Pandora Keyboard Layout

[Edy]

I know it's too late for anything, and it's obvious that you guys have spend lot of time and mind resources designing a keyboard layout for Pandora but...

Has anyone took in consideration that the pandora has a touchscreen? And that most of time when using applications (unless typing or playing games) the right hand will be using the stylus, and the left hand will be holding the console? And that the stylus will be used for moving the mouse and left-clicking?

Obviously not. Otherwise, the functions for the left hand would have been assigned to the most used mouse functions that cannot be carried out with the stylus, that is, mouse scroll (like the mouse wheel) and right-click.

Luckily these things can still be re-designed in software, so we would be able to improve the layout based on user's experiences. But it may be the right time to start thinking on it B)

PS Maybe Cosurgi is left-handed? if so his layout would make more sense

 

[Pleng]

Has anyone took in consideration that the pandora has a touchscreen? And that most of time when using applications (unless typing or playing games) the right hand will be using the stylus, and the left hand will be holding the console? And that the stylus will be used for moving the mouse and left-clicking?

Uhhhh no. I will be using an analogue nub to control the mouse, thank you very much!

 

[MentalFS]

Actually, I can think of holding the Pandora in my left hand, using the nub and the L button to navigate and having one hand completely free. Very handy when I get no seat in the train and have to hold fast with the other hand

That's one of the reasons I finally votet for Cosurgi's layout.

 

[TaG]

Isn't it time, Craig, to tell everyone what keyboard decision have you made?

I'm sure we'll see it before 30th. I'd rather wait and see the real thing when its finished than a drawing / mock-up or whatever.

@Edy Damn, we forgot it was touchscreen! Yes it might be touchscreen but often you are going to use keyboard for typing and not want to keep going back to a stylus so you want the keyboard to be usable without resorting to the stylus.

 

[Eternalodyssey]

The Pandora emblem on the menu button inspires ownership because its much like what a "Windows" and a "Mac" menu button look like on their respective keyboards. Sometimes its the little features like that which set a product apart from others. I'd still like to know if there will be an emblem on the top of the clamshell as well. I thought would be awesome.

 

[ashdjones]

Nobody has answered my question yet: Is this an official poll?

I don't mind spending the time reading this thread, mulling over the possibilities and carefully choosing a design - i'm just not going to do that unless it is actually means anything.

 

[TaG]

Nobody has answered my question yet: Is this an official poll?

I don't mind spending the time reading this thread, mulling over the possibilities and carefully choosing a design - i'm just not going to do that unless it is actually means anything.

No, it's not an official poll. It is also almost certainly too late to change anything now - the devs have probably made their final design.

 

[ashdjones]

No, it's not an official poll. It is also almost certainly too late to change anything now - the devs have probably made their final design.

Then isn't this thread wasted effort?

Don't get me wrong, I respect the time and energy people have put into this, it just seems fairly speculative.

 

[Flat]

yes your right

 

[TaG]

No, it's not an official poll. It is also almost certainly too late to change anything now - the devs have probably made their final design.
Then isn't this thread wasted effort?

Don't get me wrong, I respect the time and energy people have put into this, it just seems fairly speculative.
Many of the threads here are a waste of effort...

The various keyboard threads were an attempt to discuss what people would prefer to see. Only the devs will know whether they took any notice or not and hence whether it was wasted or not. If only one good idea came out of the discussion you could say it wasn't a waste at all.

 

[Chip]

At the time this discussion began, no "final" layout had been chosen. To the best of my knowledge, it still hasn't. The keypad lettering is one of the last things that needs to be done, and MWeston posted that they intended to cross that bridge when they came to it.

While more energy has been expended on the subject than was strictly necessary, several good ideas have come from the discussion. Likely the devs will at least take the ideas presented here into consideration when doing the final layout.

If not, at least it gave everybody something potentially useful to occupy themselves with while we waited.

 

[Edy]

@Edy Damn, we forgot it was touchscreen! Yes it might be touchscreen but often you are going to use keyboard for typing and not want to keep going back to a stylus so you want the keyboard to be usable without resorting to the stylus.

Ok. Then... which thumb you would likely use for mouse movement? the right one. And which finger would you use for mouse click? the right one too (unless you're left-handed).

Right handed people would use the right analogue for mouse movement and the right trigger for main mouse click. The Left trigger could be used for secodary mouse click. And left analogue could be used for desktop or mouse scroll. This is exactly the opposite as Cosurgi's design proposes for analogs and triggers (maybe he's left-handed? )

Thus, when using the stylus with the right hand, the left hand would hold the console while having access to the other most handy and used functions: secondary mouse click and desktop/mouse scroll.

 

[cbp]

I have been looking at the layouts, why not use both layouts and give the user the choice of which to use through software.

I for one would like to use mouse with left thumb, but others may want the right one, or even both. Allow for these to be set up in the software.

As for CTRL, ALT, print them on the keys and print the punctuation as well on the same keys using different color. With software we can choose whatever we want. Hell, small punctuation can be printed around the keys.

For all we know some may want to punctuate with the triggers.

I for one would also welcome function key on the left side as well.

I remember my old keyboard from a commodore clone, had about 4 different signs per key. Of course they were normal sized keys.


One complain would be that the enter key is too small. The most pressed keys are space and enter.


Also, make a optional pop-up on the screen, alpha blended, when fn key (or other key) is pressed, so that we can choose with the stylus the desired function.

 

[WizardStan]

I have been looking at the layouts, why not use both layouts and give the user the choice of which to use through software.

It was confirmed long ago that the keyboard was software controlled. This poll was totally about the cosmetics: what to print on each key. There isn't a "both layouts" because there's no need. Just rewrite the driver to map buttons to the keys you want. Unfortunately the labels won't change, but can't have everything.

 

[TaG]

@Edy Damn, we forgot it was touchscreen! Yes it might be touchscreen but often you are going to use keyboard for typing and not want to keep going back to a stylus so you want the keyboard to be usable without resorting to the stylus.

Ok. Then... which thumb you would likely use for mouse movement? the right one. And which finger would you use for mouse click? the right one too (unless you're left-handed).

Right handed people would use the right analogue for mouse movement and the right trigger for main mouse click. The Left trigger could be used for secodary mouse click. And left analogue could be used for desktop or mouse scroll. This is exactly the opposite as Cosurgi's design proposes for analogs and triggers (maybe he's left-handed? )

Thus, when using the stylus with the right hand, the left hand would hold the console while having access to the other most handy and used functions: secondary mouse click and desktop/mouse scroll.
I understand your point, but we do not know how the standard set up will work and can change the mapping if we want.

I have a PDA phone with slide out keypad. The keypad is not bad for some things, the screen keyboard is not bad either. They both 'work'. But swapping between one and the other and keeping hold of the stylus whilst typing with your thumbs is a total PITA. It is far easier to choose one or the other and stick to it, maybe using your fingernail on the screen occasionally. In some instances the Tab key with shift+Tab can be most of what you need for simple navigation. The Pandora keyboard will be far better than the PDA, so I hope to be using that and inbuilt mouse functions rather than the stylus for many things.

 

[cosurgi]

bump

 

[MilanC]

I guess we'll know about the keyboard before the 30th

EDIT: erm, of course, I meant 'before 23:59 on the 30th'

 

[Username]

I like how both of them have put a lot of thought into the design. I vote with Cosurgi though because I'm used to moving the mouse with my right hand, and the right-thumb design will work best (believe me, I tried it out in mid-air). Though the . and , keys will be harder to reach, give it a week and I'll be used to it.

 

[Nobax]

QUOTE
EDIT: erm, of course, I meant 'before 23:59 on the 30th GMT -12:00'


Fixxed

 

[cosurgi]

Just reviving this thread again, as I can't stop thinking about keyboard What will it be....?