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The PC Keyboard
| The QWERTY
(PC) keyboard has been around forever. Designed with two-handed typing in mind, the
keyboard is wider than it is tall. Most people have spent many hours using it and
are familiar with this layout. |
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Note: if you think the QWERTY layout was designed to slow down the typist,
see QWERTY rumor
Mobile Phones
| Next
came the 12-button phone keypad which is good for entering numbers, not
text. That's OK. As long as we can dial 1-800-GOPIZZA now and then.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
* 0 #
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Then comes the Internet.
PC's, email, web
browsers, instant messaging, PDA's, lots of typing. People would like to do some of
these things on their cell phones, except:
Anyone who has used a phone keypad to type
text knows that it makes a poor substitute for a PC keyboard.
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QWERTY: Too Wide
Square Peg. Round Hole.
Designers tried replacing the 12-button cell phone
keypad with a tiny version of the familiar PC (QWERTY) keyboard, but this does not work
well because:
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| Buttons spaced less than 1
centimeter apart become too tiny and too close together for people to type on comfortably. The math: The QWERTY keyboard uses 10 buttons across the top row
( QWERTYUIOP ). Spacing these buttons 1 cm apart results in a cell phone that is
about 10 cm (4 inches) wide - as wide as a waffle.
That is too wide to hold and operate with one hand,
too wide to fit easily into your pocket or purse, and too wide to talk on comfortably. |
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Alphabetical: Too Slow
Ready? Unlearn everything.
Designers needed to come up with a high aspect-ratio
(taller-than-wide) keypad that was narrow enough to hold and operate with one hand.
Since ten buttons across (and therefore a QWERTY
layout) was no longer an option, designers ultimately used four to six buttons across in
alphabetically ordered rows. While these keypads are narrow enough for single-hand
operation, it is difficult to locate letters quickly on alphabetically ordered keypad
layouts because:
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Alphabetically ordered keypad
layouts have nothing in common with the PC (QWERTY) keyboard layout you have spent so many
hours using.
You often "stall" when searching for the next
letter you want to type.
It's not there.
You are fighting your instincts.
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| A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
| F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
| K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
| P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
| U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
| Z |
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5 x 6 alphabetic keypad matrix
These were the dark ages of the mobile keypad.
All of the other pieces were in place, ready to complete the evolution of the common cell
phone into the ultimate smartphone, including bright color
displays, high-speed wireless data, and thousands of software applications.
We were waiting on what seemed to be an
impossibility - the speed and power of the 100+ button PC keyboard embodied in a keypad
the size of a matchbook.
Then...
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21st Century
The discovery
of a single-hand operation keypad matrix that instantly improves typing speeds by 200% to
300% causes mobile computing to flourish worldwide. This new layout affords a pocket
version of the full-sized PC keyboard - a small, super-fast keypad that is a joy to type
on.
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Individual buttons for each letter in the
alphabet.
A slim form factor easily held and operated
with one hand.
Reasonably sized buttons and spacing.
A QWERTY-like layout we can instantly type
fast on.
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