Accessories bluetooth keyboard?

[mhmohamadi]

can i use any bluetooth keyboard ?

 

[Carl C]

Android bluetooth compatibility is not that good at the moment so you can't really use any bluetooth keyboard but I'm confident this will change and google will make this stuff compatible

 

[spamianspoon]

Unfortunatley, google have stated on the android developer mailing list that they have no intention of back-porting new capabilities to old handsets or older android versions. I can't find the link, but basically a google android developer said that they were more interested in pushing android forward than in filling in gaps they left behind in the past.

 

[Carl C]

Unfortunatley, google have stated on the android developer mailing list that they have no intention of back-porting new capabilities to old handsets or older android versions. I can't find the link, but basically a google android developer said that they were more interested in pushing android forward than in filling in gaps they left behind in the past.

I really want to see that link , anyone got it?

 

[InvalidUserID]

can i use any bluetooth keyboard ?

A developer has made an app that can use specific Bluetooth keyboards. The developers webpage is:
Android Bluetooth Keyboard Driver Beta Test FeedBack - My Mobile Gear - Mobile Community

The (trial) app can be found in the market place and its name is: KeyPro.

I was able to pair a Bluetooth keyboard with my Droid.
Pictures by Invalid_User_ID - Photobucket

 

[Slug]

Unfortunatley, google have stated on the android developer mailing list that they have no intention of back-porting new capabilities to old handsets or older android versions.

Which is a bummer for owners of devices which can't/won't receive any OS updates, but shouldn't affect the Hero as it will (hopefully) soon have the latest OS version available.

 

[spamianspoon]

Quote:
"(And in response to your later comment -- no, we are not going to spend time
back-porting features like Bluetooth from newer platforms to older ones.
Given a choice between doing that and improving the current platform, well
it just isn't any choice.)"

from:
Nexus One for platform development? - android-platform | Google Groups

 

[Slug]

Quote:
"(And in response to your later comment -- no, we are not going to spend time
back-porting features like Bluetooth from newer platforms to older ones.
Given a choice between doing that and improving the current platform, well
it just isn't any choice.)"

And....? The word "platform" suggests the OS, in which case the above makes perfect sense. Why on earth would they waste time and effort rewriting part of 1.5 when everyone is crying out for 2.x, either on new devices or as an update to existing ones?

The Hero's radio hardware supports Bluetooth, the limitation atm is at the OS level. If, as has been documented, 2.x contains an improved BT stack then those improvements will be available to it.

 

[spamianspoon]

That's assuming each model out there gets an OS update. I for one am not going to buy another HTC phone unless they get a lot speedier with their updates. And even then you can't expect companies to keep updating OSs for older phones forever, they are in business to sell new models. If we do eventually get Eclair I would guess that will be the one of the last official updates from HTC. I wish there were more companies like geeksphone and openmoko who release their drivers under open source licenses so devs can do the upgrades that take these megabucks companies so long.

 

[Slug]

That's assuming each model out there gets an OS update.

I'm only concerned with the Hero, and HTC have confirmed that it will.

you can't expect companies to keep updating OSs for older phones forever, they are in business to sell new models.

True, but the only "expectation" here is of an update to 2.x - see above.

I wish there were more companies like geeksphone and openmoko who release their drivers under open source licenses so devs can do the upgrades that take these megabucks companies so long.

Or even release the entire OS as open-source.... oh wait, that would be Android then wouldn't it?

 

[frisket]

OK, here's a real-life example. I just bought a Reveware BT flexible keyboard from UKHDMI in Oxford (and kudos to them for taking PayPal and letting me collect the same day from their warehouse

It's very nice, and as a test, it connected immediately with my Ubuntu laptop using the provided BT USB dongle.

On my HTC Hero (recently updated with whatever it was that Heros were updated with in late Aug 2010 -- I can't find any details of exactly what was updated it can be paired and nothing else because the Hero has no BT application software of its own.

Reveware provided a mini-CD with a file called android.apk and a text doc which explained how to copy it to the Hero and install it. That went fine, no problems. The doc goes on to say:

...after that, your mobile will ask you restart, please follow the instruction to let your mobile restart.

4.A dialog box will be given after your mobile restart which need you make a choose whether you want to close the driver or let the driver run in background, please let the driver run in background otherwise your bluetooth keyboard can not be communicated with your mobile.

So I restarted, but I never got any prompt about the driver. The app executes, but clicking on the Scan button just spins its wheels and never connects...presumably because the driver daemon never got started.

Reveware doesn't have a web site, but the (nicely made) box says the trademark is owner by Knoxed, the same company that owns UKHDMI, so I'll try them for support on Monday.

In the meantime, as I know zilch about the insides of a .apk file, and even less about writing Android daemons, does anyone know if there is a way to force one to start at boot time? The .apk file contains the following:

Archive: /media/cdrom0/android/android.apk

 Length   Method    Size  Cmpr    Date    Time   CRC-32   Name
--------  ------  ------- ---- ---------- ----- --------  ----
    1276  Stored     1276   0% 2009-10-11 17:53 43e53a4d  assets/chlayout.sh
      33  Defl:N       30   9% 2009-10-26 19:10 38ffbf28  assets/h2w_headset.kl
  198750  Defl:N   129735  35% 2009-10-26 19:10 2a76c837  assets/hid
   12009  Defl:N     6798  43% 2009-10-26 19:10 9844c133  assets/mount
    1699  Defl:N      534  69% 2009-10-26 19:10 01c94310  assets/qwerty.kl
   68484  Defl:N    43071  37% 2009-10-26 19:10 5146a1a3  assets/toolbox
    3165  Defl:N      588  81% 2009-10-26 19:10 049b5b52  assets/trout-keypad-qwertz.kl
    3132  Defl:N      583  81% 2009-10-26 19:10 a8539ed7  assets/trout-keypad-v2.kl
    3165  Defl:N      588  81% 2009-10-26 19:10 049b5b52  assets/trout-keypad-v3.kl
    1630  Defl:N      525  68% 2009-10-26 19:10 2e476ecc  assets/trout-keypad.kl
    3228  Stored     3228   0% 2009-10-26 19:10 d6b8c761  res/drawable/icon.png
   31906  Stored    31906   0% 2009-10-26 19:10 32c73b47  res/drawable/logo.png
    2300  Defl:N      725  69% 2009-10-26 19:10 d3fde34a  res/layout/main.xml
    2796  Defl:N      850  70% 2009-10-26 19:10 078950f4  res/layout/mainlandscape.xml
    1936  Defl:N      682  65% 2009-10-26 19:10 27acbd07  AndroidManifest.xml
    2088  Stored     2088   0% 2009-10-26 19:10 0c2186d9  resources.arsc
   23424  Defl:N    10944  53% 2009-10-26 19:10 50f45e3b  classes.dex
    1278  Defl:N      620  52% 2009-10-26 19:10 4b3706fb  META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
    1331  Defl:N      669  50% 2009-10-26 19:10 6d14895e  META-INF/CERT.SF
     771  Defl:N      600  22% 2009-10-26 19:10 b5de526d  META-INF/CERT.RSA
--------          -------  ---                            -------
  364401           236040  35%                            20 files

Which bits of this are likely culprits? It would be nice to find something that would not ask questions at boot time but just spawn the daemon.

///

 

[jeffthewhitegoose]

I discovered an awesome laser projection keyboard that works with Android Phones. It is manufactured by Celluon and is called the CL850. The CL850 Bluetooth Keyboard driver is available on the Android Market for download just in time for the holidays. More information is available at the following URL:
CL850 Bluetooth Keyboard Android Application

 

[radhoo]

[/CODE]Which bits of this are likely culprits? It would be nice to find something that would not ask questions at boot time but just spawn the daemon.
///

That's part of Blueinput (search for Teksoft Blueinput for Android on Google).

It's already available for some time, it's a bluetooth keyboard driver that works good with most of the Android devices.

 

[Yoenuts]

I've tried blueinput. I have a verbatim bluetooth keyboard and it keeps saying " paired not connected". Have an HTC Desire HD. Any ideas are welcome...

 

[pbasch]

I have a MyTouch 4g (HTC Glacier), and I've tried with two HID keyboards, and one SPP keyboard. SPP isn't recognized at all, and with both HID keyboards, I can pair, but not connect, so, no love. I'm hoping the upgrade to Gingerbread will help, but, unless some executive at HTC decides he can get a bonus for doing this, I'm afraid it won't happen. Bummer. I wanted my phone to be my netbook.

 

[efbatey]

Last Found (MID-2010) this
Subject "HMI BT Keyboards vs Android OS Support"
Just got semi boned (2011-12-08) With Great New Android 2.3.4 on my
HTC TMOBILE MyTouch 4G MT4G (was running 2.2.1)
Last stream this subject area suggested the Droid brain trust might or might no fix BT HMI to permit some BT keyboards to work with maybe SOME Android phones .. drivers depending.

Any new-news on possibility of BT Keyboards. Someone just slammed the WiFi that let me SYNC my encrypted (SplashID) password stores (MAC t/f Android (MT4G with 2.3.4). Great regression testing.

Not sure they get it. These are the computers of the near future. Working well they will fetch some revenue. / Everett efbatey AT gmail

 

[forex quotes]

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