iFrog one-handed Bluetooth keyboard
By Peter Rojas 
posted November 29th 2004 5:46AM
posted November 29th 2004 5:46AM
The Gadgeteer has a review of the iFrog, FrogPad's
Bluetooth-enabled one-handed keyboard. You may be better off getting a proper folding model or just buying a PDA
or a smartphone with a built-in keyboard (we've heard that they do exist), but the reviewer says that the big reason to
use one rather than a regular keyboard is that you can type with one hand (it comes in lefty and righty layout models)
and use a mouse in the other. But after three weeks of hardcore usage (as the primary keyboard), the
reviewer only managed to type 20 words per minute, way down from his usual 55 wpm using a regular keyboard.
Battery life was an excellent two weeks of daily usage, but there is no battery level indicator and
the iFrog itself is a whopping $225.
was thwe reviewer use his right or left hand.
also seeing as 55 on a normal keyboard is their average, 20 with one hand isn't bad, especially given the short learning time.
Don't for get that these are not just for two handed people... We are planing on buying this for a futer employee who only has one hand.
With all due respect but there NO DRIVERS FOR MICROSOFT SMARTPHONE for this keyboard so please don't spread misinformation.
What misinformation are you talking about? I see no mention of any driver support for Microsoft Smartphones anywhere in this post.
The iFrog is pretty neat... But you should check out the Touchstream: http://www.fingerworks.com/
As far as alternative keyboards go, I think it takes the cake as the coolest (typing on one now). Hand gestures rock (I'm about to use a hand gesture to type in my sig...
-Riskable
http://www.riskable.com/
Hi, Well considering it normally takes a whole semester to learn 40 words per minute, 20 wpm in 3 weeks is pretty impressive.
The intuitive letter layout allows for touch typing very quickly, the use of one hand completely changes the body posture while typing which can eliminate lots of neck and back problems, and it has full sized keys in a portable handheld device. (Sorry, couldn't resist) Chief Froggette
In the article to which Engadget links there is written: "This makes the FrogPad portable and allows it to pair with PDAs and SmartPhones in addition to PCs and Macs. "
But it is not truth (with smartphones).
who the hell types at only 55 wpm?
@MS Mobiles... If the article to which Engadget links contains false info write to the author of the article. Posting on Engadget in such a bitter agressive tone serves no purpose.
I've tried lots of keyboard layouts. I've tried a one handed dvorak, qwerty and a couple of one handed "chord" based keyboard layouts. I can pretty proficiently use dvorak, but I have learned one thing through all of this. While I can tell QWERTY is worthless as a layout, I know it so much better than anything else, I can't even come close to competing with my 120+ wpm qwerty speeds. Dvorak comes in second at around 80wpm, and if I can anticipate with dvorak, I have no problem at all breaking qwerty speeds, but usually only for short bursts of good memory. Use what you learned, unless of course you want a one handed keyboard, then learn somthing good, don't use qwerty one hand, it was even slower than 5 key chords with me at least.
The review is already quite old, so maybe my comments are based on a later version of the FrogPad (or maybe the reviewer didn't read the manual carefully enough). There *is* a low-battery indicator. When the battery gets low, the charger light comes on. Also, the price mentioned is no longer correct. I just got my Bluetooth FrogPad for just under $150 from FrogPad's own store.