What Will The Keys Be Like?

[PoisonedV]

Will the keys be harder or softer to press? Will it have good tactile? Easy to use without pressing more than one? How fast is it to type with?

 

[craigix]

This is something which is being worked on right now, most likely they will be similar to the keys on a P300 samsung phone, a membrane coated in a plastic where the keys are, something like 1mm max movement but with feedback when you press them.

They have to be very thin and this seems the best way of doing it, of course this could change later in the month, if anyone has suggestions based on maybe work they have done on such devices we would like to hear from you

 

[Chip]

This is something which is being worked on right now, most likely they will be similar to the keys on a P300 samsung phone, a membrane coated in a plastic where the keys are, something like 1mm max movement but with feedback when you press them.

They have to be very thin and this seems the best way of doing it, of course this could change later in the month, if anyone has suggestions based on maybe work they have done on such devices we would like to hear from you

You mean this P300?

Interesting choice. So I take it all the keys are part of one solid rubber sheet, but they protrude through separate holes in the phones case, giving the illusion of individual keys. Will this work with the keys being so much closer to each other on the Pandora?

With the keys being adjacent to each other, I also worry about being able to differentiate between them by touch. A keypad like the one on the HTC Apache might be better:

The 39 key keypad is only about 3.75"x1.25" and very flat, yet is east to type on thanks to the slightly convex shape of each key. I have big fat thumbs, yet I have no problem typing on it. Each key is an individual piece of hard plastic that is (somehow) attached to the clickey membrane underneath. Keypress travel is probably sub-1mm, but has a distinct tactile feedback. It is also backlit, though I would understand if that particular feature didn't make it into the Pandora.

 

[peca]

if anyone has suggestions based on maybe work they have done on such devices we would like to hear from you

Yeah. PLEASE, make keys as silent as possible and make soft backlight. So I can type at night in bed and not to awake my wife

 

[Magnulus]

With a design choice like that P300, will the buttons also be of the rubber kind that kind of hangs a bit to your fingers? That would be great, because it would prevent slippage, which I would suppose is the biggest problem using a keyboard this small.

 

[Zarneth]

With a design choice like that P300, will the buttons also be of the rubber kind that kind of hangs a bit to your fingers? That would be great, because it would prevent slippage, which I would suppose is the biggest problem using a keyboard this small.

Depends what you mean by rubber. The harder the better in my opinion. If they're squishy then they're slower to type on.

 

[peca]

Oh, and make tactual signs on F and J keys.

 

[DaveC]

Please no clicky keys. Remember the keyboard will have to be used for gaming when some games run out of dedicated game keys. Those clicky metal dome keys are awful for any kind of game controls.

Plastic topped rubber membrane keys would be best. They don't make noise and have better game action.

 

[javaJake]

DaveC hath spoken! Let it be as he commands!

On a more serious note, I agree with DaveC. It should have some feedback as to if it was clicked, but "clicky" keys can take longer to pop back up, and other obnoxious things, that cause problems with any intense keyboard use.

 

[Frogboy]

It would be awesome if the keyboard was usable enough to develop on. You probably think I'm crazy but that would be the only way I could write code for this thing. I rarely get time to sit in front of a computer for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

 

[javaJake]

I'm curious if there's a fold-able USB keyboard that can slip into a baggy coat pocket.... *googles*

This one repeatedly comes up, and represents what I'd want. However, I'm not sure I'd want to put down $50 for a keyboard.
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=959638

 

[Samba Pa Ti]

i like these keyboards, http://www.thegreenhead.com/2007/05/g-tech...th-keyboard.php

they are the best foldup/rollup keyboards ive found, havent tried one though.

 

[Megagun]

Myself, I love calculator-style rubber keys: the kind that stick to your fingers a bit.

Also, I'd really appreciate it if the keys weren't 'stuck' together: as in it'd be great if there was some 'plastic pandora case' inbetween keys...

Something like http://i9.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/ca/42/7c7e_1.JPG (the device on the right, but with larger keys, ofcourse) (that's a CASIO SF3300ER).

Only problem I could forsee with this is that the 'hardwareside' of the keys could wear out one day due to excessive pressage.

Advantage of a method like this is, though, that the entire keyset can be easilly made out of rubber, and thus is cheap plus in the end easy to replace (just buy a new one, open the case, and insert!)..

But really, rubber > plastic > metal.
Also, slightly nonsquare > square.

Also, rubber would allow for old-cell-phone-styled backlighting of keys, which would be very muchly so awesome..

Unless.... Unless the keys have been decided upon already?

 

[scarath]

Myself, I love calculator-style rubber keys: the kind that stick to your fingers a bit.

Also, I'd really appreciate it if the keys weren't 'stuck' together: as in it'd be great if there was some 'plastic pandora case' inbetween keys...

Many problems I see with this. First off, do you remember as a kid if you jabbed those rubber keys too hard and they got stuck under the plastic and either broke or where a pain to get out again? Well Im not saying anyone who buys the pandora will be a heavy handed oaf and be smashing the keypad, BUT what if someone else gets hold of the pandora? A button-bashing friend? A young relative on a visit to the family home @ Xmas? A dim-witted girl friend? Careful what you wish for, you may end up with mashed keys >.<

Of course the simple solution to this is to not let anyone else touch, see, smell or taste your Pandora and to keep it hidden away from other people filthy corrupting fingers, maybe hide it in a mountain?

Anyway just a thought .... I second (or third or fourth whatever number we are on) the NO CLICKY keys!!!!!!

 

[Chip]

For those so strongly opposed to "clickey" keys, I'd like to point out that there will certainly not be a microswitch under each individual key, like old clickey keyboards. Clickey in this sense simply means having a tactile click when the key is pressed, so it is obvious that you have in fact pressed the key. This is essential when the key travel distance is almost nothing. Without some tactile feedback people would be likely to press too hard, not knowing whether the keypress has registered or not. I have tested this out on a couple cell phones, and the keypresses are almost inaudible. You certainly won't be waking anybody up by typing on them.

 

[Tobriand]

Seeing as those currently commenting are the no-clicky-keys crowd, I'd just like to register a vote for the other side - or if not actual click, then at least tactile feedback.

What I don't want is for the keyboard to have buttons similar to the Ericson Chatboard for the GP32 - whilst functional, I'd hardly call it fun to type on, let alone that the impression that style of button gives is very very cheap (possibly because they are). I'd much prefer something firmer.

 

[trooper]

I would definitely like to see something with hard plastic keys, Such as the psion series 5 or psion revo, As they have slim sturdy keys with a smal amount of travel and good tactile feedback.

Rusty tape not included.

Trooper

 

[#1 GameMaster]

If your someone who is worried about the keys lettering fading away then you could do something like what Sony did with it's button.

see how they have a clear coating over the actual lettering or whatever on the button then you wouldn't have to worry about it rubbing off the letterings on the buttons.
perfect solution.

 

[Zarneth]

If your someone who is worried about the keys lettering fading away then you could do something like what Sony did with it's button.

see how they have a clear coating over the actual lettering or whatever on the button then you wouldn't have to worry about it rubbing off the letterings on the buttons.
perfect solution.
Um. Or you could just do what the gp2x did and make it part of the mould. I honestly thing an entire clear keyboard though would likely be kinda wierd looking and expensive to make.

 

[atomicthumbs]

We could etch with lasers.

I prefer the design of the Jornada 720's keyboard: