Virtual Keyboard: A Tangled Web Gets Stickier

[Pat Logsdon]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://smartmobileassets.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?,v=display,b=news,m=1088548614' target='_blank'>http://smartmobileassets.com/cgi-bi...ws,m=1088548614</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_20040512_ibiz.jpg" /><br /><br />Ok, let's recap, shall we? I posted <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27907&highlight=ibiz">the news</a> last month that iBIZ was not able to sell their Virtual Keyboard because they didn't get proper certification. It looked like the Virtual Keyboard was just that - virtual. Fast forward a few weeks, and we have RobertS over at smartmobileassets.com <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29344&start=0">digging up</a> some "disturbing information". Then Dave of Dave's iPAQ actually <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29387&start=0">gets his hands on one,</a> reviews it, and likes it. Not so virtual, then - maybe the rest of us will be able to buy one soon? <br /><br />Not so fast, compadre. RobertS over at smartmobileassets.com has done some MORE digging and has unearthed some interesting artifacts. Multiple lawsuits, shell companies, SEC investigations, licensing deals gone wrong, <a href="ftp://members.aol.com/dgresh2/ghostbusters/disaster.wav">dogs and cats living together,</a> etc. I fully expect someone in this whole mess to pop up and say that he's a vampire, or that his mother is really his aunt, but that doesn't matter because he REALLY loves Esmerelda, even though Esmerelda killed the baby he had with Janet in a tragic blimp accident. For those of you missing the Sarcasm Gene, this whole thing <i>reeks</i> of Soap Opera. :roll: While it's all very interesting to read about, I think this only makes it increasingly unlikely that the Virtual Keyboard will be released any time soon. What's your take?

[foldedspace]

I open the bidding for Dave's test model at 50 dollars.

;)

[corphack]

I bid 100 iBIZ-bucks...to be delivered as soon as the IRS and the US Treasury certify the bills, and as soon as the infra-red ink used to print the bills, dries...

does anyone smell smoke, or vapor?

[rmasinag]

the sucker works! why not some other company do a hostile takover of the technology so the rest of us can actually buy it! :D
Better yet add BT connectivity, assuming WIDCOM BT stack of course.

[jkendrick]

iBIZ- we put the virtual in keyboard.

[Ed Hansberry]

While it's all very interesting to read about, I think this only makes it increasingly unlikely that the Virtual Keyboard will be released any time soon. What's your take?I don't even care, but I love your post. :rotfl:

[Chris Spera]

I used to do Regulatory Affairs for a Medical Device Company. If they didn't get regulatory clearance for the laser, getting it AFTER the fact is nearly impossible. It can happen, but you have to beg for the privilage to beg forgivness.

Its very difficult, and while it can happen, its quite painful. Add the SEC, the IRS 2 patent clerks, a couple of monkeys and the Staf Fleet Trainee you have here, and its the biggest mongolian cluster ***k you've ever seen.

So much for the Virtual Keyboard. I doubt that anyone would be able to do a hostle take over of the company. Who would want to?!? You'd inheirit the headaches, too.

[rbrome]

Wild.... Well, iBIZ sounds screwed, but the technology is real. I've used various versions of this at three different trade shows this year. I tried the Panasonic one at CES, the Siemens one at CTIA, and the Samsung at CommunicAsia.

They all work about the same: okay, but not great. It's clearly all the same technology inside... or else someone is seriously infringing on someone else's patents, because they look the same to me.

With so many major companies licensing this, (from... whoever,) I have to believe someone will eventually bring it to market. Just not iBIZ, it seems.

[arebelspy]

How about no more posts on this until it's actually new again (gone for good, company folds, or actually SHIPPING.. and not just them saying it's shipping)? :D ;)

-arebelspy

[heliod]

Just read last week in a newsletter that Samsung is releasing it in Asia under their own brand. They have demonstrated it in CommunicAsia, and are getting ready for the launch.

A quick google search for samsung and "virtual keyboard" brought me this link that tells the same that I read:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/3237024145734446/

So something is happening in parallel, since according to the picture it is exactly the same device.

[Janak Parekh]

So something is happening in parallel, since according to the picture it is exactly the same device.
If I've understood correctly, an Israeli company developed the original device - perhaps they're licensing it to various partners initially. Hey Helio, if you get a chance, maybe you should look them up. ;)

--janak

[bjornkeizers]

Its very difficult, and while it can happen, its quite painful. Add the SEC, the IRS 2 patent clerks, a couple of monkeys and the Staf Fleet Trainee you have here, and its the biggest mongolian cluster ***k you've ever seen..

My sentiments exactly. What worries me is: we probably don't even know the half of it.

Even if the company releases the keyboard, I would never buy it - from them. If say... Samsung, Belkin, Trust or even Microsoft released it, I'd buy two, but from them?.... I don't have any faith whatsoever in Ibiz.

[heliod]

So something is happening in parallel, since according to the picture it is exactly the same device.
If I've understood correctly, an Israeli company developed the original device - perhaps they're licensing it to various partners initially. Hey Helio, if you get a chance, maybe you should look them up. ;)

--janak

I've met them in CEBIT 2002, when they first demonstrated the product. Two guys that had no money even to rent a booth at the main fair, so they rented a small office at the Administration offices and were bringing potential investors there for demos. That was the HIT of the show, I am not kidding. They have let people play with it, with our own hands, and the technology worked flawlessly back then.

After I came back from CEBIT, two years went by and I lost track of these guys. Right now it is difficult to find them, and although I am trying I am not optimistic about it.

[TheZodiac]

I think the second paragraph of this article it kick ass. And me admitting this is insane as it is. So, there you have it - in a nutshell.

Thank you.

[burtman007]

I remember seeing "The Screen Savers" review this back in May. They had a working prototype on the show. Man, did it suck-didly-uck.

http://www.g4techtv.com/feature.aspx?article_key=46944

[MRNUTTY]

the fact that the 'keyboard' is red makes the whole thing worthless for colorblind people like me. i've bought my share of colorcoded 'junk'. i'm glad this thing passes over. now, if it was BLUE, then i would care.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Heck, I'm interested in it for the entertainment value if nothing else. :lol:

I'll believe it when I see it.

Cute Avatar btw MrNutty. 8)

[Ed Hansberry]

the fact that the 'keyboard' is red makes the whole thing worthless for colorblind people like me. i've bought my share of colorcoded 'junk'. i'm glad this thing passes over. now, if it was BLUE, then i would care.Wow. I cannot stand blue. It is too blury for me. My Nokia 3650 is almost worthless at night for SMS because of it.

[Pat Logsdon]

the fact that the 'keyboard' is red makes the whole thing worthless for colorblind people like me. i've bought my share of colorcoded 'junk'. i'm glad this thing passes over. now, if it was BLUE, then i would care.Wow. I cannot stand blue. It is too blury for me. My Nokia 3650 is almost worthless at night for SMS because of it.
My dad is color blind, and if I remember correctly, red is whitish, but blue is closer to actual blue/black. A white keyboard would be a bit annoying.

[Pony99CA]

So something is happening in parallel, since according to the picture it is exactly the same device.
If I've understood correctly, an Israeli company developed the original device - perhaps they're licensing it to various partners initially. Hey Helio, if you get a chance, maybe you should look them up. ;)
You don't really need to look them up -- I posted a link to VKB, Inc. (http://www.vkb-tech.com/default.asp) in the "Strange Days At iBIZ" thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29344). ;-) They're based in California with an R&D center in Israel.

Steve

[dazz]

I received an e-mail from Jonathan Curtiss, President of VKB Inc. and will be speaking with him on Monday.

In the meantime he said this in his e-mail:

"VKB Inc is an honorable company that granted a license to Pangea (Enterprise Capital) on a limited and non-exclusive basis. iBiz was to be a distributor of the Pangea product a relationship which is now subject to a law suit, from iBiz against Pangea (Enterprise Capital)."

To me, this sounds like VKB would like to point out the distance between themselves and iBiz.

I'll post to the site after speaking with him on Monday. At this point I will be glad to put this to rest and move on. :)

[Janak Parekh]

You don't really need to look them up -- I posted a link to VKB, Inc. (http://www.vkb-tech.com/default.asp) in the "Strange Days At iBIZ" thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29344). ;-) They're based in California with an R&D center in Israel.
I didn't mean lookup literally - I meant to get in touch with the guys and see how they're dealing with the situation over there. The California bit is interesting, though... maybe we should contact them. Pat, got some spare time? You seem to be on top of the case... ;)

--janak

[MRNUTTY]

the fact that the 'keyboard' is red makes the whole thing worthless for colorblind people like me. i've bought my share of colorcoded 'junk'. i'm glad this thing passes over. now, if it was BLUE, then i would care.Wow. I cannot stand blue. It is too blury for me. My Nokia 3650 is almost worthless at night for SMS because of it.
My dad is color blind, and if I remember correctly, red is whitish, but blue is closer to actual blue/black. A white keyboard would be a bit annoying.


hmm, i guess i was being a bit of a chauvinist... i'm red/green blind, there are other types of color blindness.

here you can see if you are too!

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/8833/coloreye.html

[Pat Logsdon]

You don't really need to look them up -- I posted a link to VKB, Inc. (http://www.vkb-tech.com/default.asp) in the "Strange Days At iBIZ" thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29344). ;-) They're based in California with an R&D center in Israel.
I didn't mean lookup literally - I meant to get in touch with the guys and see how they're dealing with the situation over there. The California bit is interesting, though... maybe we should contact them. Pat, got some spare time? You seem to be on top of the case... ;)
While I do have SOME spare time, I'm not sure I can swing the 6 hours to drive the ~400 miles to pop by... :mrgreen:

Plus, I have the feeling that it might be difficult to locate their offices... :wink:

[Jonathon Watkins]

Plus, I have the feeling that it might be difficult to locate their offices... :wink:

:lol: Cynic!

[HandHeldHeaven]

Oooo! Another spin-off from virtual keyboard technology?

"The Equinox chip resolves a scene into pixels, as does an ordinary camera chip; but instead of simply providing the brightness of each pixel, Equinox also provides the distance from each picture element to the sensor chip. In effect, this renders the scene into three-dimensional objects that are easily processed by computing chips in devices such as cell phones or PDAs." from www.eet.com

Full story: www.eet.com/at/im/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=26806416

Looks like there's money to be made in 3D vision sensors, maybe they'll even be released! :?