I've been thinking about the wibrain since early this year. I wonder if I'd prefer the Samsung Q1's original keyboard solution: Make the touchscreen take up the entire front of the device, and have virtual/translucent/floating keyboard inputs that appear on the screen when you want them.
So, imagine the split qwerty keyboard, the dpad, and the trackpad all being translucent windows that pop-up when you need them... and the screen goes the full length of the wibrain.
The good: I think it would look less busy and ugly, and it would be more flexible in capabilities (customized pop-up inputs; ability to use that screen area for things other than dedicated input).
The bad: Even with proposed technology tactile feedback in touch screens, I have a feeling it wouldn't be as comfortable and fast to use as physical keys. And some people wouldn't want to use it no matter how good the tactile feedback got.
I just think it's an interesting thing to experiment with. I also wonder if that's going to be what the rumored newton2 is going to be like.
Regarding the device: It's on fire! I really like it. I just need UNIX (In all probability, that means Linux). Cyg/NT5 is OK, but awkwardly slow on a low-end desktop, much less on this.
@John I think that'd be nice, but: Nokia's internet tablets (770, N800, N810) have (practically) full-panel touchscreens, and the on-screen keyboard's not translucent, despite major user feedback that it should be. The iPhone and iPod touch both have full-panel touchscreens, and they don't have translucent keyboards. The Q1 had a full-panel touch screen, and translucent keypads, and they changed it. I haven't used a Q1, so IDK, but maybe this idea has been tested and found to just not work as well as it looks? (Then again, maybe this just shows that concept testers are out of touch with real users. Or maybe that keyboard production costs of keypads are lower than touchscreens per square inch.)
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I've been thinking about the wibrain since early this year. I wonder if I'd prefer the Samsung Q1's original keyboard solution: Make the touchscreen take up the entire front of the device, and have virtual/translucent/floating keyboard inputs that appear on the screen when you want them.
So, imagine the split qwerty keyboard, the dpad, and the trackpad all being translucent windows that pop-up when you need them... and the screen goes the full length of the wibrain.
The good:
I think it would look less busy and ugly, and it would be more flexible in capabilities (customized pop-up inputs; ability to use that screen area for things other than dedicated input).
The bad:
Even with proposed technology tactile feedback in touch screens, I have a feeling it wouldn't be as comfortable and fast to use as physical keys. And some people wouldn't want to use it no matter how good the tactile feedback got.
I just think it's an interesting thing to experiment with. I also wonder if that's going to be what the rumored newton2 is going to be like.
Regarding the device:
It's on fire!
I really like it.
I just need UNIX (In all probability, that means Linux). Cyg/NT5 is OK, but awkwardly slow on a low-end desktop, much less on this.
@John
I think that'd be nice, but:
Nokia's internet tablets (770, N800, N810) have (practically) full-panel touchscreens, and the on-screen keyboard's not translucent, despite major user feedback that it should be.
The iPhone and iPod touch both have full-panel touchscreens, and they don't have translucent keyboards.
The Q1 had a full-panel touch screen, and translucent keypads, and they changed it.
I haven't used a Q1, so IDK, but maybe this idea has been tested and found to just not work as well as it looks? (Then again, maybe this just shows that concept testers are out of touch with real users. Or maybe that keyboard production costs of keypads are lower than touchscreens per square inch.)