retroremakes
March 1st, 2010, 17:40
In the current smartphone market, you need to choose between LCD touchscreens (incredible UI versatility) and real QWERTY buttons (tactile feedback). But the MorphPad offers a third choice that's somewhere in between.
Little more than a proof of concept at the moment, this demo shows us a QWERTY Bluetooth remote filled with dynamic, reconfigurable buttons. This idea alone is beyond most current QWERTY implementation, but then Pelikan takes innovation a step further by allowing a majority of their keys to go blank and serve as a touch-sensitive pad (for mousing, gestures, etc).
My main concern isn't whether or not the tech works (you can spot it in Toshiba's Biblio (http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/05/25/toshiba.biblio.handset/)), but whether or not the button-built touchpad really feels very comfortable to use.
And frankly, to all the worried Blackberry/Sidekick loyalists in the house, touch screens really aren't so bad to type on. The learning curve for a Nexus One or iPhone isn't all that far beyond any new smartphone keyboard, given that real-button QWERTY designs vary so much. [mobile-review (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobile-review.com%2Farticles%2F2010%2Fmwc-others.shtml) via Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/01/pelikons-morphpad-demoed-combines-touchpad-morphing-keyboard/)]
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More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FrRY-SDn3mw/pelikan-morphpad-combines-a-morphing-qwerty-with-a-touchpad)
Little more than a proof of concept at the moment, this demo shows us a QWERTY Bluetooth remote filled with dynamic, reconfigurable buttons. This idea alone is beyond most current QWERTY implementation, but then Pelikan takes innovation a step further by allowing a majority of their keys to go blank and serve as a touch-sensitive pad (for mousing, gestures, etc).
My main concern isn't whether or not the tech works (you can spot it in Toshiba's Biblio (http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/05/25/toshiba.biblio.handset/)), but whether or not the button-built touchpad really feels very comfortable to use.
And frankly, to all the worried Blackberry/Sidekick loyalists in the house, touch screens really aren't so bad to type on. The learning curve for a Nexus One or iPhone isn't all that far beyond any new smartphone keyboard, given that real-button QWERTY designs vary so much. [mobile-review (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobile-review.com%2Farticles%2F2010%2Fmwc-others.shtml) via Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/01/pelikons-morphpad-demoed-combines-touchpad-morphing-keyboard/)]
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