Database Develop

Touch Screen Typing

Hi all
I am thinking of getting this phone when it is released in the uk. but i really only have one issue which i want your opinions on, and that is whats the typing like on the screen (i use a iphone at the mo and its really good) has anyone used both, if so are they the same.
any help on this would be great
Many thanks
Neel

No, they're not the same. With diamond it's quite pointless to type without stylus, because you'll make too many mistakes. I use full qwerty keyboard and stylus, works well.

I to have both an iPhone and a Diamond and I can confirm that they're definitly not the same. The iphone is a lot better when typing, part of that comes from the larger screen but also the sensitivity. If you require typing a lot, I'd stick with the iphone or get a device that has a HW keyboard. Such as the upcoming touch pro.

omegaz said:
No, they're not the same. With diamond it's quite pointless to type without stylus, because you'll make too many mistakes. I use full qwerty keyboard and stylus, works well.
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Click to collapse
I type without the styles, using full qwerty and that works fine for me. It also helps to do some registry tweaks on pressure settings of the touch screen. The iphone's touch interface is more responsive though.

I use the compact qwerty with T9 activated and I find it quicker than using my previous phone (Nokia N73).
I have the ipod touch and I am not able to write with just one hand on it, and that bugs me... but with the diamond I can type with just one hand and the compact qwerty (2 letters per buttom). I think it's just a personal preference...

First of all the Diamond has been officially released in the UK for about a good week or so....i have one.
Secondly i use the full qwerty keyboard and have absolutely no trouble typing withmy fingers...in fact its great. I use the stylus as well and it works well too.
I have an ipod touch and i find typing on that to be a chore, i make way too many mistakes on the ipod touch compared to the Diamond.
If you buy the phone then make sure you do the tweaks listed in the tweak thread or better still flash to the TLR rom and all thos tweaks above are enabled.
Typing on the Diamond is a joy, typing on the ipod touch isnt in my opinion.

Spawn12 said:
Typing on the Diamond is a joy, typing on the ipod touch isnt in my opinion.
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I have to agree - coming from an iPhone to a Diamond, I find the Diamond much better. I NEVER use the stylus at all and type with the full QUERTY. Its much quicker as all the symbols and numbers can be typed by holding another key for a few seconds rather than entering a new menu to do it.
I haven't adjusted the sensitivity at all, but I do find the Diamond needs a slightly harder touch... however it does work with a pair of gloves on (unlike the iPhone).
The only dissapointing thing with the Diamond typing that Apple have nailed is that if you're typing a word and press the key next to the one you want by mistake it doesnt auto correct it. If you press the wrong key on the Diamond, you just get the wrong word!

p3eps said:
The only dissapointing thing with the Diamond typing that Apple have nailed is that if you're typing a word and press the key next to the one you want by mistake it doesnt auto correct it. If you press the wrong key on the Diamond, you just get the wrong word!
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I guess it will be just a metter of time until someone will figure out a software with the same capabilities as the one from iphone
HastaSSSS

s1rl4ncel0t said:
I guess it will be just a metter of time until someone will figure out a software with the same capabilities as the one from iphone
HastaSSSS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not going to be fully possible. Hardware wise, the iPhone has a proximity sensor which will detect where your thumb/finger is going to hit on the onscreen keyboard and virtually enlarges the surface area of the suggested key to ensure that you are going to hit the correct key. It will also auto-correct the word based on it's huge library.
In addition to this is the obvious size of the screens, the Diamond's being smaller making it harder to type. The onscreen full QWERTY that HTC have implemented in the Diamond is quite poor and is prone to keystroke errors if you're a fast typer *like myself*.
I am currently using PCM Keyboard however and is somewhat 'closer' to that of the iPhone's keyboard capability, where the included dictionary will analyze the keystrokes of a word you type and will try match your keystrokes with the closest/most suited word in its dictionary by substituting incorrect letters with more correct letters surrounding that of the incorrectly entered key.
The iPhone keyboard, is without a doubt, the best onscreen keyboard I have used and I really do miss it. This doesn't go without saying that I do really love my Diamond too, I just wish there was a better keyboard implemented.

The iPhone/Touch is hands down better than any Windows Mobile device when it comes to the onscreen software keyboard. There is simply no comparison. I get that some people find the Diamond better but to be honest, and coming from a hardcore WiMo fan who's gone through at least ten PocketPC devices, the iPhone's keyboard blows any WiMo device away.
Part of the reason is the size of the keyboard and the sensitivity, but even on the HTC Universal with its huge screen, it wasn't as easy as typing on the iPhone. The real secret of the iPhone's ease of use is its Autocorrection feature. To date, there is only one SIP keyboard on WiMo that comes close and it is not PCM Keyboard, it's Touch Pal.
I recommend giving Touchpal a try; it does key proximity sensing the same way the iPhone does, so if you type in "hrllo" it will change it to "hello" after you press the space bar. The dictionary though is bigger and offers more word choices, and isn't as smart as the iPhone's so the iPhone keyboard is still overall better. But Touch Pal isn't half bad.

suggest you check the dates on this thread your nearly 11 months late answering!! lol

Phone keypad and T9 seems about as fast as my old Nokia
Love it.

Best keyboard when not using QWERTY?

Hi, i'd like to know which keyboard do you use when you dont use de qwerty one. Ive seen some CAB files but i really dont know "which one is better". I think its about taste, but that why i ask you all, to know which one do you all use so i can "think" about which one will i use
thank you very much!!!!

I use sometimes fingertouch and sometimes default WM one.....

i'd say "FingerKeyb 2.1" is the best one so far... It's free, it's good, it's even customizable (just a bonus, not necessary) x1 has wvga-resolution, download the right cab!
Ezinput is even better (made by HTC), but it messes up the hw-keyboard, makes it unusable. there are others like SPB etc, but they're not free and definitely not better than FingerKeyb.
one problem they all share is the small screen of the x1, unless you have really really tiny hands.

Well, I never use software keyboard in landscape. In portrait I use the default WinMo one haha. I have the SPB keyboard as well, but it is kinda ugly. From time to time the Bulgarian keyboard is pretty useful. The Resco keyboard is very nice too.
The XT9 keyboard is good for landscape and portrait. Um.. I have one called "fullscreen keyboard", but I don't remember where I got it from lol.

orelsi said:
In portrait I use the default WinMo one haha.
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That's like me. Even if it's small, has the best functionality.
Always come back to it. And it supports gestures!!

caliban2 said:
i'd say "FingerKeyb 2.1" is the best one so far... It's free, it's good, it's even customizable (just a bonus, not necessary) x1 has wvga-resolution, download the right cab!
Ezinput is even better (made by HTC), but it messes up the hw-keyboard, makes it unusable. there are others like SPB etc, but they're not free and definitely not better than FingerKeyb.
one problem they all share is the small screen of the x1, unless you have really really tiny hands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This on is fantastic but has one big flaw:
once you have it, you cannot enter any other keyb. or handwriting.
Bad.

doministry said:
This on is fantastic but has one big flaw:
once you have it, you cannot enter any other keyb. or handwriting.
Bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true, u can still install CE star, it has handwriting capabilities which can work for English characters. Does anyone know of the new EZ input keyboard which Agent_47 used to package in his manila 2.5 rom? It looks real good and was large enough, but pretty laggy. Does anyone have the cab? I want see if its laggy on a non manila 2.5 rom

XT9
Try this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=494026
It has large finger-friendly keys and allows for fast text entry with the feel of the old-style phone keypad.

doministry said:
That's like me. Even if it's small, has the best functionality.
Always come back to it. And it supports gestures!!
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Click to collapse
Gestures ftw!!!

angusrouse said:
Try this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=494026
It has large finger-friendly keys and allows for fast text entry with the feel of the old-style phone keypad.
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Click to collapse
Yep, xt9 is my choice too. It has t9, doesn't mess up with hw keyboard and has really big (virtual) buttons.

dadeadman said:
Not true, u can still install CE star, it has handwriting capabilities which can work for English characters. Does anyone know of the new EZ input keyboard which Agent_47 used to package in his manila 2.5 rom? It looks real good and was large enough, but pretty laggy. Does anyone have the cab? I want see if its laggy on a non manila 2.5 rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, I'm not talking about CE Star
but the whole input menu gets covered so you cannot use
anything else.

I got Fingerbeyboard and HTC Touchit keyboards, and finally i chose fingerkeyboard
thank you all for your answers !!!

I'm an XT9 user too. (Used SKTools to force it to be the dafualt on rebooting so I didn't hve to keep changing from the std one).

doministry said:
True, I'm not talking about CE Star
but the whole input menu gets covered so you cannot use
anything else.
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Click to collapse
do you mean the sip selector? (tiny triangle at bottom of screen- i think!!)
if so, in fingerkeyboard settings, in the 'options' tab you can choose to 'show bar' in portrait or landscape. this will then will allow you to use the sip selector, and also the soft keys
fingerkeyboard and softtouch maxkeys gets my vote

spb keyboard. its a really nice keyboard, easy to write with. also has options to add vibrations when u touch a key if u like that sort of thing.

Alternative Keyboard Apps

I'm struggling to type SMS messages on the HD2 key. It is always full of errors because I have not gotten use to this keyboard. I previously used the Iphone 3G and my experience wasn't this bad, even though the 3G doesn't have a keyboard either. I am looking a keyboard "app" that will be more responsive and less prone to errors like the HD2.
Also, which method is best for typing on the HD2 keyboard - with one hand or two hands? Thanks.

keyboard app
Look for Swype for hd2

Yea, if your really struggling with the keyboard then try out swype, it works incredibly well. I had alot of trouble with the HD2 keyboard because up until now I've had resistive screens in my phones and have always loathed t9 prediction, even on my old candybar phones it was always off and I preferred being able to hack out a txt without even looking at the screen. However on my HD2 I have t9 on, and have "correct as i type" enabled, so even if I miss a key here and there the predictive makes up for it and I now prefer it to the swype option.
Also download BSB tweeks from this site, reducing the sensitivity of the screen with that helps a whole lot.

Anyone else love thr stock Froyo keyboard?

Hey guys,
I was wondering if anyone else really liked the new stock IME included in Froyo.
I tried swype, SwiftKeys and the Htc IME, but I just keep coming back to the stock froyo keyboard.
With the new two rows of pop-up keys and the ease of switching languages, I find it to be the easiest to use. Definitely more intelligent than the iPhone keyboard.
Only problem I have when compared to typing on the iPhone is that it will miss keys if I type too fast, but all the ime I've tried do that. It's likely more of a touchscreen issue there.
Just curious if other people were enjoying it as well.
The one problem I have is the fact that it doesn't support the Canadian French keyboard layout. Typing in azerty is just terrible! Lots of bug reports in to Google on that point, but no movement yet.

if swype didn't cut it I really don't know what will, smart keyboard is really good and fast try it if you haven't already.
and to answer your question, I honestly loath it. but you see that's the beauty of android, if you don't like anything just change it lol.

I keep coming back to it also, does exactly what I want it too and is easy to use, used swype on my old windows mobile phone but see no need for it here. the text predicition means I rarely type near the full word.

In portrait mode I use swype, while in landscape mode I use the stock keyboard. Does anyone know any light half-qwerty keyboard for portrait use? I tried HTC_IME but it had that little bug that wouldn't register the word "IF". I wonder if it still exists in the latest version. Also is there an original HTC_IME lying around somewhere? I want something light and not as heavy as the modded one.

Tried Swype once.. not for me.
Been on stock ever since coz it's allright...

I can't get away from the HTC IME keyboard cause it has T9 standard keypad, and I'm just so much faster typing on that.

Tried Swype a while ago. But since FroYo I've been very happy with stock...Especially in landscape.

hadge said:
Hey guys,
I was wondering if anyone else really liked the new stock IME included in Froyo.
I tried swype, SwiftKeys and the Htc IME, but I just keep coming back to the stock froyo keyboard.
With the new two rows of pop-up keys and the ease of switching languages, I find it to be the easiest to use. Definitely more intelligent than the iPhone keyboard.
Only problem I have when compared to typing on the iPhone is that it will miss keys if I type too fast, but all the ime I've tried do that. It's likely more of a touchscreen issue there.
Just curious if other people were enjoying it as well.
The one problem I have is the fact that it doesn't support the Canadian French keyboard layout. Typing in azerty is just terrible! Lots of bug reports in to Google on that point, but no movement yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like it. I use HTC ime too but I use stock alot. The reason you're more accurate on iPhone is probably because of its genius unseen system whereby it predicts the next letter you're going to type and resizes all of the keys' pressable areas based on the odds they will be selected. The greater the odds the bigger the pressing area. If the stock android KB implemented that it would be perfect. Thick keys is similar but not very good so I'm guessing there might not be a copyright issue. I know android indicated its awareness that the android kb needs a lot of work so maybe gingerbread will bring some enhancements...

[Q] Standard Keyboard (NumberPad Keyboard) for WP7 (Swype alternative)

Hi Guys!
I´m terribly searching for some keyboard alternatives for WP7, but it seems like there aren´t any alternatives at the moment, right?
I would really appreciate the development of a standard (12 Button) Keyboard like it was implemented in WM 6.1 - 6.5 and is implented in every Android build, on which each button represents 3 or 4 signs. In my personal experience writing goes damn fast (with one hand...for me, it´s even faster than swype) on such a keyboard, even while walking, cycling or driving (yeeeea I know, don´t type and drive... ). I used such a keyboard also with WM 6.5 and Android...(the shown pics are just some (to be honest: not very good) examples to show what I mean)
The keyboard implemented in WP7 is quite okay, but the buttons are really small (at least this depends on how thick your fingers are?! ) and it is impossible for me to type in a comfortable way while I´m walking ...
what do you guys think? are there any solutions/will there be such a layout in near future?

hello,
im looking for the phone keyboard too with T9 , im much much faster on phomne keyboard would be good if anyone can add this on wp7
regards

Same for me... the keyboard in wp7 is not bad, but on wm6.5 with swipe or T9 it was much faster to write a message.
Anyone an idea?

I'm not sure this is an area that will see any change in the short term. Microsoft seem keen to keep this locked down like the iPhone.

*grrr*...that´s really kind of sad...I´m really not comfortable with the native keyboard. But hope dies last

You can't change the keyboard on WP7. Microsoft is not allowing it. I don't believe anybody has found a way to do it either.

nightryder21 said:
You can't change the keyboard on WP7. Microsoft is not allowing it. I don't believe anybody has found a way to do it either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Arguably you should add '...yet' to the above statement, although Apple have retained their policy of not allowing alternative keyboards.
A Google search suggests there is no obvious activity around Swype and WP7 and while there are a few things around suggesting that Dasur (SlideIT) were looking to release a WP7 version of their keyboard, there is nothing obvious to support this on their website.
They may have had information from MS that they are not opening up the keyboard? Or maybe it's in development...?

Any news here?