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Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

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Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#191

Post by RajT88 »

rrix2 wrote: post #157
RajT88 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Astro Slide is exactly this. Although - good luck getting one. And once you have one, it's just OK. Missing some fit and finish both in hardware and software.

I dropped mine less than a foot and the display broke entirely, six months ago, and they never shipped the "protection pack" with extra screen protectors and a hard shell case. Their support has yet to reply, much less quote an RMA. :(

I am in a similar boat. That thing is relatively fragile, with no options for cases/screen protectors.

I think the company is well on the way to going belly up. Too bad too, their devices all had promise, they just needed to have more iterations to get better. They were too small clearly to even produce a new iteration, they were all-in on new designs from the Gemini / Cosmo / Astro Slide and now on to ARM Linux computers.

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#192

Post by ClassyJacket »

cududa wrote: post #147
devmor wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't have to cover the entire back of the camera. Just needs to use magsafe to attach.

I don't think magsafe is strong enough to support the entire phone on a keyboard

Supporting the entire phone is the entire point of Magsafe, what else would you even use it for?

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#193

Post by hanniabu »

tomasreimers wrote: post #56

Would seriously consider buying this if it were a case with a back-sliding landscape keyboard. Something like: https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/fd8703ad0b0ec545ac98701c39...

I always loved the LG env2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_enV2_%28VX9100%29

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#194

Post by nasretdinov »

I'm kinda surprised that no-one has mentioned that languages other than English exist. Virtual keyboards, while a bit clunky, allow to easily switch input languages, and most of the world for whom English isn't their native language use this feature very very often. Physical keyboards for laptops solve this issue by having different keyboard layouts for different languages (and are usually geared towards that language, with English being just possible to use in addition to the primary language), but for smartphone screens the keyboard is just too small, it won't realistically be a good idea.

I'm saying this as a person who loves physical buttons and everything quite a lot, but for any non-English user this keyboard would be s non-starter

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#195

Post by kridsdale1 »

happyopossum wrote: post #164
cududa wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think magsafe is strong enough to support the entire phone on a keyboard

MagSafe supports my 'entire phone' bouncing around in my truck, and hanging on my headboard at night - it's more than strong enough to hold a phone to a keyboard.

I enjoy that your unwritten implication is that your headboard is banging around at night with equal amplitude to your truck.

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#196

Post by lazzurs »

cududa wrote: post #148
tomasreimers wrote: post #56

Would seriously consider buying this if it were a case with a back-sliding landscape keyboard. Something like: https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/fd8703ad0b0ec545ac98701c39...

The Palm Pre was my dream phone

+1

I can’t get over how long it took Apple to adopt the same charging mechanism. It’s depressing how good the Pre phones were and how long it’s taken to get anywhere near close to as good.

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#197

Post by loloquwowndueo »

JadeNB wrote: post #146
silisili wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be nice if the keyboard could flip backwards or slide away seamlessly.

That sounds like re-inventing the Sidekick ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop )!

And giving iPhone a physical keyboard is reinventing the blackberry. Never mind that the iPhone’s mantra from the beginning has been away from the inadaptability of physical keyboards. (Watch the 2007 keynote for reference).

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#199

Post by andix »

I once tried a typing speed test on my iPhone and compared it to my physical keyboard I always type with on the PC. I think on the on screen keyboard (OSK) I was reaching over 60% of the speed of the full sized keyboard on the PC.

This was really surprising for me, as also the precision was not really worse than on the PC.

I have to admit that I can't type perfectly with 10 fingers, but reach around 350-500 keystrokes per minute, which is far beyond average.

So the OSK is fine for me, as long as the UI is handling the missing screen space well, and doesn't provide a bad UX, like jumping scroll positions or covering important buttons by the OSK.

Re: Clicks – Physical keyboard for iPhone

#200

Post by jiveturkey »

ThinkBeat wrote: post #175

Blackberry 8700 is the gold standard for a phone with a keyboard. It is the most productive cellphone I have ever owned. Phone calls, text message and email is what it did well. And it did exceedingly well. The thumbwheel was just the right spot to quickly scan an email. The keyboard is as good as they get. The operating system was built to do exactly this and not that much more. It is really hard to convey how great…

> They lost focus on what the existing customers really loved.

That's unfair. There was a bit (or a lot) of innovator's dilemna going on.

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