There is no shortage of startups attacking the virtual keyboard space, as you’d expect with so much scope to improve the experience of touchscreen typing. Yesterday Toronto-based Whirlscape launched a beta version of its Qwerty-squashing Minuum software keyboard, for instance. Today it’s SnapKeys’ turn. The New York based startup is readying the full launch of its Si Evolution invisible keyboard. → Read More
MessagEase is an alternative keyboard that uses a mixture of taps and gestures combined with a radically different keyboard layout designed to speed up text input by minimising typing movements. Its method compacts the keyboard space required into a small square — which could easily fit on a wrist watch, say, or even enable a Glass wearer to type in the air with minimal finger movements. → Read More
Bluetooth transmitters are amazingly cheap, so expect to see more and more Bluetooth equipped gadgets. It doesn’t add substantially to the overall price to the gadget, and it might add some useful new functionality. Or maybe not. Consider the LG LBA-C300 Bluetooth enabled Qwerty Card. → Read More
Tokyo-based Personal Media is selling a QWERTY-keyboard of a special kind. The μTRON comes in two pieces and features a space bar that is reduced to a mini rectangle located at the left of the keyboard. Tab, Del, Enter and other keys have been placed in the middle of the device. The μTRON keyboard is Japan-only but this time that might not be so bad as Personal Media is selling it for a whopping… → Read More
Here’s another phone that’s destined to be bought by dozens of people, the Pantech Slate. This AT&T-branded device, which is due for release later this month, comes with all the normal (for 2006) fixings: a 1.3-megapixel camera, e-mail, IM, yada yada. Supposedly it’s the thinnest QWERTY device out there. You really do wonder, though, as everything these days is thin to one… → Read More
Twenty-year-old Nathan Schwartz of Clyde, Ohio took home the $50,000 prize in LG’s National Texting Championship – the down and dirty battle on the QWERTY. Schwartz was able to accurately tap out a ridiculously long phrase in 60 seconds. According to LG, the winning phrase was: "Does everybody here know the alphabet? Let’s text. Here it goes …… → Read More
Just got a look at the forthcoming HTC Touch Dual that Matt told us all about earlier today and I have some more information for you, plus a video. 1. It’ll be sold exclusively through Best Buy sometime this quarter. 2. It’ll be unlocked and will run on GSM networks and AT&T’s HSDPA protocol. 3. Price has not yet been set. An unlocked Touch runs about $500, though, so maybe… → Read More
Peter liked the HTC Touch when he got his hands on it last year, and HTC has done a pretty good job of making it not just a product but a brand. The latest is the Touch Dual, a slimmer version of the original Touch with a slide-out T9 keypad. A new version at CTIA today will debut a slide-out QWERTY-style keyboard as well. They’re both the Dual, and you’ll apparently have an option as… → Read More
[photopress:glydeee.jpg,full,center] That Samsung U940 that Hickey mentioned the other day has changed its name. Once known as the Q-Ball, it’s now called the Glyde. The weird thing about that name is that “glide” is usually spelled with an “i” rather than a y, so someone at Samsung must have been doing DMT. The Glyde is still on track for a late March… → Read More
[photopress:u940.jpg,full,center] Verizon Wireless users, meet the U940. The sliding-QWERTY, EV-DO phone showed up recently on the FCC’s certification site and all signs point to it passing muster, paving the way for a possible late summer release. Coupled with VZN’s new all-you-can-eat voice plan, this text-friendly phone could be a new flagship for the youth marketplace. Samsung U940… → Read More
Here’s a little device set to hit the Korean market in about a month and possibly the rest of the world this summer, pending a distribution deal. It’s manufactured by Kaon Mobile and is about the size of a smaller UMPC, featuring a sliding screen similar to the Sidekick Slide. It’s a slick looking little machine that caught my eye quicker than a booth babe holding a box of… → Read More
I honestly couldn’t care less about this new patent filed by RIM regarding new Blackberry keyboards, but I know you addicts go nuts when we mention anything about them, so here you go. Merry late Xmas to you. Also, I’m not sure how useful this is, but it could actually be a decent design change. Until I’ve had one in my hands, it’s really hard to tell if this is just a… → Read More
We love smartphones, and we love Asus, and when we heard Asus was going to start making smartphones, we got silly on ourselves, even if they are Windows Mobile based. But when we caught wind of this pretty hot design that Asus is using for its next phone, and read the decent specs, well, you don’t want to know what happened. It’s utilizing a handy flip-out QWERTY design that… → Read More
The Rumor is the latest “social networking” phone, or SNP*, to hit the market. It joins the Sidekick series from T-Mobile, the enV from Verizon, and the Ocean from Helio. These phones aren’t full-on smartphones; they tend to lack Office integration and installable apps, but they’re more than standard phones and feature enhanced connectivity, with browsing and email… → Read More
Using an analog joystick to type out “LOL U R TARDD” on your Xbox to your buddy across town sucks. Vince earlier today clued you in on Microsoft’s remedy to this situation, the QWERTY TID for Xbox. While it looks cool as a product render, you’re a gear head, you like photos of physical, tangible gear, so here’s some porn for ya, gearperv. Pictures of text input device… → Read More
Years ago, when the 360 first made its debut, you remember a rumor about a 360-controller attachment that would add a small QWERTY keypad for easy typing on XBL. Well, it’s real and it’s fabulous. Sources say that the new keypad will plug into the headphone jack on the bottom of the controller and comes with new headset to plug into the keypad. It will also be backlit, have MSN chat… → Read More
The Samsung SCH-u740 is now available from Verizon Wireless. It’s a great phone for those of you who can’t decide between small flip form factors and QWERTY-txting convenience, as it flips and transforms. In addition, it’s V-Cast capable, with external music controls. What’s really great is that this full-featured phone is only $149 (with 2-years in bondage), a great price… → Read More
. The enV is Verizon’s follow-up to its popular V QWERTY flip-phone. The basic features are the same: you have a candybar-style phone that opens on the side to display a full keyboard and a secondary screen for texting or emailing. The OS, however, is Verizon’s standard phone system, no smarts there. Some of the hardware, however, has been upgraded. → Read More
Both the Samsung Blackjack and the red-hot 8525 just got all officialized over at Cingular.com and are available now. If you’re willing to forgo two years of your oh-so-short life in favor of unlimited wireless access, you can pick them up on the (relative) cheap: $400 for the 8525 and $200 for the Blackjack. When you consider that these QWERTY-enabled badasses sport 3G speeds and Cingular… → Read More
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco, CA
Berlin, Germany
Boston, MA
