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Help Bluetooth Keyboard for Droid - Faster Typing

I'm considering buying a keyboard that's compatible with keypro, but I have one big concern:
Is the driver compatible with the Japanese IME called Simeji? Simeji supports the Droid's hard keyboard (click the field and activate Japanese by hitting shift+space).
Simeji does have a feature that allows external input into the IME, but I'm not sure if that's related.

Has anyone tried it? Could anyone test it for me? It's free from the app store.

Thanks!


Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the Palm 3245WW keyboard is the exact same as the freedom bluetooth.
 
So I ended up getting the Palm 3245WW to try it out. (Using Motorola Droid 2.0.1)
Keypro finds it in the scan window.
The keyboard shows up as "Bluetooth Keyboard" in keypro with a MAC address of 00:0F:F6:07:08:11.
I am using the "Freedom Universal 2" keyboard model setting, because as far as I can tell it is just a rebranding of it (with a rubber stopper where the sip/hid switch would be).
Once I do that, I can pair in the bluetooth manager.

However, even though the keyboard's light says it is connected, KeyPro just says "connecting" at the bottom.

Help? Thanks.
 
Keyboard Address - 00:0F:6F:00:0B: D6 (there is no space between the : and the D6, it turns into a smiley if I dont put one there =p)

And a side note, when I tried to select "Input method" of "Keypro" in mine, it was disabled until I went into Settings-Language and Keyboard, and checked the box next to Keypro to enable it.
 
I've been holding off on buying my first "smart" phone for over a year now until one single feature is officially supported by a phone O.S. (ANY phone O.S. at this point!):

External Bluetooth keyboard pairing (or ANY fullsize external keyboard - even "hard-cabled" would do at this point!)

And still nothing ...

Reading all the above, the KeyPro and Freedom Universal Keyboard and other drivers mentioned all seem to be semi-hacked work-arounds against the basic problem: Android still does not have built-in support for a full Bluetooth stack including HID and SPP profiles.

I don't want to spend hours of my life fighting to get something to work because the underlying O.S. simply doesn't support the functionality. And I'm willing to keep waiting until it does (sigh)


  • Will it be Android first?
  • iPhone?
  • Windows Phone 7?
  • Something called "Maemo 5" on the Nokia N900?
  • Palm WebOS?
  • .
Can someone please point me towards an Android developer forum or something where the guys developing the O.S. make a legitimate stab at when this functionality will (finally) be officially implemented in Android?
  • v2.2?
  • v3.0?
  • Never?
  • .
I'm sorry if I sound frustrated. It's probably because I am. I've monitored this over such a long period of time, and across all major phone O.S.'s, that I've begun to think it's a conspiracy. Maybe they don't want to interfere with netbook sales ... ?
 
To MMGTony: I have two wireless portable keyboards I bought for the Palm Pilot Tungsten about 5 years ago - would either one of them work? One is from Belkin ( Wireless PDA keyboard F8U1500-E) and the other is from Palm One ( Universal Wireless Keyboard for the Tungsten, Treo, et ). Any chance either of them would work with the Droid?
 
kojak said:
To MMGTony: I have two wireless portable keyboards I bought for the Palm Pilot Tungsten about 5 years ago - would either one of them work? One is from Belkin ( Wireless PDA keyboard F8U1500-E) and the other is from Palm One ( Universal Wireless Keyboard for the Tungsten, Treo, et ). Any chance either of them would work with the Droid?
Click to expand...

The latter sounds like the same keyboard I'm trying to get to work -- the Palm 3245WW by any chance?
It is detected by keypro but won't connect. I'm waiting for a response from MMGTony to my post above.
 
imiganai said:
The latter sounds like the same keyboard I'm trying to get to work -- the Palm 3245WW by any chance?
It is detected by keypro but won't connect. I'm waiting for a response from MMGTony to my post above.
Click to expand...

I can't say if it will work or not. I do not have these keyboards to verify.

The driver is designed to connect to any bluetooth device it detects when doing a [Scan] from in the driver.

If your keyboard was discovered that is a good sign however this does not mean that the keys are mapped correctly.

If the keyboard connects, you can start testing the different "Keyboard Model" in the "KeyPro Settings" screen until you find one that matches.

IF you are getting an ERROR 9 during KeyPro [Scan] then it means your phone OS does not support the proper bluetooth profile.

I hope this helps.
 
I suppose w/ practice that you could get pretty quick w/ that. I understand wanting a full keyboard, I can fly on one (for not being a computer geek, I think an accurate 60wpm is pretty handy). But I don't do that much text entry on my Droid to require that (and I do a fair bit of forum browsing). I've grown quite accustomed to Swype, and for cellphone standards, it's very fast. Even on the physical keyboard, I can get the job done fairly quickly.
 
I got this freedom universal 2 kbd with 00:0B:0D:8A:4E:B1 mac that I finally managed to get it paired but it doesn't connect I am using keypro trial... I know this is an old thread but I had no idea where to ask so ... I apologize for posting here and I really hope someone can help...
 
ctlongley said:
Roylive,

I have pulled the instructions from the developer's website to make this a complete posting. Where I made slight modifications to work with my Droid and Freedom Pro I have posted in brackets {} and used italics. I used the following steps to enable the keyboard:

Installation:
Download KeyPro from the Android Marketplace


Configuration:

Open Android
Click to expand...
 
(This procedure should also work with most other BlueTooth keyboards)

PROCEDURE: (A bit lengthy but straight-forward)

1) Download and install KeyPro from the MarketPlace on your Droid

2) Make sure your keyboard is OFF (center position)

3) From the Droid "Menu | Settings | Wireless & networks | BlueTooth Settings" screen, press "Scan for devices". (You should NOT see the "Keyboard" show up in available devices at the bottom of the screen)

4) Slide the switch on the keyboard to the "SPP" position (NOT "HID") and you should see a small flashing LED next to the switch. If not, replace the 2 AAA batteries and try again.

5) Start KeyPro and from the "Settings" page: (download and follow along in their User Manual)

5a) Select the keyboard (I used "Freedom Universal")
5b) Select language (I used "English")
5c) Press "Scan", press the Droid "menu" button and touch the "Discover" highlight
5d) When you see the keyboard listed with a funny number (MAC address), select it
5e) UN-check "Use Native Library"
5f) Select "KeyPress Repeat" (I set to 25 & 0.5)
5g) Check "Connect/Disconnect Notify"
5h) Press "SAVE" at the bottom of the screen (VERY important)

6) From the Droid "Menu | Settings | Wireless & networks | BlueTooth Settings" screen, the keyboard entry near the bottom of the list should say "Not paired".

7) Touch the keyboard listed and it should ask you for the code (I used "OOOO" then {Enter}, then immediately typed the same on the keyboard just to be sure)

8) Now the keyboard on the Droid list should report "Paired but not connected".

9) On the Droid "Menu | Settings | Language & keyboard settings" screen, check the KeyPro entry and press "OK".

10) Now open any text-entry app, like an email, text message or notepad. In any text entry window, do a "long press" (ie-more than 1 second), press the "Input method" and select "KeyPro". You should get a "notification" of a little keyboard icon at the top-left of your Droid. If you pull it down it should say "connecting" then "connected" and a little "du-du" tone will sound.

11) Start typing on your keyboard and you should see it work just like a laptop! :D

NOTE: You're now all configured and should NOT have to do this setup every time you want to use the BlueTooth keyboard. You don't even have to worry whether KeyPro is running or not. So long as your "Input method" has KeyPro selected, Droid will fire it up if it's not already running. Then when you turn on your keyboard to "SPP" again, it will automatically connect in about 2-3 seconds. Now you're ready again to type. (You'll have to get a license key from KeyPro to keep from having the "please register" text show up on your text input.)

IMPORTANT: If you're not going to use the BlueTooth keyboard you MUST change the "Input method" after a "long-press" on a text input screen BACK to "Droid" or you won't have Droid keyboard input!

TIPS:

a) You DON'T need to download any "drivers", just the KeyPro application directly into your Droid. Also, the KeyPro app takes direct control over the BlueTooth connection to the keyboard, bypassing the BlueTooth keyboard drivers that are "missing" in the Droid.

b) For keyboards OTHER than Freedom you might try the above procedure with the keyboard in "HID" mode as well if "SPP" mode doesn't work as described above.


MMGTONY: My MAC address is 00:0B:0D:85:2D:68. Please post my registration key!
 
Okay mmgtony, got some new info for ya. I managed to get the Freedom Universal Keyboard 2 working wih my Dell Streak (running Android 1.6) using the process below:

1- make sure to clear the keyboard out of bluetooth settings and keypro so both of them do not have the keyboard info. start fresh.

2- open keypro and scan for the keyboard, select it, and save your settings.

3- open bluetooth options while keyboard is in spp pairing mode and use '0000' to pair.

4- it will say 'paired but not connected'. It's ok just click on it again and keypro takes over and makes the connection to the keyboard that the phone can pair with but not connect to. Keypro uses the paired transit to finalize the connection.

5- then just make sure you select keypro in device settings and long press a text field and select keypro and you're good to go!

This is the method that worked for me anyway. Well mmgtony my keyboard mac is 00:0B:0D:8A:70:75 thanks in advance!
 
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