One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Hi all,

Spotted this new foldable keyboard (from Norway!) which uses NFC instead of BT to connect to a handset:

http://www.12touch.no

Could this be the perfect keyboard for the N9?

I've sent them an email to ask some questions:)

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Looks kinda bulky, doesn't it?

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Well, most-probably it uses NFC to do a quick pair using Bluetooth(instead of entering code) , NFC range is 1.5-5 cm according to specifications (if memory serves me well)

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

i can problably use that keyboard but my fingers go to the otherside of the keyboard a lot so hmmm

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

I'm pretty sure it's NFC all the way - hence the non user replaceable battery with 3 year life...

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

^ Veeeery interesting, nice find, thanks.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Ditto! I really hope they'll work on a driver for the N9 - if not we'll just have to cobble one together ourselves... ;)

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Looks kind of big doesn't it? You would need a table top to use it. Not very convenient to carry around.

The best solution is a casing with slide out keyboard.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

I don't agree at all: surely the best solution must be to have several options? I personally don't like the look of the slide out cases one bit, they look very cheap and plasticky to me - and would take up just as much place in my bag. The One2Touch keyboard is an innovative alternative that manages to look quite cool, and I for one support their efforts.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

any news on availability, price or compatibility with our beloved N9?

'cos this one look really nice :)

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

I wrote to them to ask and was told it will be compatible with the N9, but that it was unlikely to be available (in the EU) until later this year. No pricing info, but I think they mention somewhere else that it will be around $50.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Wow nice, I think I'll be getting this if it works well.
I like the fact that uses much lower power via NFC.
And it looks like it's designed very well....

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Did they say it'll be available earlier elsewhere or is the EU the 1st market?
Can they be more specific than "later this year"? e.g. Q2, Q3, Q4 etc.

Thank-you!

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

The keyboard reminds me of the ZX Spectrum. Mushy. A folding keyboard with Cherry blues FTW.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

I suppose there's no harm in me quoting their email:

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

link appears dead.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Indeed. My vapometer moves up a notch.

There's no such thing as a NFC keyboard. Even if you could stay in range with the device, there's no protocol for such a device to use. NFC is for burst transmission and not for persistent device connectivity.

This device clearly just uses NFC to pair a bluetooth connection, which a common useage much like Nokia's own bluetooth speakers.

And since the N9 doesn't support bluetooth keyboard connections yet, this device is not a smart buy for an N9 owner.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

I stand corrected.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

You must realise that if it was bluetooth, then it would require charging after 10 or so hours of use?

Also you said yourself NFC provides burst transmission, meaning that each keystroke can be a burst of data, meaning hardly any battery usage, and phone is CONSTANTLY in contact with the keyboard seeing as the design has the phone resting on the flat surface in the middle

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

What I said. But I confess I don't know nearly enough about NFC to say whether a keyboard would be possible. I have noticed that there is quite a delay when reading cards with the N9 - even a fraction of that delay would be a show stopper for a keyboard...

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Meh too vague, but thanks...
I may try asking them again later, if the site ever comes back up!

See the 1st several posts. Also godofwar raises some further good points.
Admittedly I know little about NFC, so this may well be pure vapor.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

You stand corrected:
wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/broadcom-offers-10-year-battery-life-for-bluetooth-keyboards/

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Ugh.......
So this depends on if we ever get the BT4 we were promised earlier on & all the signs were pointing to.*
I spoke to someone about that recently, & he couldn't tell me much except:

I guess the only way to know for sure, is to ask One2Touch to explain how it works.
We should be able to pick up ******** pretty quickly.... :)

*was in doco/specs all over the place, & some personnel in Australia felt it was coming w/1.1

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

It is purely NFC. Just check out the patent
http://www.google.com/patents?id=B3C...ed=0CDcQ6AEwAQ
(Search word "External Keyboard" & Aasen).

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

But that delay seems to be for the initial communication, I reckon once the initial connection is made, the N9 will stay active for a second or two to see for any further connections.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

And there you are. Standing. Corrected. :p

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Well it could still remain vaporware :)

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

As facinating as this NFC keyboard sounds.....

Antigravity craft slips past patent officers :
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...l/438139a.html

Basically, release a product or it doesn't exist.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Hi cddiede.

Actually, I've had limited success getting btkb working with N9. The instructions are given in the FMC thread

"How to connect bluetooth keyboard to N9"

Unfortunately it only works as long a the VKB remains in view. That is, if you swipe the VKB off the screen, while leaving the terminal in view, you can no longer enter any keystrokes from the bluetooth keyboard! This kind of defeats the purpose as I generally would like to have a full screen in view while typing. There is a possible fix given in the thread and while I do lots of scientific programing I think it is a problem more appropriate for a skilled developer on these forums (unless you don't mind waiting 6 months for me to do it!). Also, the other thing I noticed is that I could start up some apps from the touch pad on my btkb, but, here the problem is that I could not easily control which app I started because I could not see where the cursor was! At least I think there is one! Anyways, I hope someone can tackle this soon as many would benefit...

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

New Link:
http://o2t.nxtech.no/

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

I coulda told him all that, but assumed he already knew :)
Thanks for the summary of it all again...

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Yep, I'm aware of and very appreciative of the current efforts to get bluetooth keyboards working on the N9.

However, my initial statement was more to the effect of:

"If bluetooth keyboards aren't officially supported by, nor work out of the box on the N9, then purchasing an "NFC" keyboard that likely uses bluetooth connections is an unwise purchase."

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Why do you still think that it uses bluetooth? Of course nfc could be used to transmit keypresses, if an appropriate driver modules is loaded.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

The patent does suggest that only NFC is used, meaning there's no bluetooth chip in this keyboard, and the company mentioned the N9 as something that are working on for compatibility meaning they must be creating some sort of driver that will enable it to work effectively with the N9 :)

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

In their video the android device they are using has no bluetooth icon on the notification bar at the top!

NFC One2Touch Video

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

This thing is extremely interesting, although I'd be more interested in something that you don't need a table to use with, ie in bus/bus stop, lunch queue, walking. Might have to get this anyway just to check it out and support the company.

Also they are clearly saying on their page that they are using NFC to substitute BT.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

Because AFAIK NFC does not have protocol to be used for such purpose.

By using NFC you could:
read/write tags.
emulate ISO (put number here) and mifare cards (EMV, QVSDC ,etc.)
do easy paring (for BlueTooth)

Anyway, by looking at the video it seems it really does not use BT. Just wondering how portable will be such proprietary extension to NFC. And how usefull it will be to hold your device on the top of your keyboard. NFC range is 1-5 cm, no options there.

Re: One 2 Touch NFC keyboard
 

NFC can transmit arbitrary data, too (which is done on bt pairing, as the two devices exchage a bluetooth passkey).

As the data rate is (relatively) slow, there is no sense in transmittig big amounts of data (like directly sharing an image via nfc).

but as a keyboard has to send a minimal amount of data, nfc is fast enough. there is no standard for this though, there will be a special driver needed, which is polling nfc and emulates the keypresses for the os.