(Last edited March 2, 2008)

Sorry for a delay in posting this today. Just experienced a power outtage in my area (some major car crash knocked out power to my area so I was unable to get any power or get online).

If you’re accustomed to using the QWERTY keyboard and your Palm doesn’t have a built-in keypad and you haven’t gotten used to inputting text or characters into the Palm via Graffiti 2, there are various ways in which you can enhance your text input.

Check out some of these postings that are related to text entry and Graffiti 2:

Memo pad and Graffiti 2 text entry methods

Graffiti Silkscreen area

Text completion software

Graffiti enhancement software

Graffiti 2 application

As I’ve already discussed, the best way to input via a keyboard is to have an external keyboard. But, most of us don’t wish to carry an additional accessory with us everywhere. So, the next to best option is to have a virtual keyboard on the Palm.

The default Palm pop up keyboard which can be activated by tapping on the ABC or 123 (for numeric) is not the best. Originally, when I got my Palm, I thought it was great, until I tried to compose more than a few words. The keys were very tiny and required a very accurate tap. Most times, the keyboard will detect the wrong key, probably because the stylus was too close to the other key. Even when I was careful in tapping on the right key, a lot of times, the keyboard wasn’t detecting the tap. Tapping it again, could result in duplicate letters. It was frustrating. The other reason I disliked the pop up keyboard was that it took too long to register my tap and display it onscreen. As I’m typing away, I’m thinking of the letters and words and really don’t want to be interrupted midway to correct errors. The keyboard took a split second too long to detect my taps and if my tapping is too fast (and I don’t think it’s that fast), and I have to slow down and still correct the entry, then, this is more hassle than it’s worth.

There are a number of third party virtual keyboard softwares available. But, unfortunately, most of them are designed for the larger rectangular screens of the 320×480 resolution (ie. T2, T3, TX, LifeDrive, etc) and not many are designed for the square screen of 320×320 resolution, well, that was, until recently.

Mini-Keyboard

If you consider the overall shape of a regular QWERTY keyboard, which is a landscape shaped rectangle, it’s not surprising that it’s much easier to lay out a virtual keyboard on a screen that can support a similarly shaped screen. To scrunch up the normally landscaped keyboard layout on a square screen requires a great deal of effort in design. You don’t want to lose the QWERTY format that most typists are accustomed to, but it must still be easily used. And, it looks like Animatorsoft has come up with a great design that retains the QWERTY layout, with large sized keys for easy access, and it detects the taps accurately enough. Due to the confined area of the square screen, they are able to provide an alternating staggered stacking layout, retaining a square key (rotated to look like a diamond) for optimal surface contact.

Mini-keyboard is a great replacement virtual keyboard for Palms with a square 320×320 resolution screen. As far as I know, it is the ONLY QWERTY layout virtual keyboard with large enough keys that can be tapped with a fingernail that will work on the square screens. There are many virtual keyboard softwares out there, but many of them have very small keys that you can’t tap with your fingernails. Or, there’s others like MessagEase, Fitaly, FatFinger, etc but they all have their own special character layout that requires you to learn a new keyboard layout. With mini-keyboard, although there is still somewhat of a learning curve because the keys are stacked on top of one another, it’s somewhat minimal.

What I’ve found when trying out the demo version of the software is how much bigger the keys are, compared to the tiny keys of the default Palm pop up keyboard. I could almost use my fingers to tap and although from time to time, it can detect my finger touches, it’s not as accurate, probably because fingers are somewhat larger and can’t accurately tap a specific point, but actually touch on a variety of points. But, using fingernails, it was able to detect the taps very well. Similar results also can be achieved using the stylus. The software is quick. I find that I can easily type up an entire sentence in the usual speed that I’m accustomed to and the program can keep up with my taps, something that the default Palm keyboard can’t. And it’s very accurate with the stylus. Very rarely does the program input the wrong letter. And this software supports a a variety of international keyboard layouts: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish.

The demo version inserts a [Demo] at the end of every entry. Apparently, the current demo versions have a time limit of a week or so. This one is a keeper for me.

Simulation of Mini-Keyboard

Alternative links: Image Shack, MyFileHut

The simulation will play through to the end unless I’ve inserted a pop up note to explain specific points.

To continue playing the simulation, press the button.
To go back to a previous paused segment, click on the button.
To pause the simulation at any time, press the button. To continue after it’s paused, press the button again.

To scroll forward or backward in the simulation, click anywhere on the left (to go back earlier in the simulation), or right (to go forward in the simulation) on the progress bar.

This simulation will show how the Mini-Keyboard works and looks like, providing a quick overview of the menus and options and the various language keyboard layouts available. Once enabled, it will replace the default Palm pop up keyboard with this, allowing you to use this keyboard to input in text based applications like Memo Pad, Date Book, etc.

Aside from Mini-Keyboard, there are many QWERTY layout virtual keyboards available.

320×320 keyboard

Here is one that support 320×320 screens but the keys are not as large as Mini-keyboard:

Cool Keyboard.

320×320 keyboard requiring Hacks

These keyboards support the 320×320 screen but require Hacks installed:

Keyboard Hack, Keyboard Hack II, and VKB (VirtualKB) (freeware).

320×480 keyboards

These support only 320×480 screens:

Thumboard, myKbd

Combination keyboard and text completion software

And these keyboards are a combination of keyboard and text completion software:

TenGo, QuickWrite.

Telepad layout keyboards

These keyboards are arranged in the same 9 key layout as a telephone keypad:

PKWrite (freeware), and JetKeys.

Unique layout keyboards

And finally, the following softwares have their own keyboard layout and require some learning:

MessagEase, FatFinger, PrestoScript, QuickType, ALPHATROS, Fitaly.

EDIT. May 21, 1006. Now that I’ve got a Treo 650 with a built-in keyboard, I don’t really need a virtual keyboard. I am still interested in trying out whether I can still have a virtual keyboard and have not been able to figure out how to activate the pop up keyboard since there doesn’t seem to be a way to bring it up. Does anyone know how or have a virtual keyboard installed on a Treo 650 or other similar keypad Palms? Please either leave a comment or email me. Thanks.

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: archives categories minikeyboard coolkeyboard keyboardhack keyboardhackii vkb vlks thumboard tengo quickwrite pkwrite jetkey messagease fatfinger quicktype prestoscript alphatros essentialapp palm

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