I think i got it.
We will figure out something unlike, but of course your input for this valuable.

The solution which i was thinking

Press a, press SYM (or whatever it is) then select one of âæäáã from vkb and a is replaced with the one accent mark

It would be convenient too indeed. However, I think the less the user has to touch the screen, the better tue ergonomics. With this method, each special character would require moving the thumb from keyboard to screen.

It would be nice if it could be combined with a way to cycle between special character shown in the popup vkb and select the one you want without moving your finger from the hwkb. In other words, pressing a then SYM would display âæäáã on screen, where you can tap to select if you're OK with tapping the screen, but â would be preselected, and hitting some key again (probably SYM) would select æ; and so on. When a character is selected in that popup, press any other key and it will be confirmed and show up in the text box at the same time that the other key. For instance, a, SYM, SYM, SYM, k and ! would result in äk!

One concern with your solution of hitting SYM after the letter though: how would you show all special characters on screen? With space then SYM? It would work.

Another way would be use SYM before the letter, and show all special characters (except accented letters, there are too many) whenever SYM is pressed, and then filter/show only the special characters (accents) corresponding to the first letter pressed after. One problem: to cycle special letters, you would have to move your thumb to SYM again which is awkward. Cycling with the same letter key again would create issues with a lot of words (I can elaborate if necessary).

Or if too difficult on the software side, then just hold SYM and hit a letter key to show corresponding special characters. Cycle by holding SYM and hitting the letter key several times. Show the full list of special characters (except accents) if SYM is hit then released without any combination with another key. This is my prefered solution, I think it's the most natural. [Edit] Well I realize it's exactly what has just been described for the N950. Could be combined with a vkb popup to tap on screen for those who prefer.

I was thinking about an other method. What about long pressing a which shows you to possibilites (âæäáã) tapping a until the right one is selected and press SYM to confirm or whatever, or just press another letter to resume your texting and use that as a sort-of confirm.

Apart from the fact that I really don't like long presses (I really think it breaks the flow of typing a text), I think it should be avoided on a hardware keyboard: what I expect from a hardware keyboard if I hold down a key (except a special key) is repetition of the corresponding character.

I just speak for myself though.

okay, so you guys will have very probably seen the pics from mwc and the very rough finish on the keyboard. some updates:

-i ditched the file from the developer kit to a 3d file from kimmo, as his one fitter perfectly and my fit was terrible
-i redesigned the part attaching to the phone -again- to still be made out of two parts, but the split is now inside, so invisible once it is connected
-i have to scale by 0.75% on my 3d printer to get 1:1 results #trial+error

before

after



more updates soon!

To order should one write you an email first, or just transfer via paypal to your mail?

"Pre-order via email!"

bottom part that came out of the printer has passed my strict quality check.

doing some troubleshooting on base part (that clips to the phone) and starting test print in half an hour. parts currently fits perfectly, but the is an area that will probably come apart in the way it is currently designed.

if this also fits i will start mass-production

pictures are very important.




oh, last question for you guys! what is a good and invisible glue for pla? i have used 'bison kit - universal' but that is a hassle to work with and is yellowy...
edit: found it! transparent hard plastic glue from bison! it sticks like crazy!

#mass-production-mode

Now, while my printer is doing overtime, time to do some open-sourcing!
I will upload as much useful info in >>this<< folder, starting with the PCB files. These are the exact files I sent to the board-makers and this works, so do with it what you want!

The goal here of-course is for everyone to share their drawings, parts lists and whatever to one day create the mega-uber-otherhalf

developer-edition on the mail tomorrow!

typed op qwerty-oh

edit: total thickness -with phone- is 15.5 mm
thickness breakdown: pcb + layer of material + hinge + material + pcb + material, each about 1mm

PCB files are also available in my github repo.
also binary and necessary config files are there now.
instructions to folllow.
source files will be there when i manage to get rpm build automated...
it will then include all necessary configs.
(some .spec magic needed.)


https://github.com/kimmoli/tohkbd