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EskeRahn

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Posts posted by EskeRahn

  1. How about Android One?

    Does the existence of the keyboard require any OS-changes (not allowed in A1) or can it be logically handled as any external BT-keyboard? Or perhaps using the Accessibility API?

    The Nokia 9 uses Android One, so it is not just entry levels phones using it any more.

    As far as I know adding an optional launcher is allowed, so that should also work with your landscape optimised launcher.

    It could be a really nice way to simplify things and also assure the security updates for at the least two years.

     

    The question was also posed as part of this post, but never answered to my knowledge.

  2. Keyboard shortcuts, navigation are good features, but software optimization is a must. Videos shown in the latest tweet is not very convincing..

     

    I'm quite sure they're aware that there is an optimisation phase of things before release.... They just showed that the principle of an added feature works. Even the hardware we see it used on is unlikely to be the final version...

    Let us await a release candidate before judging anything.

  3. I love removable backs and batteries too!

    My ancient 2011 SonyEricsson (neo) Pro has it.

     

    And it has a wonderful additional advantage: Take out the battery, take a piece of slightly stiff plastic (e.g. window from envelope, or a piece of tape doubled on it self) and put between the battery and electrodes while reinserting, and the battery can EASILY last a year! PERFECT for storage of a spare phone in e.g. a glove compartment of a car. And if you want to keep an old device without having to keep charging the device.

    I have used that for my spare/old phones as long as I can remember - and that is why my spare phone is not the BB Priv but still the SE Pro (even if it is stuck on ICS)...

     

    I have for LONG wished that someone would again make this, and preferably with multiple sizes so the same base-device can be used for a variety of usage scenarios for each user, and thus also by a broader audience.

     

    I loved the three different size battery backs on my Samsung S300 clamshell, so I could put on what fitted my need of the day the best. I don't use the same thickness of jacket all year either....

     

    But even with fixed back, another solution that might be better would be to have the keyboard clicked in, and easily removable, and then have direct access to the battery. And preferable easily swappable so we can carry one or more spare batteries, rather than the need of different sizes. This would also simplify multiple layouts of the device.

     

    I certainly hope a Pro² will use either.

     

    I have long had a dream on a generic slab without a back, and let the user choose between different battery-backs OR a keyboard and battery-back.

    Sort of what Moto tried, but WITHOUT the battery and exterior flat back of the base unit.

    Then the base device could have a broad audience AND could be upgraded over the years, keeping the backs.

    And we could have a super slim device with the slimmest back for the dinner jacket, and larger ones for more demanding scenarios.

    And of course the all important landscape keyboard slider-back. Preferable angled like the Pro¹,

    And perhaps even a keyboard-slider-back in the wrong direction to please the BB-users.

     

    The important thing here is that the base do not need to be flat, but could be shaped with room for the slider mechanism, to keep the device thin.

     

    Oh and a tiny thing with swappable batteries, the base units should have a very small backup (capacitor?), large enough to put the device to sleep and keep it like that for some seconds while the battery is swapped. Perhaps after say five seconds going into aeroplane mode temporarily.

  4.  

    Looks better. And even if PRINTED as YellowArrow (we almost need a BBCode for that one *LOL* ), the strokes of the ones on the second lowest and the top row could ALSO be made available by shift, to make the functionality closer to the PC-experience, that is in software let BOTH YellowArrow+8 and Shift+8 give the same "(".

  5. The initial idea of getting rid of a separate AltGr (like removing shift + key to get symbol on numbers) is to avoid printing 3 symbols on a tiny key. (Like number 1-0) otherwise will look quite a mess… But I have to say that might only be the case for English as they get much less symbols? :)

     

    I believe that can be more or less achieved by moving the yellow print down (like the sketch of the 7 above)

  6. But in that case, it’s important that when the user activates Caps Lock, then the main symbol on the key is taken into account, not the second symbol. For instance, if Caps Lock is activated and you type “.”, the screen must show “.”, not “:”.

     

    Indeed yes, important point.

    A Caps-lock, not a Shift-lock like old typewriters. :-)

  7. Very good suggestion, especially a nice idea with braces and bracket (and others) close® to their usual pc-positions.

     

    A few of the ones in the second lowest row “>”, “;”, “:” and “_” I believe should be moved left on the keys to SHIFT position and not AltGr/YellowArrow position

     

    actually we could get even closer if the values on the number rows also moves to SHIFT, somewhat like here from this

    qwertz

    (with the blue printed in yellow, and perhaps moved up)

  8.  

    Very good suggestion, especially a nice idea with braces and bracket (and others) close® to their usual pc-positions.

    A few of the ones in the second lowest row ">", ";", ":" and "_" I believe should be moved left on the keys to SHIFT position and not AltGr/YellowArrow position

  9. – The symbols used with AltGr on PC are mainly rarely used ones.

     

    That may go for US/UK layout, but certainly not for national keyboards. The AltGr is the way to access the stuff moved away to free the national letter keys... e.g. brackets and braces moved to AltGr 7-0, and AltGr and key left of Z to get backslash.

    Also access to €@£$ and the tilde as an accent are all through AltGr.

     

    But that said it of course does not matter if the key is labelled as a yellow arrow or the (odd) "AltGr"

  10. I hope the usual CTRL-(left or right arrow) will work as usual to skip through words and SHIFT-CTRL-(arrows) for backward/foward (resp.) word selection.

     

    I think it is much up to the app what it reacts to. But for sure when they write their own email program optimised for landscape, I too hope they remember the various ctrl-navigation functionality.

  11. In the future perhaps if we can make user to do custom mapping, maybe we can just make the alternative printing / keypad and user can swap them on. :)

     

    Does the last part mean that the users can swap the keyboard themselves? That is that we can all safely pre-order the US model, and then later swap the keyboard if/when a layout fitting our needs better will be produced later on?

    If so do you have an estimate for the price of an additional keyboard?

    • Like 1
  12. So I guess the device does not come with functionality for app cloning like for example Blackberry Android devices?

     

    There are multiple app cloner apps on the market, some free, and some with millions of users. I have no idea if one will be pre installed.

    A very popular choice is "Parallel Space" with over 100millions downloads, and 3.6M reviews giving it a 4.6 score. might be worth a try.

     

    But if you ask if there will be a specially customized version of Android with the functionality added, I doubt it. If I understand correctly they specifically want it to be a "Pure Android experience", with a few apps added to ease the usage in Landscape compared to native Android, but none you are 'forced' to use.

  13. Well I’m hoping all the activity on here help to get the search engines interested. But your right press releases to the correct sites will do a lot more :)

     

    And whenever we find it relevant to refer to the Pro¹ in other fora to do so, and perhaps with links pointing to this site.

    We are a small niche of users that want hardware keyboards, so the more we spread the good word the better...

    The more that find out the existence of this, the more potential buyers there will be, and this again will help this whole project to be profitable. And this again gives us a users a chance for better support and later updates and follow up products, including any Pro².

  14. Sorry it got really out of hand. My statement in this thread was just: “If you print national layout, keep it as close as possible to the pc layout”. These whole modifier discussion took off from there.

     

    I would love to see a QWERTZ print. Yes I am not quite sure if I would take that, but I am not the norm. Most people prefer the layout they know from the pc. And I care more about the success of this project than about the right print for me.

     

    But yes I personally would love a US-International print on the keyboard. And I just wanted do explain people who are searching a similar thing, why this would be preferable.

     

    Hope that got it a bit back to the thread.

     

    Ah I see.

    And yes, I agree, a standardized international print, could fit many.

    And for those of us that prefer a national logical layout (no matter what is printed), The standard US-international could be a very good start, as the relatively few changes needed for the 'national oddities' would be all we will need to remember the placements of. (e.g. for German the Y/Z swap, and some functions moved behind a modifier key, to free the keys for ÄÖÜß)

     

    So perhaps we should recommend that they should go for

    * QWERTY US, Right-shifted A-Z

    * QWERTY US-International

     

    and then one or more of the following depending of the interest

    * QWERTZ

    * AZERTY

    * Scandic

    * .

    * .

  15. And of course some national letters deserve a one-stroke key. And again I am all for that. But we are talking about two different things:

     

    I'm a bit confused now. Are you talking the FUNCTION of the keyboard, or the PRINT?

     

    I expect there to be all kinds of symbols functionally accessible by the modifier key, no matter the print. And expect that we can choose from a variety of logical national layouts (and hopefully modify them our selves).

     

    This thread was supposed to be on what should be printed on a QWERTZ keyboard, but is getting interwoven with the general thread on the keyboard layouts.

     

    (Once the QWERTZ layout is locked down in a final layout, perhaps the two threads should be merged)

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