the reset later. I’m also not sure about that message saying that the .cab file was invalid. Also, be forewarned that TopKey does not remove easily. On my HP J568, the O/S Remove function was unable to complete until after I had done a soft reset, and then I still had to go in by hand, using the File Explorer, to remove TopKey folders and files from the Program Files folder under Windows. Where to Buy Topkey v1.0 is available from <a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&platformId=2&productType=2&catalog=0&ionId=0&productId=65650"> Handango </a> for US$14.95. [Affiliate] You can get the full-featured application for a free 14-day trial period as well. Specifications TopKey should work on any Pocket PC running the Pocket PC 2002 operating system. I was not able to test it on earlier versions of the O/S. It requires approximately 974K of memory and can be installed to main memory or a CF card. The following keyboard layouts are provided with the product: Albanian, Azeri, Belgian, Bulgarian, Canadian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faeroese, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss (French), Swiss (German), Turkish, Ukrainian, US-Dvorak. According to the documentation, the predictive database works for English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. Conclusions Use of the soft keyboard is not a main input method for me, but TopKey’s more professional look, feel, and customizability certainly make it a much more useable tool that the one provided with the Pocket PC operating system. Its price puts it in the top range for utilities like this and might be a barrier for some.

Crystal Eitle

06-11-2003, 10:09 PM

This looks interesting. I'm always frustrated by how slow the PPC is to learn new words. I'll have to try this out.

sycamore

06-11-2003, 11:18 PM

This is great. I'm going to try customizing the keyboard to the Vietnamese character set (which is available as TTF fonts that you can schlop onto your PocketPC). Though with all the diacritical marks, I wonder if the keyboard will be able to link to a second page of vowel-only keys.

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

06-12-2003, 03:11 AM

I use JSKeyXTension to rekey Thai letters, but it doesn't have the skinning capability that this does and keying custom letters can be painful. I'll have to give this a try.

topps

06-12-2003, 04:07 AM

Looks interesting and promising...especially the enhanced ability to use gestures for Enter etc.

However, I doubt if I'll change from my current favourite, Fitaly (www.fitaly.com). Once you get used to the non-standard layout (which really does not take long), it is so much faster. As well as being better laid out for single tap entry with intelligent grouping of the most used keys, it also has extensive gesturing capability...

for example, to enter the phrase

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com

takes me 4 swipes, not 32 taps, because I pre-assigned http:// and .com and www. and pocketpcthoughts all to separate swipes. Because you can swipe in any direction, it makes this incredibly powerful - Fitaly will recognise far more swipes than I easily remember so I have only just tapped (groan) into its capabilities.

Will be interesting to play with the Dvorak layout on this program...but then Dvorak is optimised for 10 fingers, not for a single stylus.

dt

Janak Parekh

06-12-2003, 04:40 AM

However, I doubt if I'll change from my current favourite, Fitaly (www.fitaly.com). Once you get used to the non-standard layout (which really does not take long), it is so much faster. As well as being better laid out for single tap entry with intelligent grouping of the most used keys, it also has extensive gesturing capability...
Same here. I've finally gotten decent at it (not as fast as Jenneth, mind you). However, products like this are geared towards those who aren't ready to go through the Fitaly learning curve -- and there are quite a few of these people.

--janak

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

06-12-2003, 05:20 AM

However, I doubt if I'll change from my current favourite, Fitaly (www.fitaly.com). Once you get used to the non-standard layout (which really does not take long), it is so much faster. As well as being better laid out for single tap entry with intelligent grouping of the most used keys, it also has extensive gesturing capability...
For normal English input, I couldn't agree more. FITALY is king when it comes to speed.

However, for entry of foreign languages (especially those requiring a non-roman font set), this type of app can be quite valuable.

TopDog

06-12-2003, 07:39 AM

I've tried this soft keyboard, and it's great for us that have letters like ÆØÅæøå... try writing them with character recogniser... it's almost impossible!

The only drawback I found with TopKey is that it doesn't work with Terminal Services Client... but how many uses that?

BTW: If you're looking for a free soft keyboard that has ÆØÅæøå, look no further:
http://pdanorway.com/images/tastatur.gif
Download it here: http://pdanorway.com/downloads.htm

JimDantin

06-12-2003, 01:41 PM

:? OK, count me as confused --

I use the PocketPC 2002 soft keyboard as my normal input method. The backspace, enter, shift, and space gestures are standard features if you select the checkbox on the Settings...Input screen. It's not a new feature, just one that many people haven't discovered.

This feature was "revealed" to a bunch of us "old-timers" at a users' group meeting (PocketPC Louisville) by a new PocketPC owner who had actually read the manual!

If you haven't discovered this feature, give it a try -- it really speeds up keyboard input.

TopDog

06-12-2003, 02:35 PM

davidspalding

06-12-2003, 03:06 PM

I use the PocketPC 2002 soft keyboard as my normal input method. The backspace, enter, shift, and space gestures are standard features if you select the checkbox on the Settings...Input screen. It's not a new feature, just one that many people haven't discovered.Yes, but then you have to use "large keys" and that means loosing spesial characters like ÆØÅ as mentioned in my earlier post...
Negative. On my PPC2k unit, select the large keys option, check the box for the gestures, and then reselect the small key options again. Gestures still work. Unless they've "fixed" this wierdness in PPC2k2.

TopDog

06-12-2003, 03:32 PM

Negative. On my PPC2k unit, select the large keys option, check the box for the gestures, and then reselect the small key options again. Gestures still work. Unless they've "fixed" this wierdness in PPC2k2.You're right, I'm wrong... it actually works although it's "inactive" in options... :-)

Don Tolson

06-12-2003, 05:49 PM

As I mentioned in the article, the gestures are similar to ones provided by the soft keyboard in the O/S. The only difference is the addition of Enter and Backspace.

JimDantin

06-12-2003, 09:41 PM

Try the standard O/S-supplied keyboard guestures again -- the backspace and enter are there (at they are least on my Axim!)

Don Tolson

06-12-2003, 10:11 PM

Try the standard O/S-supplied keyboard guestures again -- the backspace and enter are there (at they are least on my Axim!)

You're absolutely right! :way to go: Sorry about that. I missed it somehow when I took a look at the options for the O/S keyboard.

ctmagnus

06-12-2003, 10:36 PM

After selecting Large Keys and Use gestures..., I may have found a new preferred input method. :way to go: And it's been right in front of me all along. :oops:

Nifty thing, though, is that if you use these two options you effectively get the full keyboard again, only in a much more usable format.

:alfdance:

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

06-26-2003, 09:09 PM

It appears that TopKey does not work with PPC2k3. I tried to the demo and when I select it as my SIP, the screen freezes forcing me to soft-boot.

Anyone with a registered version have a different experience? I'm looking for a way to input Thai characters, but my previous method (JSKeyXTension) is not well-supported.

ctmagnus

06-27-2003, 03:23 AM

After selecting Large Keys and Use gestures..., I may have found a new preferred input method. :way to go: And it's been right in front of me all along.

Nah, still second after Transcriber. Especially after reading the Transcriber help file. :mrgreen: I really prefer the natural-handwriting things but I'd spring for a physical keyboard if I could get my hands on the right one.

dblml320

07-07-2003, 07:54 PM

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

07-08-2003, 12:51 AM

I bought a copy of Topkey for my Toshiba e740 running pocketpc 2002. It installed fine, and shows up in the list of keyboards, but it will not come up when a keyboard is requested. I set it to be the default keyboard, but the default reverts back to standard keyboard immediately.

Anybody seen this problem?
What other SIPs are you running? Have you contacted PDAMill about the issue?

hkpocketpc

07-20-2003, 05:42 PM

I bought a copy of Topkey for my Toshiba e740 running pocketpc 2002. It installed fine, and shows up in the list of keyboards, but it will not come up when a keyboard is requested. I set it to be the default keyboard, but the default reverts back to standard keyboard immediately.

Anybody seen this problem?

I got the same problem. I have installed Resco Keyboard and Q9 (A chinese Input Method). Any hints? Would that be fixed in "PPC2003"

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

07-20-2003, 07:44 PM

I've seen this problem as well in the past. I've never had any problems selecting a keyboard after a soft-boot, but it seems that if you've been using the PPC for a bit wihtout a soft-boot then selecting some of the 3rd party SIPs can be a chore.

For me in particular, I always run into issues with FITALY and whatever 3rd party SIP I decide to use in conjunction. If I switch back and forth often-enough, I'll either get a lock-up at some point, or I just won't be able to invoke the keyboard desired. The default SIPs never seem to be an issue.

While I have an HP2215, I don't know yet if this would be an issue with WM2003 since very few of the 3rd party SIPs seem to be compatible with WM2003 at this time (FITALY works fine though).