Virtual Keyboards

[mikec#IM]

Can we list the virtual keyboard available for the Touch (that work well with it.)

Maybe this could be a sticky; I know this comes up.

Other than the built in keyboards, there are:

PCM Keyboard:
http://www.pocketcm.com/keyboard.php

TouchPal:
http://www.cootek.com/

SPB Full Screen Keyboard
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/fsk/?en

Teksoft FingerTouch:
http://www.teksoftco.com/index.php?section=fingertouch

TenGo Thumb
http://www.tengo.net/tengo_thumb.html

Zoomboard
http://iwindowsmobile.com/onscreen-keyboard.html

HTC Touch Diamond Keyboard
http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/software/htc_diamond_keyboard_available.html

 

[Dieter Bohn]

Good idea.

SPB Full Screen Keyboard
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/fsk/?en

 

[mikec#IM]

Good idea.

SPB Full Screen Keyboard
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/fsk/?en

Thanks Septimus.

 

[ydounvme21]

I'm using the pcm keyboard with iphone 3.3 theme. This is a much better alternative than the touch suretype. you have to disable xt9 in the registry, for which you'll need a registry editor. I use PHM registry editor. The key you have to change is:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Tegic\eT9\xt9supportmssip

change the key "XT9SupportMSSip" from value "1" to "0". Then PCM-Keyboard will work fine

Link to PCM Keyboard

http://pocketcm.com/keyboard.php

Iphone theme

http://pocketcm.com/phorum/read.php?14,4187

PHM Registry Editor

http://www.phm.lu/Products/PocketPC/RegEdit/

 

[Dim-Ize]

Two others are:

TenGo Thumb - http://www.tengo.net/tengo_thumb.html

Zoomboard - http://iwindowsmobile.com/onscreen-keyboard.html

 

[Scott R]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've checked in around here (or TreoCentral). I tried the Mogul for a while but wasn't happy with the feel of the hard thumbboard and thought that SPB's virtual thumbboard worked decently (though the small screen and bezel and other SPB shortcomings made it less than ideal). I returned the Mogul with an eye towards the Touch's release and the thought of possibly porting my own thumbboard app (still unreleased for the Palm OS - see here for more info and screenshots: http://tapland.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5562).

Anyways, I played very, very briefly with a Touch today and got that upgradin' feelin' again. I'm still not sold on the device due to the fact that WM6 still is *far* from finger-friendly, but that's what 3rd-party apps are for, right?

As a user, it's good to see that there are other virtual thumbboard apps already available. As a developer, it looks like I won't have the market cornered. But if and when I get a Touch and can somehow find the time to do some developing, I think the last iteration of my app's layout has an advantage over the current competition (IMHO).

Let's keep this thread going with any other apps that may appear. I'll let you know if I ever have any news of my own to report.

 

[ydounvme21]

Scott R,

I have a question for the developer side!

How hard would it be to add a window to the top of an existing keyboard that would display what you type? The reason I ask is that the palm threaded sms hack (which many of us windows mobile users love) is difficult on the Touch. The virtual keyboard doesn't shift the screen up and the keyboard covers the input box so we are typing blindly. I've found a couple work arounds, but thought if someone was able to create a window that would sit atop the keyboard and then transfer the data in the window to the actual input box (exactly how the sbp full screen keyboard does)would solve this issue.

I would just use the sbp keyboard, but it seems to lag and isn't as accurate as say the sprint touch's suretype keyboard and the pcm keyboard.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Scott R]

Well, what you're describing is what the SPB keyboard does and what I'd probably be looking to do. But I can't say yet how difficult it will be. I'm hoping it will be relatively easy.

 

[mikec#IM]

Rankings

I've been playing with several of the keyboards, and here is my current ranking (higher number better):

1.) TenGo
2.) TouchPal
3.) Zoomboard
4.) PocketCM

Obviously, this is very subjective. I guess I'll stop when I find one that fits the bill "perfectly"

 

[jackeycy]

CooTek just released TouchPal v2: standard for free and pro buy one get one free now (only $5 around). It is very cool, definitely the best one for now. promise you won't go back to TenGo or anything else~

Copied from http://www.cootek.com:
Faster Input, Less Effort
Thumb-friendly big buttons
Up to 300 chars/min
Excellent word prediction
Mistyping correction new!
Innovative word association
In-place case switching
Input punctuations and digits without view switching new!

Multi-language Support new!
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch (and more coming...)
Comprehensive dictionaries (40,000 English words, 140,000 French words...)
Dynamic language switching
Innovative word association
Accent letter prediction (e.g. press "a" for "?")

Highly Customizable
Dynamic resizable layout (enlarged/normal/reduced) new!
"My sentences" with parameters (e.g., "See you in X mins") new!
"My commands" (e.g., Undo, Select All+Copy, ...) new!
Customizable emotion symbols (e.g. :-o, ^_^) new!
Drag'n drop SPACE button

Optimized Resource new!
<1M installation size
Install to Storage Card

 

[lazertack]

My current ranking is:
1. TouchPal (for finger-typing)
2. PCM Keyboard
3. Tengo (for stylus-typing)

I used to prefer PCM more than TouchPal. But CooTek just fixed a few things in its new V2 release so that I find it more useful:

1. Error Correction - this means I don't need to look at the keyboard when I'm typing. I just touch the approximate position of a key, and it always provide me the good choice. In my testing, both TouchPal and PCM's error correction beats that of iPhone, but TouchPal has a better response time and a bigger dictionary.

2. Resizable layout - in V1 it used to take up too much space. But now it's resizable. So I always resize it to the minimal then enable error correction.

Tengo is very good for stylus. I could type very fast with it before I saw the other two keyboards. But well, if I could type fast with my fingers, why bother using a stylus?

 

[nsxprime]

Some more:

typango full screen keyboard - http://www.previsionary.com/prod_0010.htm

taptap keyboard - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=347929

resco keyboard pro - http://www.resco.net/pocketpc/keyboard/default.asp

 

[jackeycy]

I don't think there is any sip currently which can reach the same level TouchPal reached. It is definitely the best for now. But I also agree SIP perference is different from people~ for me, it is best and innovative

 

[Badabing]

How do you actually "install" onto the HTC touch?

I have the HTC touch and I keep reading all these nifty tricks on viewing youtube, changing the keyboard, the theme's skin but no instructions!

How do you actually "install" onto the HTC touch? I downloaded the cab files the layout and skn files ...but then what and where?

If anyone can help the novice in the PPC world!



Thanks

 

[fanfanman]

Just copy the cab files you downloaded into your desktop folder for your Touch, and it will automatically transfer to your PDA next time you syncronize. You then locate the files in your phone, usually stored under "my documents". Click on the cab diles and it should install itself!

 

[Dieter Bohn]

Just copy the cab files you downloaded into your desktop folder for your Touch, and it will automatically transfer to your PDA next time you syncronize. You then locate the files in your phone, usually stored under "my documents". Click on the cab diles and it should install itself!

...that's assuming you have a desktop folder set up to automatically sync.

You can just use activesync to install them too.

 

[DrRoger]

I don't believe I've seen any comments about this: Sprint offers a full screen virtual keyboard for the Touch for around $10 one-time charge, a Sprint salesman told me. He showed me the keyboard....occupies most of the screen in a landscape view with one line for the input text...which I imagine scrolls for as much text as possible I guess. I didn't play with it.....

 

[Dieter Bohn]

I don't believe I've seen any comments about this: Sprint offers a full screen virtual keyboard for the Touch for around $10 one-time charge, a Sprint salesman told me. He showed me the keyboard....occupies most of the screen in a landscape view with one line for the input text...which I imagine scrolls for as much text as possible I guess. I didn't play with it.....

Interesting! Did you see the name of it? A link where I might download it?

 

[JNGold]

Using TouchPal Pro on my new Touch Cruise. I enjoy using it over PocketCM and Resco. So much more flexible. I really like the ability to resize the TouchPal kb area in the case the SIP panel covers the field you are typing in.

 

[black ice#WP]

MAn touchpal is great on this touch!