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I have seen this keyboard mentioned a few times, but not seen anyone say they bought one, or used one. http://www.freedominput.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=137&Itemid=140
Well, mine turned up today, and works really well.
http://twitpic.com/26wdc
You have to install the driver to make the softkey buttons and function buttons work, but it will pair and work as a normal BT keyboard without that (obviously using the drivers gives a far better experience).
As it's a RAZR style keyboard, the buttons aren't as easy to type on compared to a proper thumb board, but you can type pretty well, and it means you can leave the Touch HD in a cradle or proped against something and use the keyboard to type, and control the device with hardly any screen taps required.
No idea about battery life yet, but they claim 1 hour charge gives 4 hours use.
The blue backlighting is quite uneven, and the underside looks a little cheap considering it's £49.99 price tag (it was a birthday present, so I was OK with the price hehe), but I can live with that.
Charges straight from a mini USB port, and it works with any device that supports bluetooth HID (WinMo, Symbian, XP, Vista, Linux and so on) and also supports SPP for Blackberry devices. The support for berries confised me a little as it was released before the Storm, so why would anyone want this when the device has a proper keypad anyway?
Oh well, off to practice my typing on it more, but will answer any questions you may have about it if I can.
I can't get mine to work
I had my Freedom Slim Keypad for about 3 months and so far have not been able to connect it to my Treo Pro . I install the drivers and nothing seems to work. When I try to pair it . It ask me type in pair code. Of course I pick 0000 or 1234 and nothing works. What did you do to get yours to connect and work?
Windows 8 has been shown to be able to run on ARM chipsets as well as running off removable media.
Dockable phones also seem to be an up and coming thing (see the Atrix and padfone), however instead of using a pretty limited linux distro when docked WP7 phones could use Windows 8.
As long as the phone specs were up to it they'd be no real difficultly. Once the phones docked into something like a TV via HDMI you could use the phones screen as a mouse and when text needs to be entered you just click on the field and a keyboard shows up on the phone.
It could do the same as the padfone as well except obviously it'd use Windows 8's tablet interface.
Plugged into a laptop body then it'd just be the standard Windows setup.
What does everyone reckon?
I have no doubt that this will happen, probably once Windows Phone moves to the Windows 8 core.
Yeah. I was actually demonstrating this to a friend of mine last week. He's a cg animator for a mid-size company and we began talking about what type of interface could replace the mouse, gesture, voice, etc.
Gesture wouldn't be as accurate as needed in his line of work but would fit most people's needs. However, it may prove to be a bit of a strain over time. Voice... well you probably would eventually get tired of talking.
Microsoft just patented keyboards with removable/dockable touch interfaces which dock next to the number pad on the right, or alternatively, the left side. This interface could replace the mouse even for work which requires extreme accuracy like my friend's above.
This could also be your phone. It could be docked with the keyboard via bluetooth, wifi, IR, wireless HDMI, a physical dockin outlet or whatever else, as well as a tv with those inputs. This could then be used as an interface, universal remote, or to send an image to a larger screen. It could be used in conjunction with a physical keyboard or as a keyboard itself, as well. A windows 8 pad coud be used in much the same manner.
Windows Phone 8 will be like that...
im waiting on my s4 mini, and I guess I should have asked this before I bought mine, but previously I bought an lg volt to test out the ir capabilities. it worked, but it kind of sucked as I had to point straight at the device in question. its not a deal breaker, but I was hoping that the s4 mini would be higher quality hardware, and that maybe the ir emitter works better in it? when using an apple remote, or tv remote, I can point almost anywhere, sometimes even the opposite direction, which was nice, as I didn't have to neccesarily point directly at the sensor.
again, not a deal breaker. just curious
unvaluablespace said:
im waiting on my s4 mini, and I guess I should have asked this before I bought mine, but previously I bought an lg volt to test out the ir capabilities. it worked, but it kind of sucked as I had to point straight at the device in question. its not a deal breaker, but I was hoping that the s4 mini would be higher quality hardware, and that maybe the ir emitter works better in it? when using an apple remote, or tv remote, I can point almost anywhere, sometimes even the opposite direction, which was nice, as I didn't have to neccesarily point directly at the sensor.
again, not a deal breaker. just curious
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The IR on the S4 Mini works quite fine in a 90 degree range (45 on both sides) and does work beyond that also. To work in the opposite direction, there has to be a reflective surface and the angle should be right
unvaluablespace said:
im waiting on my s4 mini, and I guess I should have asked this before I bought mine, but previously I bought an lg volt to test out the ir capabilities. it worked, but it kind of sucked as I had to point straight at the device in question. its not a deal breaker, but I was hoping that the s4 mini would be higher quality hardware, and that maybe the ir emitter works better in it? when using an apple remote, or tv remote, I can point almost anywhere, sometimes even the opposite direction, which was nice, as I didn't have to neccesarily point directly at the sensor.
again, not a deal breaker. just curious
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The IR blaster is unfortunately abit weak! I use it all the time for all my electronics at home, so it's of course usable. But you do need to point it pretty much straight on the receiver to get it to work.
osvanberg said:
The IR blaster is unfortunately abit weak! I use it all the time for all my electronics at home, so it's of course usable. But you do need to point it pretty much straight on the receiver to get it to work.
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Mine works fine
Which app are you using for the IR ?
gladson1976 said:
Mine works fine
Which app are you using for the IR ?
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Well mine workes fine as well, not just as powerful as I would like. Have tested many apps, there all the same in this regard. It's not the apps in this case, it's the HW. But I use "Smart IR Remote - Anymote" from Color Tiger! The app is a killer, the best!
osvanberg said:
Well mine workes fine as well, not just as powerful as I would like. Have tested many apps, there all the same in this regard. It's not the apps in this case, it's the HW. But I use "Smart IR Remote - Anymote" from Color Tiger! The app is a killer, the best!
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both of your replies seem to indicate that its not perfect, but probably better than the lg volt. kind of a bummer, but not a big deal. my guess would be that these ir emitters on devices as small as these just aren't big enough to blast the ir as well as a remote with a bigger window. still, as long as it works reliably when pointing at the screen, very nice.
osvanberg, when I get my s4 mini, im going to give smart ir remote a shot, but have you heard of or tried unified remote? the design is a little bland/flat, but I believe you can customize your own buttons. it also has a wide range of remotes for Bluetooth and wifi, as well as ir. since I don't have a device with ir just yet, I cant confirm, but it looks like you can actually teach unified remote specific button commands via ir. personally, im going to use this to essentially emulate all of my tv remote's buttons, as most ir apps tend to just emulate basic button commands, and sometimes you need the full remote. if unified remote app works for me, then I wont need to pull out my remote for certain situations (enabling 3d mode, for example)
unvaluablespace said:
both of your replies seem to indicate that its not perfect, but probably better than the lg volt. kind of a bummer, but not a big deal. my guess would be that these ir emitters on devices as small as these just aren't big enough to blast the ir as well as a remote with a bigger window. still, as long as it works reliably when pointing at the screen, very nice.
osvanberg, when I get my s4 mini, im going to give smart ir remote a shot, but have you heard of or tried unified remote? the design is a little bland/flat, but I believe you can customize your own buttons. it also has a wide range of remotes for Bluetooth and wifi, as well as ir. since I don't have a device with ir just yet, I cant confirm, but it looks like you can actually teach unified remote specific button commands via ir. personally, im going to use this to essentially emulate all of my tv remote's buttons, as most ir apps tend to just emulate basic button commands, and sometimes you need the full remote. if unified remote app works for me, then I wont need to pull out my remote for certain situations (enabling 3d mode, for example)
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Yeah I think you're correct in your estimation.
No I haven't tried the specific app you mentions. But all I can say is that Smart IR Remote is fantastic! I have 100% functionality of ALL my buttons for my : Samsung TV, LG Dvd, Sony Blu-ray, Mede8er Steamer and my YAMAHA receiver/amplifier.
You can customize each bottom separately if you need - add what you want and delete what you don't need. Change apperence, colors, feedback, etc. You can also easily create your own macro commands and therefore combine many actions (ex. All electronics ON/OFF) in the action for one button.
There's also both IR and WiFi remotes to add. Many hundreds of thousands in total. And if one command is missing? Just inform the dev, in my case they added the (one) missing button on my Mede8er Streamer in just 2 days. So now I have every single button/command available! ?
osvanberg said:
Well mine workes fine as well, not just as powerful as I would like. Have tested many apps, there all the same in this regard. It's not the apps in this case, it's the HW. But I use "Smart IR Remote - Anymote" from Color Tiger! The app is a killer, the best!
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Click to collapse
I use the "Galaxy Universal Remote" which works just as well for me
Has anyone noticed anything? I keep reading how this tablet has been designed for use with the keyboard, but nothing concrete has ever been said, that I know of. Sure, it's sleek and it's magnetic and it charges from the tablet. But actual KB functionality, how is it different than, say, a Logitech K810 or any other bluetooth keyboard, especially those designed for Android, with a proper home (and sometimes recents) button?
One peeve I have always had with Android is the way it handles the US International layout. It's not the same standard MS and Apple (iOS) use. To input something like an "á" you need to press Alt. I wonder if they'll ever fix that. In the meantime I use the splendid app External Keyboard Helper, but if you're not rooted it's not 100% seamless, you need to manually select EKH in the input dialog when connecting the BT keyboard.
andy o said:
Has anyone noticed anything? I keep reading how this tablet has been designed for use with the keyboard, but nothing concrete has ever been said, that I know of. Sure, it's sleek and it's magnetic and it charges from the tablet. But actual KB functionality, how is it different than, say, a Logitech K810 or any other bluetooth keyboard, especially those designed for Android, with a proper home (and sometimes recents) button?
One peeve I have always had with Android is the way it handles the US International layout. It's not the same standard MS and Apple (iOS) use. To input something like an "á" you need to press Alt. I wonder if they'll ever fix that. In the meantime I use the splendid app External Keyboard Helper, but if you're not rooted it's not 100% seamless, you need to manually select EKH in the input dialog when connecting the BT keyboard.
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I, too, am curious about this. It is pretty cool how the keyboard kind of completes the design. However, I can't really justify spending $150 on it when I have a $20 Anker BT keyboard that works perfectly fine with my Nexus 10, and should work the same with the Pixel C.
a lot of manufacturers make accessories in an attempt to increase profits from sales, google is no different. google places a big checkmark on design issues throughout all the products it deals with. the design is what sets this keyboard apart, not the function. google even offers two designs of the keyboard. it was interesting to me that each design cost the same to the buyer when it appears from the specs that the folio would probably cost more to make.
Google should have never advertised the keyboard accessory like it was necessary when it definitely isn't. It made people think that this device would be more productive than any other android tablet when it's not. Even a iPad Air 2 with a keyboard is more productive due to tablet optimized apps than any android tablet except maybe for Samsung tablets who at least try to make interface customizations for tablet optimization.
It's worth every penny
As someone that bought the keyboard, heck I bought the Pixel BECAUSE of its keyboard - I also bought the excellent Dell 7840 and it's keyboard, and have 5 BT keyboards in various storage nooks around the house, used on my Note 10.1 or iPad original - so I know a thing or two about what I want. Oh, and I recently sold my semi-loved Chromebook Flip to help fund this beast of a tablet...
Anyway - this is the first typing experience I've had on a tablet that makes it feel like a laptop. So what, you ask? So I was looking for a great typing experience for productivity reasons. And the keyboard (not folio) delivers this in spades. Yes the design integrates perfectly with the tablet. Yes the magnetic system and charging mechanism are awesome and very Apple-like (the old Apple that designed products to JUST WORK and perform so well it was almost magic). Yes the pitch is great - no your enter key is not identical to a laptop but you can get used to it (and I am not a great typist).
The real thing that makes a difference tho? Funny enough its that dang hinge. The ability to customize the angle of your screen is HUGE. Don't underestimate the difference 5 degrees makes when you are on your lap, then on an aircraft seat table, then at a restaurant - every bit is welcome and makes the experience BETTER.
So would I recommend the keyboard? If you are ponying up for this tablet (and lets be honest there are number of good alternatives at less cost), and you intend to do any amount of typing, do not think twice - buy the keyboard at the same time - you won't regret it.
Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk
davedigerati said:
It's worth every penny
As someone that bought the keyboard, heck I bought the Pixel BECAUSE of its keyboard - I also bought the excellent Dell 7840 and it's keyboard, and have 5 BT keyboards in various storage nooks around the house, used on my Note 10.1 or iPad original - so I know a thing or two about what I want. Oh, and I recently sold my semi-loved Chromebook Flip to help fund this beast of a tablet...
Anyway - this is the first typing experience I've had on a tablet that makes it feel like a laptop. So what, you ask? So I was looking for a great typing experience for productivity reasons. And the keyboard (not folio) delivers this in spades. Yes the design integrates perfectly with the tablet. Yes the magnetic system and charging mechanism are awesome and very Apple-like (the old Apple that designed products to JUST WORK and perform so well it was almost magic). Yes the pitch is great - no your enter key is not identical to a laptop but you can get used to it (and I am not a great typist).
The real thing that makes a difference tho? Funny enough its that dang hinge. The ability to customize the angle of your screen is HUGE. Don't underestimate the difference 5 degrees makes when you are on your lap, then on an aircraft seat table, then at a restaurant - every bit is welcome and makes the experience BETTER.
So would I recommend the keyboard? If you are ponying up for this tablet (and lets be honest there are number of good alternatives at less cost), and you intend to do any amount of typing, do not think twice - buy the keyboard at the same time - you won't regret it.
Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk
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I don't doubt that the keyboard is high-quality, but that wasn't my concern. I already have very good BT keyboards and I don't mind not having the hinge. As far as I can tell, this keyboard doesn't have a home key? Does it have a "recents" key, or do you just Alt+Tab like on any other one? Right away I can see that since there's no right Alt I couldn't use US Int'l layout for Spanish characters very comfortably (imagine having to use only left Shift for caps). I would still have to use External Keyboard Helper I guess.
I think I'm in a similar situation as davedigerati. I used a Nexus 10 with a bluetooth keyboard for years previously. It was a very similar experience. At times, I'd get ddoouubbllee keys, but nothing major. Everyone can complain about the Android ecosystem, but I actually enjoy using Android w/ a keyboard (and a mouse!).
...but this keyboard 'feels' better. I'm not talking about the key action or even typing experience. The hinge and magnets makes it feel like a laptop. When I used my Nexus, I'd throw it in the laptop pouch of my backpack. My keyboard would go in the main section. With the Pixel C, it's much more like a laptop.
davedigerati said:
It's worth every penny...
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While I really like the keyboard, I'm not really sure I'm ready to say it's worth every penny. This thing was expensive! I generally have no use for backlit keyboards; the keys have all been in the same location for years....but since they've messed with some of the keys, it may have been useful. I'd take 1 month of battery life in exchange for backlit keys and some way to know the battery status.
The lack of some character keys is quite annoying. I mean, I guess I'll get used to pressing [...] + [shift] +[o] for a bracket (that took much longer to type than I'd like to admit), but it's not optimal. I'd also really appreciate a delete key or the ability to make [...] + [backspace] = delete.
Considering you can buy a nice, portable BT keyboard for around $30 and you could probably get a nice case for around $30; I'd say the Pixel C keyboard is at least worth $100. I mean, you're getting a solid keyboard that you don't have to worry about charging (ever), a ridiculously awesome magnetic hinge that functions as the best tablet stand I've ever seen, and protection for the tablet itself. It provides a nice, compact method to take both devices with you. Maybe the other $50 is covered by the aesthetics? So conflicted...
Android doesn't display the virtual "touch keyboard" when a hardware keyboard is detected and because of that, what's unique with the Pixel C keyboard is that the OS "knows" when to activate the hardware keyboard and not, depending on its position relatively to the tablet.
kgersen said:
Android doesn't display the virtual "touch keyboard" when a hardware keyboard is detected and because of that, what's unique with the Pixel C keyboard is that the OS "knows" when to activate the hardware keyboard and not, depending on its position relatively to the tablet.
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You mean if it's attached or not? Any BT keyboard will do the same when it's connected or disconnected. Android will activate the soft keys when the BT keyboard is no longer connected. For instance, with the Microsoft Foldable keyboard, I fold it, and Android enables the soft keys. I open it, and they get disabled. There is also a toggle to enable soft keys with the BT keyboard connected if you want.
andy o said:
You mean if it's attached or not? Any BT keyboard will do the same when it's connected or disconnected. Android will activate the soft keys when the BT keyboard is no longer connected. For instance, with the Microsoft Foldable keyboard, I fold it, and Android enables the soft keys. I open it, and they get disabled. There is also a toggle to enable soft keys with the BT keyboard connected if you want.
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if you take the tablet and move away from a BT keyboard while staying in BT range the OS doesn't switch to soft keys.
if you move the Pixel kb under it or away from it even a few centimeters the OS switches to soft keys. There is a positioning involved. That's just what I meant.
But I agree it's a minor feature.
Main advantage of this keyboard is the mechanicals - I find it so much nicer to use than my N9 from a holding or desktop position.
The Note 7 doesn't have an IR blaster... but it does have an IR LED that is used for the iris unlocking feature. I wonder if someone will be able to write an app that uses that as an IR blaster. Since it is front facing, it might be a challenge to use the screen and aim the blaster towards a device, but its better than nothing.
That would be great if possible
It would be pointless as you'd have to point the phone face forward (Back glass towards you, front display towards TV) to send a command to a TV, whereas when you point it faceforward, you can't see whats on the screen.
90° is also possible.
Would love this idea! I proposed it on a separate posting. I wear glasses, it's possible that my glasses can reflect the IR towards the TV/Device. =)
someone will hit a goldmine if they bring this idea to reality, I wouldn't mind checking the mirror to see if my fingers are hitting the correct buttons while my screen faces the TV
Actually, there would be no need for a mirror if one button was made per screen, so on and off button is big on the screen, swipe right to volume up and down, also you can use the hardware buttons like the volume up and down.
How about if you incorporated say a two second delay so that when you change a setting you then have time to point the IR at the tv etc. or keep sending the signal until you get the change you are after.
It's truly a crying freaking shame that we should even have to resort to this on a phone that is supposed to have "everything"! Samsung, in their infinite wisdom has apparently determined that an IR Blaster is no longer wanted or needed by the general public, but an iris scanner is so much more necessary and useful! (Peel remote app has 50M downloads on the Play Store... Go figure, Samsung).
I would LOVE if someone could figure out a way to utilize the iris scanner's IR light as an IR Blaster, even if the phone has to be held in a somewhat unorthodox manner to use it. At least then the iris scanner wouldn't be a complete loss for me, because I will NOT be using it for its intended purpose.
Kev
I'm using the Galaxy Note 3 to control my air-conditioner, TV, wall mounted Projector...... That wouldn't work after get this new released phone.
IR bounces off of walls so I think this would still work great without any awkward positioning as I used to use my IR blaster on the note 4 by bouncing it off of the ceiling almost 100 percent of the time. I'm definitely hopeful someone can figure this out!
mrmorgan123 said:
IR bounces off of walls so I think this would still work great without any awkward positioning as I used to use my IR blaster on the note 4 by bouncing it off of the ceiling almost 100 percent of the time. I'm definitely hopeful someone can figure this out!
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I was writing that when I saw your post.
Note 7 IR
That would be awesome!, i rarely use the IR blaster in my phone but when i use it is because i really need it and that makes me really happy, so is a shame that is not present on the Note 7, and just an idea but since the IRIS scanner will send and receive a signal maybe just maybe if some smart guy get this to work as a IR remote, could it potentially also learn codes from a remote controller? Don't know if technically possible but i have to dream a little.
I think this would maybe be possible with a rooted app, but for some reason I doubt they will release any api changes to allow control of the IR LED
The other samsung phone had ir blaster and no one use them. They ended up gettog removed. I doybt samsung will bring it back. Also believe the iris led is different from the normal remote ir
Sorry guys, the iris/camera IR is a completely different type of IR laser. Doing this would be like turning the back flash into an IR laser. Its not happening.
I hate the fact that they removed the IR blaster from Samsung phones, but rather than trying to figure out a way to make the iris scanner work which I dont think is possible, you guys can make your own IR blaster, or just order one off eBay for $1.00 USD.
here is the item number for one to type into eBay.
262417705324
You wouldnt have to hold it in an akward position because IR works in almost any way you could be holding it. It just bounces off the walls or something. I dont know how it works, but i can turn on my TV even if i hold my HTC One M9 in the opposite dirrection.
But yeah, i think somebody could probably make that work.
i'd be down for an IR blaster to use in the 3.5mm port if they could make it smaller, like the "pressy" accessory that was on kickstarter a couple years ago. What they have currently is just too big, and from what the auction says, it looks like you have to use a specific app to get it to work. Does anyone know if using the app mentioned in the ebay listing is mandatory? Or if we can use any IR remote app?
only way to get sammy to put this back in future phones is to get a group to write them directly or to start a petitition. Petitions mostly don't do anything so in order to pique sammy's interest, it would have to be a large number of signatures... not sure how many people usually get with online petitions, but i wonder what number would be noticeable for sammy to at least think about it.
[1QUOTE=Pops_G;68018323]The Note 7 doesn't have an IR blaster... but it does have an IR LED that is used for the iris unlocking feature. I wonder if someone will be able to write an app that uses that as an IR blaster. Since it is front facing, it might be a challenge to use the screen and aim the blaster towards a device, but its better than nothing.[/QUOTE]
Does anyone know how the ir led is powered and or have scamatics im thinking its a simple on off circuit with no way of carrying anything usefull but i could be wrong im just guessing