Full Screen Keyboard 2.0 Public Beta

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/fsk2/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pro...fsk2/index.html</a><br /><br /></div>The popular Full Screen Keyboard from Spb Software House is now in a public beta for version 2.0. This largely re-written version adds several new features, including:<br /><br />• Word completion <br />• Customizable keypress sounds <br />• New SIP control<br />• New skins<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/pic04.gif" /><br /><br />You can <a href="http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/downloads/fsk/FullscreenKeyboard2_setup.exe">download the beta</a> and check it out. Feedback should be sent to "beta at softspb.com" (spam protected).

[Jonathon Watkins]

Very funky skins. Cool program. Only problem with Full Screen Keyboard when I tried it was getting finger oil on the screen when I used it. I guess I'll stick with learning FITALY for now....

[PacMan]

FWIW, I use version one and am very happy with it. It's perfect for those times when I want to input longer text. I don't want to bother with fitaly, etc., because those times aren't frequent enough to justify the learning curve. This is like using a thumb keyboard without having to carry it around.

Also, unlike other fullscreen software keyboard solutions, inserting text into a document is a single step solution rather than saving it to the clipboard and pasting. This keyboard shows up as an input option (like transcriber, calligrapher, etc.)

I look forward to the new version.

[nobody]

Very cool program. I always want to find out if only landscape mode is supported. Can the keyboard be vertical? I don't have to turn around my Pocket PC with portrait layout.

[murph]

Neat. Nice new skins too.

So far, so good. It is installed on my TMobile PPC:PE and it is working as expected. No SD Card issue...yet.

What about the "reverse" skins? The normal skins cause the PPC:PE antenna to be pointed against the palm of my hand. I prefer the reverse skins so I can slip the antenna between 2 fingers. It's more comfortable to me that way.

[smittyofdhs]

one word.... WOW!

So far much better then version 1 and it works good so far on PPCPE devices.

[sponge]

They're all images, so there's no reason reverse skins or portrait skins shouldn't be possible.

[dh]

I downloaded the trial of Full Screen Keyboard, Fitaly and Caligrapher, hoping to find the ideal input method. Coming from the Palm world I was using Block Recognizer but wanted something faster.

FSK didn't work for me, maybe my thumbs are too big but I didn't always get the character I wanted to. This was the main reason I didn't buy it.

With Caligrapher, I really wanted to love it and get it working. I tried hard but could never get the recognition to the level I wanted. It also seem to have a conflict issue with Textmaker which is very annoying. For the price, Caligrapher does not seem to really offer much (if anything) over Transcriber which is free.

So far Fitaly is the only one I have actually purchased. I can't get to the speed I want to, but I'm not having to constantly go back and make corrections.

I'm thinking that the Pocketop IR keyboard might be the next thing to try.

[k_kirk]

Will it be free upgrade to registered FSK 1.0 users?

As it is, I am unable to use FSK 1.0 on my XDA due to various bugs that have been beaten to death on this forum before and hope that this will be the long awaited 'free bug-fix' rather than a "pay to get bug-fix' disguised behind few new 'features' like the cool looking crocodile skin etc... :-)

[Jason Dunn]

Will it be free upgrade to registered FSK 1.0 users?

Hmm - we were supposed to have the upgrade text up on that page. Oops. Spb's upgrade policy, across all consumer-level applications, is that minor revisions (1.1, 1.4, etc.) are free. Major releases (2.0, 3.0, etc.) are 50% off retail prices for previous owners. That would make this about $5 to upgrade.

As it is, I am unable to use FSK 1.0 on my XDA due to various bugs that have been beaten to death on this forum before and hope that this will be the long awaited 'free bug-fix' rather than a "pay to get bug-fix' disguised behind few new 'features' like the cool looking crocodile skin etc... :-)

My first thought was "Why the heck can I use it on my XDA then?" :wink: , but if you honestly don't think the predictive text and other enhancements are worth $5, contact me privately and we'll work something out. Spb has put a lot of effort into this new version, and it's certainly not a "paid bug fix". Remember that the core problem you're complaining about is a core OS problem, and it's taken a lot of resources to work through.

Sincerely,

Jason Dunn
VP Marketing
Spb Software House

[k_kirk]

Jason,

Thanks for your prompt response. Other than the SD conflict which I was happy to live with, the get stuck in FSK issue which caused me many a resets was a reality. I know through posts on this forum that others also experienced this issue. If you have never seen this on your XDA then all I can say is that perhaps the Canadian version is immune...

I do value the hardwork put in by SPB. That's why I purchased SPB GPRS Monitor, FSK & Pocket Plus and considered SPB Quick for a long time (my vote & $$ went to Pocket Quicken there I'm afraid). I would not mind paying %50 for the new features either if I had a perfectly working v1.x and wanted to upgrade to v2.x for the sake of the new functionality. This is really a matter of principle than anything really. As it is while typing this note I am spending more than $5 worth of my productive time... ;-)

Lastly, If the issue being fixed is an OS issue do we know if this would be fixed by PPC2003 anyway? I know you can't talk about new features but given emulator is out already can you comment if FSK 1 runs fine on PPC PPC2003 emulator? Better yet does FSK 2 run on PPC2003?

Thanks for your kind offer. If I must pay I will pay the $5 rather than asking for behind the scenes gratitude. Perhaps SPB can consider the decision and give all XDA users a free upgrade (I think the issue was only affecting the XDA).

BTW, the beta locks up on my XDA as well. Who do I report this to?

[vassiliphilippov]

Can the keyboard be vertical? I don't have to turn around my Pocket PC with portrait layout.

Yes, it can be. It is a question of skin. Spb Full Screen Keyboard can be completely customized by skins. For example you can create a skin with vertical layout. We will try to create one but we have not decided about keyboard layout yet. It cannot be QWERTY because QWERTY will not fit in 240 pixels.

Vassili Philippov
Spb Software House

[vassiliphilippov]

What about the "reverse" skins? The normal skins cause the PPC:PE antenna to be pointed against the palm of my hand. I prefer the reverse skins so I can slip the antenna between 2 fingers. It's more comfortable to me that way.

We have just added rotated skins. You can download rotated skins for the following languages:
English
German
French
Italian

from:
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/fsk2/skins.html

Vassili Philippov
Spb Software House

[vassiliphilippov]

Major releases (2.0, 3.0, etc.) are 50% off retail prices for previous owners. That would make this about $5 to upgrade.


If the next major version is released within 30 days from your previous version purchase, you are entitled for a free upgrade.

Vassili Philippov
Spb Software House

[smittyofdhs]

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the same issue that plagued version 1 seems to appear in version 2. The issue is where the keyboard will not display when selected. I went to use it last night after the device had been off for a while, and the exact same issue would happen. I tried to select FSK and nothing happened. So I tried one of the other methods and they worked just fine. It actually got so bad that if I selected FSK in any 1 app, that app would become unusable after closing the app (in other words I could not restart the app). After a reboot, the issue went away. I've reproduced it one more time and the only factor that I can see that's similar is that if FSK wasn't the last used input method when the device shut down then the issue occurs. EXAMPLE: If I had used block recg. or keyboard last, power down the device, then power up the device (after a few hours) then try FSK, it would not work. Of course this could be a fluke, and not an issue but I thought I would mention it. I will continue to beta test and hopefully this will not occur again.

[Jason Dunn]

BTW, the beta locks up on my XDA as well. Who do I report this to?

Feedback should be sent to "beta at softspb.com".

Sincerely,

Jason Dunn
VP Marketing
Spb Software House

[Jason Dunn]

Thanks for your prompt response. Other than the SD conflict which I was happy to live with, the get stuck in FSK issue which caused me many a resets was a reality. I know through posts on this forum that others also experienced this issue. If you have never seen this on your XDA then all I can say is that perhaps the Canadian version is immune...

Ok, I just installed the FSK beta onto my fresh XDA (nothing else on it). I installed it into the default location (as all input methods are supposed to be), and after a soft reset, I was able to use the application to enter text in Pocket Internet Explorer, Contacts, and Pocket Word.

Can you describe the SD conflict? I'm not tech support, but I'd like to try and understand what the problem is.

Sincerely,

Jason Dunn
VP Marketing
Spb Software House

[Jason Dunn]

EXAMPLE: If I had used block recg. or keyboard last, power down the device, then power up the device (after a few hours) then try FSK, it would not work.

Thanks, I'll try to reproduce that.

Sincerely,

Jason Dunn
VP Marketing
Spb Software House

[smittyofdhs]

EXAMPLE: If I had used block recg. or keyboard last, power down the device, then power up the device (after a few hours) then try FSK, it would not work.

Thanks, I'll try to reproduce that.

Sincerely,

Jason Dunn
VP Marketing
Spb Software House

I actually just had it happen again, so I know it's not a fluke now.

[smittyofdhs]

well, after 24 hours of use my conclusion is that it still doesn't work. I'm so bummed because this is the one app I really wish I had for my PPCPE. Sames issues as version 1, if the device has been powered off for a while, when you go to use FSK it will not work, and a reboot is needed to fix it. I mentioned earlier that if you had FSK selected as the SIP before powering off seemed to help, but it doesn't. I've been beta testing this all morning and the app just plain does not work. I know this is beta AND I know that this issue is related to the OS, not the app. The bottom line is that it still does not work for PPCPE users. Hopefully before it goes gold, SPB can find a way to fix it but seeing as how the issue is rooted deep in the OS, I don't see any way possible this can be fixed.

[smittyofdhs]

.

Can you describe the SD conflict? I'm not tech support, but I'd like to try and understand what the problem is.

Sincerely,

Jason Dunn
VP Marketing
Spb Software House

the problem I think he's referring to is the SD card issue that happened with version 1. If you have an SD card in the slot during install or during reboot the app would not work. Quite honestly, it didn't matter if you had the SD card in or not, it still did not work right as it was found out later it was rooted in the OS and the way it handled SIPs and the memory manager.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Spb's upgrade policy, across all consumer-level applications, is that minor revisions (1.1, 1.4, etc.) are free. Major releases (2.0, 3.0, etc.) are 50% off retail prices for previous owners.

That seems fair, as long as the large revisions really are large revisions. (PowerQuest, we are looking at you! :?)

I've bought a few SPB software titles in the past, but I think I will hold off buying anything untill I know what new joys PPC 2003 brings. :wink:

[k_kirk]

Any updates on FSK 2.0? When can we expect this new version to be available? Thanks