The8Pen keyboard?

[necosino]

Their website was just updated, and its on the market..

There should def. be a light, or trial version. but $1.58US isn't bad. I'll try it out..

Edit: Ok, I'm lost haha.. I was able to write a T.. but not est.. *sigh*

 

[Argent]

Yeah not sure I'm willing to part with $1.58US for something I may not use

give us a light version without voice recognition or something

 

[necosino]

Wow, lol.. I typed my first sentence.. It will take some getting used to, but I think it actually is faster than Swype. I find myself tilting my finger all over just trying to figure out where the hell letters are though..

I'm entertained by it so far, and say its worth the $1.50. They'll probably raise the price as it catches on, so I'm giving it a thumbs up.

There are also a ton of shortcuts for punctuation, smilies, and custom phrases that you can set up. Like for example, I say "Hey, I'm busy at work, I'll text you later." a lot, so Might set that up as a big "W" on the screen.

 

[nvrfgt343]

I like the idea...so I d/led it. It's a little difficult to learn because your finger blocks your line of sight. I find the automatic space after you lift a little problematic, but that may resolve as I become more familiar with it.

 

[migeeman]

I just bought it, I'll report back my opinion. So far I have 4 keyboards, so I need a need a new keyboard like a hole-in-the-head. Oh well, I like options.

 

[migeeman]

Well after 15 minutes with it, this will be hard to master. The first few times it was very very tough to get through a five word sentence. It must be a mental thing, I knew what I wanted to type, but my fingers wanted to peck as usual. The pros: it gets easier the more you play with it (insert joke here) and it's fun. Cons: a very steep learning curve, auto correct seems to disappear when I try to select a word. So, not sure if I wasted $1.50 or not, time will only tell. What are your reactions? do you love it or hate it?

 

[necosino]

I tried it for a couple hours and just couldn't get it. Switched back to Swype and did a facepalm. Uninstalled and refunded.

 

[nkk]

It may take some time getting used to, but I think it may be worthy alternative for those willing to deal with the learning time. It will take time and work, but seems not too bad and quick once learned. For $1.58, I am willing to try it just to get used to it. I have wasted more money on less useful things.


-Nkk

 

[jgscott987]

I love it when developers really step out of the box and create innovative solutions for real problems. This one in particular, though, will never make it. This will take days or weeks to become proficient. Your average phone user, or even your advanced user, isn't going to put more than 10 minutes into it.

This is very much like the Dvorak keyboard. It was a genius 'invention' that was clearly a no-brainer. Alas it never caught on because it required folks to spend time learning something new when the old way was good enough.

I hope they make it, but I'll give you 100 to 1 odds that they don't. Heck, the technology is so new and innovative that they might make a pile of cash just from curious buyers.

 

[poland626]

I GET IT! I understand it and it's not so bad if you aren't in a rush for typing.

Just one question, HOW THE HECK do I stop individual spaces appearing after each letter I type?!

It's an okay keyboard, nothing special, just something to show off I guess

 

[FramCire]

honestly, wouldnt the old palm pilot writing method be just as quick and actually be easier? I have skype and another methos that I like a lot, so I wont waste my time trying to master this one.

 

[johnofcross]

Wow this is really lagging my phone, second time I had to type this post. But I'm so used to QWERTY that this is still very akward. I have a few more hours to evaluate before I can return this...

 

[sirlancelot]

Just one question, HOW THE HECK do I stop individual spaces appearing after each letter I type?!

A space won't be typed as long as you're not on the black circle when you release.

In other words, just move your finger outside of the circle but don't go through any dividers and then release.

 

[poland626]

A space won't be typed as long as you're not on the black circle when you release.

In other words, just move your finger outside of the circle but don't go through any dividers and then release.

What do you mean?! It's so confusing!

EDIT: I get it now Never lift my finger until I am done with the word

 

[sirlancelot]

What do you mean?! It's so confusing!

EDIT: I get it now Never lift my finger until I am done with the word

I'd recommend going through the "8pen tutorial", it's an icon placed in your application drawer.

 

[golfinglenn]

As soon as you release your finger it adds a space. So to type a word, go from letter to letter without picking up your finger. I had the same problem and it is a mental block lol. You want to pick your finger up to see where the next sequence needs to go. If you leave your finger in the black circle and figure out the next letter it will form the word. Just don't pick your finger up till you are done with the entire word .

 

[imtoomuch]

Even if it's not for you, innovation is a great thing. If not for innovation we wouldn't have Android!

 

[Deleted User]

I was horrible at this when I first got it, but now I am pretty good with this keyboard. I definitely like it better than swiftkey, much easier to use if driving.

 

[nkk]

I was horrible at this when I first got it, but now I am pretty good with this keyboard. I definitely like it better than swiftkey, much easier to use if driving.

Does this post scare any other drivers out there?

-Nkk

 

[Deleted User]

Hahaha it scares me a little, but I'm not learning it while I'm driving. I spent most of my time at work getting it down. Also, I use taster to tell anyone who texts me that I am driving and to call me on my bluetooth.

 

[euph_22]

Does this post scare any other drivers out there?

-Nkk

Especially since, based on his/her username, he's also driving very, very fast.

 

[Deleted User]

Haha and with a manual transmission, Sounds like a recipe for a good reason to ban texting while driving everywhere.

 

[MatterOfFact]

My thoughts on the subject:

Great idea. Im game for anything better to input text. I'll stick with it for a week or so to see if i can learn the letter positions. On another note, if swype could build a little more intelegence into it's keyboard, i see no reason for this because the concept is the same, never lift your finger when typing.

Having said that, 8pen has left a lot of room for improving this experience. Some suggestions I would make are:
1. create option to disable auto space when lifting your finger
2. keep spelling correcitons on screen after lifting your finger
3. Suggest words way more often. (i find myself pausing in the middle of a word to find the next letter and it brings up the special characters. If I could finishe the word wrong and have it suggest a word that is close and in the dictionary, it would save a lot of backspacing)
4. show the letter currently selected in the text box you are typing into instead of bolding it under your finger... what good does it do if you can't see the letter they say you are entering.
5. I thought this as voice input? where did that go?


I could go on. I think this thing has potential and I will stick with it for a while because im a glutton for punishment, but they have left a lot of room for improvement.

 

[necosino]

I could go on. I think this thing has potential and I will stick with it for a while because im a glutton for punishment, but they have left a lot of room for improvement.

Summed up my experience as well. Great first post by the way.

 

[Sevreth]

Haha and with a manual transmission, Sounds like a recipe for a good reason to ban texting while driving everywhere.

Don't take this too personally 2010ZR1, but I need to get this out.

I personally have huge issues with people texting and driving. They are a menace to all of us just trying to get home to our families. I have had 3 near misses as a driver in the past 2 months and 1 as a pedestrian so close that they ran over my foot (but I was wearing my steel toe shoes). She looked up at me like I was the problem......and then realized that she ran over my foot.


Sorry to get off topic, but to all the 8pen users, thanks for your feed back on this forum. I was really on the fence about this, despite my grievences with the stock keyboard. I think I will wait for this to be refined and hopefully a free trial be offered.

Cheers,

-Sev