Keyboard Case? Battery? PS3 controller pair?

[codezer0]

Okay, three questions... hopefully should be simple enough.

• Any specific caveats to worry regarding an extended battery? Better yet, any hard cases to go around this phone that would support one with such a battery installed? Any recommendations?
• Not sure about many of you, but there are times I still would rather a physical keyboard. I know I'd seen at least one case for the iPhone that doubled to slide out a qwerty keyboard as well - it paired by bluetooth so that particular case had a battery for the keyboard specifically. Are there such cases for other phones, such as this one?
• Finally, in the interest of the many emulation apps, one thing I'd like to try and do is pair up one of my ps3 controllers to this phone for usage on there, since trying to press multiple buttons and doing complex d-pad motions on a touchscreen just don't work for me. I was to understand that there was a way to do this natively with Android 4?

Rather than make three separate threads, it seemed simpler to keep it to one thread. Thanks for the help as always.

 

[FLAWLESSVW]

I thought any Bluetooth keyboard would work which gives you lots of options...

For the controller, you can use a PS3 controller and here's a thread over at XDA which is a pretty good deal for the actual controller:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37177379

An app that's said to work well is "Sixaxis". I haven't ordered a PS3 controller to try yet but have been using Wii controllers which work pretty well also.

 

[codezer0]

What I'm saying is that I had previously stumbled across a listing on ebay for a hard case that also doubled to slide out a qwerty keyboard. It was actually relatively cheap, too. The issue was that it was only for the iPhone 4/S. And try as I might, I haven't seen such a device for any other device since... not even one for the iPhone 5, as if that makes any sense.

And most bluetooth keyboards would be big, and unwieldy. This combination "keyboard case" effectively made the iPhone into a slider phone. It just noted that it used bluetooth, and from the wording had a separate battery to power the keyboard for usage.

I have a PS3 controller I can use. But again, how would I pair it up to my GS2?

 

[FLAWLESSVW]

Now I got ya.

I've only seen things like that for iPads and Android tablets but never for phones. Are you coming from a phone with a hardware keyboard? I was when I went to the Galaxy Prevail and was worried I'd miss the hardware kb on my previous phone, but you end up getting so fast with touch or Swype that you'll rarely miss a hardware kb, at least for anything you'd reasonably do with a smartphone. I was sure I'd miss it but with personal favorites like Swiftkey (and the new Swiftkey Flow beta which incorporates swipe) which have amazing prediction, you can touch type so sloppy and it fixes all your messes you'll be happy (and crazy fast) with touch typing. I know that doesn't help you on your quest for the original question but may ease your mind if worried about abandoning a hard kb. New keyboard offerings make hardware keyboards seem somewhat geriatric for smartphones

And as I mentioned for the PS3 controller, the "Sixaxis" app available on the market will let you pair your ps3 controller with your gs2 no problem.

Hope that helps!

 

[codezer0]

Yes. My last phone was a Transform Ultra, which had a qwerty keyboard.

Don't even get me started on the prediction. The reason I went to the Galaxy over keeping the evo was because the Evo Design 4G that Boost also sells would NOT stop with the auto-corrects and drove me up the wall. Not even 24 hours and I hated that thing to hell. The Galaxy S 2 was the only phone available that actually respected my desire to leave auto-correct off.

And personally, I am really growing to hate using the touchscreen for a lot of games, especially emulators.

I did see the sixaxis "tester" app, but it has no instructions on how the hell I pair it up with the Galaxy... not to mention I just feel its only intention is to then tell me that I have to buy it. Well, I don't know if I want to buy it only for it to not work. You get what I'm saying?

 

[Codegerm]

Yes. My last phone was a Transform Ultra, which had a qwerty keyboard.

Don't even get me started on the prediction. The reason I went to the Galaxy over keeping the evo was because the Evo Design 4G that Boost also sells would NOT stop with the auto-corrects and drove me up the wall. Not even 24 hours and I hated that thing to hell. The Galaxy S 2 was the only phone available that actually respected my desire to leave auto-correct off.

And personally, I am really growing to hate using the touchscreen for a lot of games, especially emulators.

I did see the sixaxis "tester" app, but it has no instructions on how the hell I pair it up with the Galaxy... not to mention I just feel its only intention is to then tell me that I have to buy it. Well, I don't know if I want to buy it only for it to not work. You get what I'm saying?

If you are buying it from the play store and it don't work for you. you can return it with in 15 minutes and you will be refunded.

 

[FLAWLESSVW]

I'm 100% with you on normal predictions. The nice thing about SwiftKey is that it "learns" from your Gmail, facebook, texts, twitter, etc (IF you choose to allow it to) which greatly enhances its prediction accuracy. It knows the way I like to formulate sentences and is surprisingly accurate. Just an option.

And yes that Sixaxis gets solid reviews so I'd be surprised if you had a bad time with it. The only thing you need to understand is you'll likely have to set up key mappings for specific games you want to play which can be time consuming so you should expect that part. Many have already been done and can be found and imported for each specific game.

 

[LinkKokiri83]

Six asis works great, i use it for ps1 and down emulators. Phone has to be rooted, and u will need a computer to sync the controller. And the phone will hook to a tv via hdmi as well with an mhl adaptor. =3

 

[codezer0]

The Galaxy S 2 can output to HDMI? I only see a microUSB out on the bottom. There's obviously no mention of this ability on the manual that came in the box.

 

[Codegerm]

The Galaxy S 2 can output to HDMI? I only see a microUSB out on the bottom. There's obviously no mention of this ability on the manual that came in the box.

You have to buy the adapter cable, but yes it can output to HDMI.

 

[r3do]

any word on a xbox controller sync?

 

[FLAWLESSVW]

I've not seen anything for this but I believe the reason PS3 and Wii controllers are so easy is because they use bluetooth. I could be wrong but pretty sure 360 controllers do not. That generic PS3 controller in the link from Newegg is only around ten bucks though.

 

[codezer0]

You have to buy the adapter cable, but yes it can output to HDMI.

What would this cable be? I know I was trying to look for it over at Best Buy the other day, but at least one was saying that it was a Samsung-specific thing - at least per their experience with the S 3.

 

[Codegerm]

the micro usb to HDMI cable

 

[codezer0]

Well, for one I finally was able to get myself at least an extended battery... rated 3.7V @ 3800mAh. Part of me is rather disappointed with how long this one lasts compared to the Hyperion extended battery I bought for my old Samsung TU, which lasted close to 3 days per charge. However, I also know that this one at least can last a full day of use including several sessions of that MLP Gameloft game. That thing seems to really hammer the battery life more than even the "fast discharge" app; and unlike the facebook app, will at least respect your settings too. I know there was one on amazon with a slightly higher power rating, but I couldn't afford $40+shipping for it. Much the same, there was another extended battery for which its back door also created a kickstand, which would have been awesome, but the only seller providing it on Amazon wanted a minimum of 14 business days for shipping... WTF?! In any case... yes, this battery does last longer than the stock one under the heavier kinds of loads, but honestly I was hoping for something that would last closer to what the TU's extended battery allowed it to last.

Anyway... pretty safe to say that with the extended battery, I doubt that the keyboard case will fit anymore, like this one for the iPhone4/S. Though I did see a youtube video rigging a bluetooth mini keyboard for the job. Anyone know where I would be able to find that one?

Also, where should I go for this cable? I thought I saw some at Best Buy, but the rep there wouldn't sell one because they claimed the only one that worked was a Samsung Proprietary one... which I'm sure they won't list on their site, knowing my luck.

 

[Codegerm]

As far as battery goes, your expectations are too high. The TU has no where near the power of the GS2. Due to our phones display and processing ability, power is consumed at a higher rate. Manufacture list battery times are limited to ideal conditions and very moderate use.