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All posts tagged "keyboard"


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Coming to the US: Kyocera Rise, Qwerty Slider with ICS

Posted by Craig Horlacher in "Android News" @ 10:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/08/...-qwerty-slider/

"Kyocera is looking to regain a foothold in the US smartphone market, and curiously enough, it's doing so by catering to niche audiences. First we saw the Hydro, a waterproof handset, and alongside it is the Rise, which features a sliding QWERTY keyboard."

The Kyocera Rise should be an inexpensive phone with the latest version of Android for people who mainly want to do texting. It's CDMA so you can look for it on Sprint or Verizon. It has a 3.5" 320x480 resolution IPS LCD screen, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of built-in storage and it comes with a 2GB MicroSD card. It has a single-core 1GHz Snapdragon S2 processor that should feel very fast especially with such a low screen resolution. It also has a 1500mAH battery that should provide plenty of juice to get you through the day on this device. We don't know which carrier it will go to but my guess would be Sprint.

It's great to see Kyocera ready to ship the Rise with Android 4.0 but it's really too bad they gave it a screen that's so small and has such a low resolution. Really, I can't believe any manufacturer would release any phone with a lower screen resolution than 480x800. At least they put the needed system buttons on the phone so you don't need to waste more of the screen just to show the system buttons. The keyboard looks like the keys are nicely spaced and I always like having an inverted T layout for the arrow keys but I'm also a fan of a 5 row keyboard so you don't need to use a function button to get numbers.

Are you looking for a lean, mean, texting machine? Are you OK with the screen size and resolution? Check out the hands-on video after the break!


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Samsung Transform Is Heading to Sprint

Posted by Jon Westfall in "Android Mobile Operators" @ 06:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/24/...ide-for-sprint/

"What big, wireless brother wants, big, wireless brother gets."

QWERTY slider fans, like myself, on Sprint (unlike myself) will soon have a new option in the form of the Samsung Transform. The Keyboard looks rather interesting, it appears that Samsung has decided to go for fewer keys / bigger buttons, which might make this an attractive number for the large finger crowd!


Saturday, May 14, 2011

Quick Tip: Removing Your Keyboard Without Using the Back Button

Posted by Karey Westfall in "Android Software" @ 07:00 AM

http://lifehacker.com/5801126/close...a-swipe-gesture

"Android: If you're ever in a situation where you need to get out of the Android keyboard, a somewhat hidden shortcut will close it right up: just swipe from the top of the keyboard to the bottom."

Here's a quick tip to use the next time your keyboard annoys you! Just swipe your keyboard from top to bottom and it will disappear. Works on most phones that run Gingerbread and Froyo but will not work on HTC phones. A quick and easy way to get rid of that keyboard, especially if you just don't want to spend those few extra seconds moving your thumb to the back button!


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Another QWERTY Android Phone for Those With Blackberry Envy

Posted by Kevin Jackson in "Samsung Android Phones" @ 09:00 AM

http://androinica.com/2011/03/07/sa...rty-galaxy-pro/

"Samsung's portrait QWERTY handset is coming soon to Three UK, and the carrier has already recorded a short hands-on video that is embedded below. No word on availability in other areas yet or pricing, but that will likely be announced before long."

With a 2.8" touchscreen and 800MHz processor, this device won't necessarily give the newer stable of phones a run for their money, but if you can't imagine having a phone without a physical keyboard this may be just the one for you. No word on when or if this will be making the hop across the pond or what it will cost, but it may be positioned right to make some inroads into the enterprise environment if the price and features hit the sweet spot.

Now let's hear from you. How excited are you about an Android device with a physical keyboard, whether it's a slider or something like the Galaxy Pro?


Saturday, December 4, 2010

Keyboard Manager Allows You To Set Your Default Keyboard Based On Device Orientation

Posted by Jason Lee in "Android Software" @ 11:30 PM

http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...er-for-android/

"XDA member ne0fhyk has just released a very interesting app for those of you who don't have enough with Android's stock keyboard manager. This new app allows you to set a different keyboard based on the orientation of your device."

This is an interesting application. It allows you to choose with keyboard is active based on which way you are holding your device. Say you prefer Swipe for your portrait typing but like the big key typing on the stock Android keyboard in landscape. Well not you don't have to change them manually. It is worth noting that this does require your device to be rooted and some kind of root file explorer so you can hack config files but it is an interesting idea if you frequently use different keyboards on your Android device. Does this program fill a need for anyone out there?


Friday, October 15, 2010

PRemoteDroid: Use Your Android Phone As A Wireless Mouse & Keyboard

Posted by Jason Lee in "Android Software" @ 02:00 PM

http://www.talkandroid.com/17283-us...h-premotedroid/

"PRemoteDroid is a useful free app for those of you who have HTPCs (Home Theatre PCs) or do presentations for work. It basically allows you to use your Android phone's touchscreen as a touchpad mouse and your keyboard to input text - all wirelessly!"

Some times I come across a program and just have to say, wow. PRemoteDroid is one of those programs. I have an Acer Nettop hooked up you my TV for playing DVDs and Netflix. Having a convenient way to control the PC has always been an issue. Until recently I used my old Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard and mouse from my Windows Mobile days... that is until the dog decided to eat my mouse. Enter PRemoteDroid to save the day!

Setup couldn't be easier, install the app from the market and download the server portion to your PC. You can connect your phone over WiFi or Bluetooth, both worked well for me. Unlike other remote apps out there this one features remote screen capture, which shows you where you cursor is on the PC's display, as well as a built in file explorer! You can browse the file system of the remote computer and launch any file in the default program on the PC. This is a must have for anyone with a home theater PC.


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