Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

What is the standard channel for alerting Jolla to these things?

Has anyone ever used one of these devices with portrait touchscreen and slideout qwerty, like Blackberry torch? I imagine it to be rather awkward to reach the touchscreen during use of the qwerty, kinda like on the N900 when you try to do ctrl+A (needs expandable thumbs).
I may have been okay on the little Palm Pre, but just not feasible for the Jolla with a 4,5 inch screen.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Have you asked people in China if they want QWERTY?

Seriously TMO people are geeks. That doesn't say what "normal" people wants. IF they success with first phone in WEST first then the question could be raised about hwkbd as a second alternative but not now.

Also again the price will be raised cause of all those custom hwkb keyboards needed in different european countrys.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Yes, correct.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

not good enough to draw it, but alluminum body, sliding, like the n900.

same thickness or thinner than the rest of the phone.

it should not be the exact same length as the phone, as in the top lip should have a cut out that doesn't obstruct the camera when closed. It should slide and lock similar to the n900, and use the same sort of mount. It should have a sturdy base that attaches to the phone and doesn't move, and the entire sliding mechanism solidly in "the other half", with a physical internal keyboard ala ribbon cable,(like the n900's screen, a reverse of the n900's setup)

mabey include some other goodies, like USB host, external microSD card adapter(such as a cable that locks into the SD card slot, and provides another slot at the other end, and mabey wireless charging.

also want control, alt, shift, arrow, escape, and enter keys.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

true for Nokias phone, but not true for all cases.

NFC is just a handshake-r, the connection between NFC device to NFC device can be vary. such as BT, Wifi(direct), radio frequency, etc2.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

most of the girls or women do not like hwkb, which add more thickness, weight.

it is a mess or risk for jolla to have their first phone with qwerty keyboard, their sailfish ui/ux is all based on gesture.

stop asking for qwerty, the only option for those who want qwerty is blackberry Q10

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

The first sentence is prejudiced. Thickness means reliability, for those people whose opinions on mobile phones I have had opportunity to hear.
I agree, though, that with their interface based on gesture, they should not rely on hwkeyboard-equipped devices for start-up-and-become-famous profit. HWKeyboard requires different layouts for different countries, and it's much more difficult than simply writing different layouts for virtual keyboard. HWKeyboard adds fragility to the phone, and requires its own battery-eating back-light. HWKeyboard doesn't rotate between landscape and portrait layouts, or switch to T9 layout for phone application.
Qwerty will be given, as either a second device, or - more likely - an other half. And, on that topic, I expect it to be a stackable other half. The phone can be as thick or thin as you wish - only, the thinnest phone will have the least functionality.
It may be insane. Or it may be a stroke of genius. Or both. But qwerty is definitely promised by Jolla.
Best wishes.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Well, QWERTY doesn't have to be landscape after all.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

already posted this on #JollaLoveDay - 20th May - device announcement but actually belongs here...

well, Jolla obviously will have the complete specs and even though they announced any 3rd party can create a other half, they are likely to create some themselves, no?

this being said...
got a SGT2 (7") a few days ago as a "promotional gift" for a cable upgrade
it runs Jelly Bean 4.1.1 and it didn't take me long to discover a number of apps that i won't bother looking for leave alone develop for N9(00) or even Sailfish.
however, i only got a tablet without GSM MoDem :confused: :mad:
also found a number of apps that give one a full cli (e.g. Terminal IDE (including mc :D)) and a very nice sw keyboard
however, a hw kbd is better as you lose @ least 40% of the screen to the @#$%& vkbd :mad:

thus, went on looking for an Android 4 device with hw kbd... :eek:
in the states there are few but even so, they don't seem to be high prio (most are only ICS, JB barely available if at all...)
on the other side of the pound, well, there is a couple oldies (Gingerbread) devs :confused:

so, long story short...

• how is it that with the dozens of millions Android devices sold ww, hardly anyone is interested in manufacturing respectively selling devices with hw kbd?
• if multi-billion companies (S, LG, Sony...) barely can be bothered, how / why should a little start up ???

still have to check whether the BT connection between the SGT & the Logitech diNovo i got some time ago for the N9 will work better :eek: :confused:
as the dev doesn't have GSM, portability isn't really an issue :(

and ultimately hoping Jolla will come up w/ a hw kbd other half & alien dalvik will support the apps...



while at it...

just like the "pinkish" or "yellowish" or "blueish" or "blackish" other halves will only appeal to a limited clientèle, the hardware keyboard will only by of interest to a limited number of customers.
those who don't care probably won't even notice it.

depending on how many are interested, one might even imagine a Jolla device coming with a hw kbd other half standard (rather they a specific color, except maybe a black one...)

as to the bezel size...
the N9's bezel is much larger then what is apparent based on the casing / gorilla glass design
there is 3 to 4 mm unused area on each side of the screen and a good cm above & beneath (portrait)
thus... just a matter of hiding some or most of the bezel under the glass front
:D :cool:
:eek: :confused:

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

I had to go to page 3 before someone posted this... I feel disappointed .

It should be the exact same keyboard that the N900 has, because it is the best keyboard that has ever been produced for a mobile device.

The only reason I still stick to my N900 is the keyboard. I will not change this (also otherwise amazing) device away unless I find a device with an equally good keyboard.

I am very interested in Jolla, but unless it has a GOOD hardware keyboard, I will stick to the N900 untill I find a device with a good hardware keyboatd.

-André

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

had a look at various Android devices w/ hardware keyboard
most have a 4 row layout which is handier then N900's 3 rows, obviously
however, none i saw has ESC key, which makes them utterly useless for command line use :mad:
and always switching to a Hacker (virtual) keyboard just to get access to one makes it perfectly useless :(

this being said, a Android 4.x (where x > 0 preferably) with an ESC key compatible with European networks and i'm in
can't help wondering whether Jolla will make a hw kbd other half and if so with all the useful keys for cli

• ESC (of course)
• Tab
• /
• ' (single quote)
• > (greater then for output redirection)
• & (for redirection & background)
• with a 4th row, dedicated digits keys
• 4 dedicated navigation keys

that should pretty much do :p :o
:confused:

as far as the quality of the N900 keyboard goes, yes of course, it is NOKIA hardware
is it realistic to expect a startup to come up with that quality?

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Imo the perfect keyboard would be a n900 keyboard with n97 opening style ;)

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

http://www.geekpark.net/read/view/182306

Automatic translation of the most interesting part:

Touchscreen phones already have a majority market share, our first mobile phone is a touchscreen phone. However, by using the sideslip full keyboard cover, you get to the Jolla entities to efficient keyboard on your phone. I'm off to work over and above the different examples of door activation system, I personally feel that, after using the keyboard to work caps, work with normal back cover, would also be a good idea:-)

That was Marc Dillon speaking, so let's hope this means we're actually getting a QWERTY Other Half!

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

And I say this on twitter:

Mikael Hermansson ‏@mikecomputing 39m
@mikecomputing @JollaMalaysia @MarcDillonDotFi would not be suprised if it is mistranslated. I beleive it first when @jollahq confirms it

hope jollahq replys....

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

I see Baghdad bob on that page. I wouldn't trust it because of that. It's not just any keyboard we need. It must be tightly integrated with the phone/OS to work well!! Otherwise it's just a waste of keyboard and plastic.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Agreed. Getting hopes up over Google Translate at this point in time when it appears no info whatsoever is coming from Jolla isn't a wise choice :D

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Jolla Mobile on FB:
And no - Marc Dillon did not confirm any QWERTY other half in this program.

:(
Jolla Mobile is not the official page, though...

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Where?
10-chars

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Ever looked at the Nokia 9300i or likewise?
It at a 4row layout and - something I miss most often on my N900 - a Tab key. There was a 5th row of programm shortcuts but only one of them could be personalized.
Also it had cursor buttons which fit in nicely in German layout in opposite to N900, where up/down is pretty much rubbish.

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

A solid stand,
so you can watch movies and don't have to hold it all the time while doing stuff on it.

Also the keyboard should have back lights (colored?).

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Ctrl I acts as Tab
Ctrl X / Ctrl C and Ctrl V have the usual Cut, Copy and Paste functions

see N900 shortcuts and gestures on the Wiki for a (complete ?) list of shortcuts

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Alternatively, you can just edit the keymap and add whatever stuff you feel you're missing.

I added | < > tab { } pageup pagedn and others.
http://wiki.maemo.org/Remapping_keyboard

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

Here was my carefully crafted keyboard concept back from 2010:

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/4...p3ultimate.png

I think its function over form, at its max. Keeping the important keys, and hiding the rest as Secondary ones (Activated via Ctrl), and do away with the rest. A small light indicates when Ctrl or the Shift (Caps Lock) is active. The circle at the right is actually a Trackball (think Blackberry) which helps control the cursor with awesome tactile feedback.

All in all, keep everything big, bland, easy to see and type away!

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

I would love to see a "terminal" style other half. Think of it as a combination of an E ink display together with a QWERTY HW keyboard. Then all I would need to do is install tmux and it would be a match made in heaven (at least for me :)).

Re: So, what should a qwerty other half look like?
 

I am a girl or woman.

I am female, but I'm over 40. You can decide which one I am.

I prefer a hardware keyboard. It makes it faster and easier to type. I can use two thumbs instead of one fingertip.