This is a man's world: Women and smartphone keyboards

GnomeQueenGnomeQueen The Lulz QueenMountain Dew Mouth Icrontian
edited May 2010 in Science & Tech
This is a man's world: Women and smartphone keyboards

Comments

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Great article Jackie, I like the style.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    It probably doesn't help that the Droid's keyboard is just plain shitty. For everyone. Not just small handed women. I have yet to meet a Droid owner that actually likes the keyboard.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    That's one thing software keyboards do better than hardware ones - you can throw your fingers very quickly around a soft keyboard, and there's great autocorrection to back it up. If you don't press quite hard enough on a physical keyboard, there's no getting around it - you have to go back and hit that bastard again.

    Great article, but as a man with big hands, I'm happy. Hope you get what you're looking for.
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    How about this new fan-dangled Samsung swipe typing method?
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Are you referring to Swype Cliff? AFAIK, that is not affiliated with Samsung. I do want to try it out though...
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Yeah, thats it. I know Samsung has a phone they have been marketing with it. Seems interesting.
  • MachineDogMachineDog New
    edited April 2010
    Swype is shit, you can use the beta on any android phone. It would work if you used a stylus, but using your thumbs it is hard to see where your fingers are going on the keyboard.


    HTC is supposed to be releasing a portrait-oriented Android phone later this year that should fit better.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    How do you make a portrait-oriented phone? If you turn it 90 degrees, it's a landscape phone again.
  • MachineDogMachineDog New
    edited April 2010
    Blackberry-style.
  • BobbyDigiBobbyDigi ? R U #Hats ! TX Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    I'm sorry I missed the problem. I understand small hands, but what problem does this cause? Thumbs can not reach the center?

    -Bobby
  • BandrikBandrik Elkhart, IN Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    I have relatively small hands, myself... but I've considered that a benefit, that I have finer control on small keyboards that mobile devices have over people with larger hands. Hell, in reviews I often will read things like "keyboard/buttons/whatever were a little hard to use, but then again I have fat hands, sausage-fingers, etc".

    Off-topic, I really liked the idea of the Swype input method. I don't know if it'll actually catch on, but thinking outside the box like that is really neat.

    Now if only we had that Minority Report tech on a phone. :D
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    ah, shoulda got a G1
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    I can sell you mine if you want :D

    The G1 has a great hardware keyboard IMHO, but it's memory and processor are disappointing.
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    yup, absolutely love the G1 keyboard. hopefully they make a G2 someday with all that fancy new hardware and the same awesome keyboard
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    You mean like the upcoming T-Mobile MyTouch Slide? The keyboard isn't exactly the same but looks quite similar, plus it's supposed to be rocking an ARM11 processor.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Jackie,

    I am the same. I was so pleased to hear that Apple had created a portrait keyboard into the jesus phone OS. Shame that when I got to use it, I realised my dinky hands couldn't actually use it comfortably :(

    For those who don't quite understand the issue. Take your landscape phone and move your hands a few CMs further left & right. Then try to type the middle keys... not so easy is it?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    ardichoke wrote:
    You mean like the upcoming T-Mobile MyTouch Slide? The keyboard isn't exactly the same but looks quite similar, plus it's supposed to be rocking an ARM11 processor.

    The ARM11 chip in the myTouch slide is supposed to be the Qualcomm MSM720x chip, which was used in the HTC Dream, Magic and Hero. In other words, it's a glorified G1, and not at all a high-end smartphone.
  • FLUFFY! :D
    edited April 2010
    Are those pink balloons?
  • petesmompetesmom Member
    edited April 2010
    I bought, yup, you guessed it, a pink phone w/a small qwerty keyboard. Only problem - it was crap. Droid feels like carrying a shoebox in my small hands. Now using an old iPhone. Why? Cuz it was available. How hard can it be to make a comfortable, easy to use phone for 48% of the population? Good topic, GQueen!
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Thrax wrote:
    The ARM11 chip in the myTouch slide is supposed to be the Qualcomm MSM720x chip, which was used in the HTC Dream, Magic and Hero. In other words, it's a glorified G1, and not at all a high-end smartphone.

    I dunno, according to what I just read the specs have leaked. 600HMz processor, 512MB RAM and 512MB storage. Those aren't super high end but it's not what I would call bad by any means. Also seems to be coming with Swype keyboard pre-loaded. If they price it aggressively it could be a very nice phone for people that want a reasonably priced smartphone with a good hardware keyboard.
  • Soso
    edited May 2010
    I've got an HTC Legend (only released on Europe as far as I know) with a swype keybord for weeks now. To put it simply: it's quite wonderfull
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