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Android Touch Screen QWERTY: Coming Soon

P

phandroid

Admin News Bot
Ask any G1 owner to make a list of complaints or shortcomings of their phone’s software and almost every list would include that the lack of a Virtual, Touch Screen Qwerty Keyboard was rather annoying. They won’t have to be annoyed for THAT much longer. In early 2009, it appears as though the Android OS will [...]

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best of both worlds, i liek the physical one for long emails and texts

but for browsing the virtual one is good, hopefully a dev will make a temporary one until Q1
 
introspection said:
Eh, I don't like touch screen keyboards, much prefer tactile. That is why I never got an iPhone.
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I'm with you there, I don't really like them. I've been scoffing at people for even suggesting that the G1 should have one. I had both on my wing, and barely used the (badly designed, and too small) virtual keyboard. So I figured I wouldn't miss it.

But, oddly enough, I'm finding myself in those situations where I just need to type less than 10 characters and I find myself...wanting....a....virtual...keyboard!

3 months is no big deal, though.
 
I hate on screen keyboards for anything other than dialing phone numbers. Typing on one sucks. I can flip the phone open in less than 0.5sec, or just as fast as you can open the on screen keyboard. I don't get why people want them. If i type at all, its on the real keyboard.
 
Not a big deal either way, for me, but it does show that Google is listening to (other) people's complaints, and working on solving them!

In that sense, this is good news!
 
What attracted me to the G1 over the iPhone was the simple fact that, tactile or software driven, the keyboard had a period and a comma right there on the main qwerty. It's like a 3 step process on the iPhone. Which, if you're a writer like me, sucks.

yay G1, quirks and all, it still rules.
 
that is just a plus. I mean i have gotten used to flippin out the keyboard out to send messages. I am startin' to like that "flick" sound LOL
 
I always felt like my thumbs were too big for the tiny iPhone keys... I can honestly say I'd never use this.
 
punkzanyj said:
I'm with you there, I don't really like them. I've been scoffing at people for even suggesting that the G1 should have one. I had both on my wing, and barely used the (badly designed, and too small) virtual keyboard. So I figured I wouldn't miss it.

But, oddly enough, I'm finding myself in those situations where I just need to type less than 10 characters and I find myself...wanting....a....virtual...keyboard!

3 months is no big deal, though.
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This is the first touch screen device I have owned and I can't believe how productive I can be with one hand (no pun intended). I also never wanted the iPhone because of the lack of keyboard, but like punk, there are plenty of times (in the past 3 days) that I wished there was a virt keyboard.
 
I await having an onscreen keyboard.

I say the rule of thumb for using a touch screen key board would be if its faster to type it then opening the device to access the keys (like a google search would be) then I welcome an on screen keyboard.

But hey, if you don't want it, or like it... you don't have to use it :p
 
A tactile touch screen would be the best of both, huh? Isn't that what the Blackberry Storm supposeto have? That would be killer.
 
Honestly, that's the main reason I never bothered to have an interest in the iPhone. I find it much more pleasing to have an actual keyboard rather than a Virtual one. I've been a Sidekick user for the past 4 1/2 years so I guess that has something to do with it too. I'll welcome the Virtual keyboard as long as there is an option to turn it on and off.
 
jgorm said:
I hate on screen keyboards for anything other than dialing phone numbers. Typing on one sucks. I can flip the phone open in less than 0.5sec, or just as fast as you can open the on screen keyboard. I don't get why people want them. If i type at all, its on the real keyboard.
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Two guesses:

1) Really short text entry. For example, a zip code, "yes", "no", "LOL", that kind of thing.

2) One-handed typing. I'm on the train a lot, standing up, and have to have one hand on one of the handles. There have been several instances in the last week that a virt keyboard would be nice. I say "would be nice" because nothing I'm doing on a phone is so urgent that a virt keyboard is a "must have".
I used to type on my wing one handed, but when flipped out, the G1 is larger than the flipped out wing, thus I have a hard time shifting around to type things one-handed. The Wing also had a loose keyboard, this one is tight, thus it's slightly harder to open one-handed. The small form factor of the device makes it hard to hold and type with the one hand while open. A Virtual keyboard (if well designed) would help.
 
I also got the G1 because I was in the market for real QWERTY keys. But now I simply want both: I was at the grocery store, walking with an armful of Monster sodas, a box of cereal, small carton of milk, .. and I was typing text on my G1 (answering some work email). Point being that flipping out the screen is not always convenient.

If it was the only keyboard option, it would suck, but once you have screen QWERTY capability you will sometimes be grateful that it is there.
 
I don't see how I could use a virtual keyboard on my G1. I think my fingers are too fat! heh It would definitely have to full screen when switching to it to be big enough to be useful without a stylus.
 
Durf said:
I don't see how I could use a virtual keyboard on my G1. I think my fingers are too fat! heh It would definitely have to full screen when switching to it to be big enough to be useful without a stylus.
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So I was thinking, yah - you have a point. A virtual keyboard that was of any useful size would not fit on that narrow screen... hm... kinda like the desktop which does not fit on that narrow screen... hm... but it does fit, in the sense that you can swipe the desktop left and right...

Anyway, you get the point. I'm fairly certain (92%) that I would prefer a keyboard that I had to move left and right [with my thumb], like the desktop swipe, better than a T9 solution (ick).
 
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