VirtualKeyboard
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Video: Pre virtual keyboard developing rapidly, gets easy install method
We know you just can't wait to get typing on the Pre's lush touchscreen, and the folks at WebOS Internals must feel the same way as they've been hard at work making their on-screen keyboard a functional reality. Installation has been made a breeze thanks to the Preware app, and usability seems to have improved markedly since the pre-alpha version, but a few kinks remain that need to be ironed out. Still, if you're willing to put up with some buggy behavior and the potential for your Pre to melt into a puddle of fiery lava, then slide past the break to get educated on the how, what and where to download.
Pre gets the on-screen keyboard it's been missing, yet has always had
When we asked how you'd change Palm's Pre, one group of respondants requested a virtual keyboard, a group that should really quit its bellyaching because the phone already has one... it just doesn't offer any particularly useful keys. That's changing thanks to the modders at WebOS Internals, who are taking the control that pops up when you hit the "sym" key and expanding it to actually contain some symbols you might use more than once a week -- like, you know, letters and jazz. They have a functional keyboard operational at this point that works in both phone orientations, but it's still decidedly pre alpha, meaning only those whose delicate thumbs are blistering on the Pre's soft, smooth, physical keys should even think about this modification right now. The team has made huge strides in just the past few days, though, so perhaps before the end of the month everyone can be soft-typing pain-free. [Via PreCentral.net]
Immersion demos new TouchSense multitouch, haptic keyboard at D7
Immersion (known for creative input experiences) demoed a fairly interesting new haptic experiment its working on dubbed TouchSense -- a virtual, iPhone-like keyboard that not only responds with sound and vibration, but some kind of feedback that recreates the feeling of actually moving your fingers across a keyboard. Details were scarce on the technology used, but during the demo at D7 the company showed off multitouch typing, and a new form of feedback which seems to create the sensation that there is a physical keyboard beneath your fingers. The functionality sounds eerily similar to the Haptikos technology that Nokia showed off way back in 2007. We're working on more details, but for now, feast your eyes on the pics in the gallery below. Update: Press release after the break.
Nokia files virtual keyboard patent
Nokia, you've done it again. As usual, the Finnish mobile phone kingpin has produced the kind of innovation and "wow" that we've come to expect with its latest patent request: a virtual keyboard. That's right, until now we've had to suffer the indignation of using a physical keyboard, vainly hoping that one day a company would come along with a concept that would upend the establishment and put a stop to the tyranny of single use, out-dated plastic keys... and now that day has come. Still, something seems vaguely familiar about this patent which details the workings of a "Mobile device with virtual keyboard." Okay, this system differs from others in that it expects you to wiggle your fingers around in front of the phone's camera, and responds to sound as well as vibrations, yet somehow we feel like the company's efforts could be better directed. A nice new QWERTY model wouldn't bother us, for instance.
