Guest squall Posted December 28, 2004 Report Share Posted December 28, 2004 Over the last few weeks I have been assisting freedominput.comwho have been working on drivers for various smartphones devices including some ms smartphones. Overview Introducing world's first universal Bluetooth keyboard for Palm OS, Window CE, and, last but not least, Symbian OS - the Smartphonemate BK600. Specifications Key Numbers 63 keys Key Type Scissor Key Format QWERTY Key Height 5.5mm Key Travel 2.6mm Key Spacing 0.8mm Key Force 60g Key Lifetime 10M times Function Key Definition 0~9, A~Z, Fn, Alt gr, Alt, Ctrl, ... Short Cut Key 4 short cuts Customizable Key 10 Input Speed Setting Key Repeat Rate, Delay Time Language Supported English, French, German Mechanical Closed (HxVxD) 143x95x19mm Opened (HxVxD) 279x95x13mm Weight 200g These keyboards are available from dixons in the UK priced £69.99 + vat More information (including driver download) from HERE I should have a keyboard to review in the next few days, I look forward to posting my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted December 28, 2004 Report Share Posted December 28, 2004 I have one of these in the mail to me now. I am actually getting the one labeled the Freedom Keyboard, but it is the same keyboard and drivers. I actually have the v1.34 drivers on my SMT5600, and they are supposed to work (as I said, I haven't received the keyboard yet, so I haven't tested it). I will install the v1.40 driver though. I am anxious to read your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Thanks, Squall & Smeg, I have just received my Freedom BT keyboard and had a freezing problem with the v1.34 driver that the 1.4 version solves. The problems with driver 1.34 when using the SPV C500 Smartphone were random seizing up of the phone (only way to restart was to remove the phone battery), and unwanted repeating of keys, particularly the enter & delete keys. As far as I can tell so far, v1.4 has solved the freeze problem, but I still get keystroke repeats. I know it's not the keyboard itself that's the problem as I also use it with an iPAQ 2210, and don't get any problems. Perhaps it'll be recognised and fixed on the next driver release. Btw, I had lots of problems connecting the keyboard to the iPAQ - the only way I found to get it to work was to http://www.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?p=97945#97945>Hard Reset it and load all the programs again. I don't know what the porblem was, as I have reloaded all the original software. Last point: the instructions for this keyboard (whatever brand) are not very comprehensive - what does the button do with the "bull's eye" on it do, the one between the delete and back-arrow keys? Does anyone know, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squall Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 when i get mine i will email my contact and ask. I will also put an instruction sheet together ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Hi again...I was being too hasty - my SPV C500 still freezes. This happens mainly when you use the ctrl-6 & ctrl-7 combinations to activate the menu buttons to select a drop-down menu of a program. Anyone else out there noticed this problem? Nick123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Thanks, Ian - I notice from my phone's registry that Chainpus are the guys who actually wrote this driver...it seems like you have some good contacts. When you email them, can you please also ask them about a minor but annoying problem that I didn't bring up in my message above: the driver program contains a "BTShortCut.exe" file which automatically starts the BTkeyboard connection application when the phone is powered up. This means that, if you normally like to leave your BT connection on all the time, you can't any more: it will be off when you switch on the phone as the 'memory' of whether it was on or off during power-down is erased by the keyboard software. You can partially get round the problem by deleting BTShortCut exe, but then if you connect to the keyboard application and then close it, BT is again turned off. I've installed the very nice BTToggle program found elsewhere in these Forums (MrMagoo, Dec 31 2003, Smartphone Software -Applications section), as this saves having to go through the menus to turn BT back on. I'm sure it can't be too difficult for Chainpus to modify the software to prevent this problem. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Many thanks, Ian - I look forward to some news from them eventually, especially about the lock-up of the phone - this really makes the keyboard unusable for anything serious, though as long as you just stick to just typing text rather than manipulating the phone buttons it's OK. The driver works super on my iPAQ 2210 (after the reset)! I left v1.34 on my PDA as I think the only difference between it and v1.4 is that more devices have been added. Regards, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Well, now I am getting really excited for mine to arrive. It will be in the same city as me tonight, but I won't be getting it until Monday (UPS, lame). I also am a little irritated by the BTShortCut.exe and turning bluetooth off every power cycle. I always leave bluetooth on, so I am a little annoyed by this as well. But it will be worth living with for a keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Yes, I like to leave BT on all the time, too. I've removed the BTShortcut.exe file (it's in the storage/windows/startup file), so, if I'm not using the keyboard, BT stays on through a power cycle in the normal way. The problem is if you connect to the keyboard, then the BT setting is returned to off when you've finished. It seems they have put this shortcut program there to ensure they get the icon on the homescreen - I don't know why they didn't simply write a registry mru to do it. I hope your keyboard arrives with you soon, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Yeah, I tried removing the .exe from the startup folder. It didn't really help that much, so I just put it back in there. Better safe than sorry. The real kick in the nuts is that I will be going out of town today, and was really wanting the keyboard before I left. Now I have to wait until Wednesday next week when I get back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted January 2, 2005 Report Share Posted January 2, 2005 Has anyone else got this keyboard in any of its guises (Freedom) with the latest (v1.34 or 1.40) software loaded into a Smartphone SPV C500? Now I've had a chance to play with the keyboard a couple of days, there's is still some work to do on the driver for the Smartphones, at least for the C500 - Problem 1: if you try to do anything other than just type, i.e. use it to activate the menu softkeys or dropdown menu options of any Smartphone program, sooner or later the phone is going to lock up. The only way to recover is to take the battery out of the phone. I can't repeat the problem on a regular basis, it seems to be random, but the lock-up always occurs when activating a menu or button option. Problem 2: regular text entry doesn't cause a lock-up, but you get quite a few unwanted key repeats, especially when using 'enter' or 'delete', no matter what settings you choose for key repeat frequency. None of these problems occur when using the same driver on my PDA (iPAQ 22xx), so the problem has to be the specific driver option associated with the C500 Smartphone. I hope that Chainplus can cure this - I really don't find the keyboard usable with the phone on a reliable basis. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Well, I got mine today. I am actually suprized and pleased with it. It is much smaller than I expected, including the keys. But they are actually fairly easy for me to use. It worked great with my SMT5600, including menus and all. The problem I am having is actually getting it to work with my PPC, Axim X50v. The software installs fine, but when I try to activate the keyboard, I get an error saying the keyboard can't be found. The person I bought it from said it worked with their X50v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Glad you got it, Smeg. The connection errors I got on my iPAQ 2210 were "Connection Lost" followed by "Unable to connect......." a fraction of a second later . As I said, the only way I found to solve this was a http://www.modaco.com/index.php?act=ST&f=1...62&st=0>HARD RESET, and then make sure to install the keyboard driver as one of the first tasks to be done after re-establishing Activesync. It was a lot of hassle but now it connects perfectly every time. I don't think any particular programmes were interfering with the driver, as I've reloaded everything. Perhaps it's a bit like the Windows XP Service Pack 2 problems - the order of installation of things is important. I confirm that, other than the initial connection problem, it really works great with my PDA. I'm more concerned over the iffy performance of the keyboard with my Smartphone: it has to be a driver problem and I just hope someone out there can fix it. Your phone (Audivox SMT5600) is the same as mine (SPV C500), both clones of the HTC Smartphone: don't you find the same problems?: 1. go into a text writing program like the email or text programs (Orneta Notes/Smartphone Notes/Veiga), and start writing. Some keystrokes get repeated - the notable one is "enter", which instead of giving one line return can give two or more. "Delete" often wipes out two letters and sometimes the whole word. 2. go to any Smartphone program that has dropdown menus (e.g. the email again), and use the ctrl 6, ctrl 7, enter and arrow commands to change menu options - sooner or later the phone will lock-up (remove battery from phone to get out of the problem). Good luck, let me know what you find and if you get the PDA going OK. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 I did get it working with my X50v. I have no idea why it suddenly started working though. All I did was try the older version of the driver that came on the cd, and when that didn't work I reinstalled the newer v1.40 driver. Now it is suddenly working. I am not having the same problems with my SMT5600 as you are having, at least so far. I haven't done any extensive testing yet, but all seems to be working fine as of now. I will post again after some real usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Hi Smeg, I'm glad your problems are sorted. If you have the same problem as me (...and I hope you don't), then you can soon tell: go to any program that has pop-up menus when the soft key on the right or left is marked "menu" or "options". Don't touch any buttons on the phone, from now on just use the keyboard (the left soft button is controlled with ctrl 6, the right one with ctrl 7). Scroll up or down (arrow keys) and choose something at random (i.e. hit 'enter'), or press the number key to select an option ........very soon the phone will freeze (at least it would if you had my C500). Please let me know - in any event, they are working alreday on a new driver. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 I see what you mean about the repeating letters and enters now. I composed a longer email with it today, and it did start to get quite anoying toward the end. It is definatly a problem with the Smartphone driver as you say. I am composing this post using the keyboard with my X50v, connecting to the internet through my SMT5600, and it isn't doing it with the X50v. I have been using the keyboard to navigate the menus with no problem so far though. I will be excited to see if the next driver solves some of these problems. As far as the physical keyboard goes, I am liking it a lot. The keys are small, but I have found them to work well enough. And I really like the price (I got it used for $70 instead of the retail $100). I like that the stand comes out from inside the keyboard, and that is can connect to the keyboard, or be removed from it. I hate how far back the stand goes though. The angle is far to laid back. I am going to fiddle with it when I get home from work and see if I can modify it slightly though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squall Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 I have a test driver for this device. just waiting to confirm if i can distribute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 Sorry you've got the same problem, Smeg, but I'm relieved in a way as at least it means I don't have a 'rogue' phone. I agree with you, the problem seems to get worse with use - I get no key repeats in the first 60 seconds or so of use. I'm pretty sure that the lock-up is connected to the key-repeat problem: the phone can take a repeat of a letter over a few microseconds, but it can't handle it if the repeat is an action in such a short time-frame. Using the keys to manipulate a program menu (e.g. Orneta Notes/menu (ctrl7)/exit (8)), I get about a one in 12 chance of it freezing the phone - and it's due to key repeats as I see a trail of 8's on the frozen screen (usually about four). I think we'll just have to be patient and wait for a new driver - Squall, thanks for your help: they have already contacted me with a beta version of a new driver, but so far it's more or less the same problem. Physically I like this keyboard a lot, especially the feel of the keys -some people won't like the small size but for me it's just the right compromise between usability and portability. I've noticed too that the stand support comes right out if you want - could be useful if someone designs a different configuration stand, but otherwise I can't see any particular purpose (secret credit card slot, perhaps?). I agree with Smeg, the rubber base on the stand part is a bit useless as the device always slides to its most laid-back position. Assuming the driver problem gets sorted, my wish-list for a future software version is for customisable short-cut keys to ASCII characters and macros - the shortcuts that can be entered at present are for program execution only. It would be great to have some shortcuts to commonly-used phrases or long words, and, although accented letters are available, it means pressing three keys at once and you have to press the sequence again after you've done or the keyboard will stay in 'gibberish-mode'. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 The smiley face in the above posting should be an 8 - you need to hit the 8 key to exit Orneta Notes from the pop-up menu. I must have activated a Modaco emoticon shortcut in error. Anyway, the smiley face is still correct, nothing to be miserable about from me! Nick O:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nick123 Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 :) Good News - the driver problem has now been solved by Chainpus. The finished new version (1.5) will be available in a couple of weeks, I understand. They have solved both the problem of the key repeats and also the lock-up problem. Squall, thanks very much for your help in getting the problem intially to the attention of the Chainpus team. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 I have just started testing the new driver as well, and I can verify that all problems are solved! Nice! Thanks for the quick responce Squall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 I just started having a hardware problem with this keyboard today. The problem occurs when the keyboard is opened, and the left half of the keys are slid into place. When I try to type with the keys slid over to the right, the A, S, D, F, G, E, R, and T buttons do not work. Oddly, the Q, W, Z, X, C, V, B, and all numbers and other keys on the left hand side do work. When I slide the keys back over to the left, they all work again. Just not when the keyboard is fully in place. Any ideas to what would cause this, and how to fix it? It is obviously a hardware problem because it does this exact same thing on both my X50v and SMT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squall Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 I recieved mine today. I will test as time premits over the next few days (i have exams this week so im kind of busy) smeg you have a pm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smeg36 Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 Wow, I am really impressed with Chainpus right now! Thanks to Squall getting me in contact with them, they email me directly to help me get a replacement keyboard. They suggested I return it to the store I purchased it from. I wrote back, and said I bought it one-day-old used. They contacted me again, and gave me their address to return it to them, and they are going to replace it for me! That just amazes me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squall Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 glad to here you are getting it sorted! I received mine yesterday, and despite not having time to use it much im very impressed. I was pleased to find its possible to work the menu's etc from the phone. I also havent had any issues with the function buttons!. Build quality is great! Looking to post a review soon. Most likely friday or saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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