Play along - create a PinePhone keyboard

[SwordfishII]

In about a day or two you get really quick.

The big problem i ran into was scrolling. It's weird without a mouse. Although you can map pgup and pgdwn to keys it's just not the same you know.

[DrewTechs]

Hey guys.
I'm Andrey, the designer behind The Other Half Keyboard for Jolla Phone back in the days we've created together with Dirk van Leersum and Kimmo Lindholm.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/27500387...Smartphone




I've invested quite a lot of time in the search for a perfect pro-user layout so if you would like to use it or play along - feel free to contact me. There are a bunch of different layouts ready, including Russian, Finnish, Hindu and so on. Also I'm still in touch with the manufacturer of the key plate so I guess it would be possible to make a batch (even though I think it will require some adjustments to the silicone base since it wont be fit to the domes you'd use).

Cheers!

This keyboard looks nice although I would swap the Shift button and the Fn button (that left circle one). Then again, I am not sure about the position of the arrow keys being on the left side neither.

[Potts]

An interesting thing I would love to see in a keyboard is a "mouse nub" on the keyboard. If we adopt a horizontal slide out keyboard as the "standard" keyboard I believe that many people my have difficulties typing and "clicking" efficiently. This is just a thought. I'm not an engineer so whether that much I/O is possible with 6 pogo pins is beyond me.

[Potts]

Hey guys.
I'm Andrey, the designer behind The Other Half Keyboard for Jolla Phone back in the days we've created together with Dirk van Leersum and Kimmo Lindholm.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/27500387...Smartphone




I've invested quite a lot of time in the search for a perfect pro-user layout so if you would like to use it or play along - feel free to contact me. There are a bunch of different layouts ready, including Russian, Finnish, Hindu and so on. Also I'm still in touch with the manufacturer of the key plate so I guess it would be possible to make a batch (even though I think it will require some adjustments to the silicone base since it wont be fit to the domes you'd use).

Cheers!

This keyboard looks nice although I would swap the Shift button and the Fn button (that left circle one). Then again, I am not sure about the position of the arrow keys being on the left side neither.

I like this design, and agree with your thoughts on the fn and shift button switch. I'd also like to add that a "mouse nub" may also be a useful edition. Perhaps between the "L, O, P and Ö". Typing on a horizontal keyboard and typing on the upper regions of the screen is clunky, a nub would have the added benefit of giving people with small hands, or those learning to master the mouse nub a convenient way to navigate the phone without having to touch the screen. In the future the mouse nub and the convenient placing of the arrow keys would even make a sort of "controller" for games that could be run on future hardware.

[HLing]

https://image-us.samsung.com/SamsungUS/p...052016.png?$product-details-jpg$

Please start by reading this blog post.
In this thread you are welcome to discuss and submit your PinePhone keyboard designs. I am well aware that myBB (the software running this forum) isn't particularly permissive of hosting various document types (e.g. it will not permit you to upload a .stl), so some portion of your idea(s) and design(s) will have to uploaded externally. You are also welcome to use our Wiki for the purpose of uploading project-related files.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

a good physical keyboard case that snaps on to the lower quarter of the samsung s7 is solid and instantaneous.    https://www.droid-life.com/wp-content/up...Main_5.jpg

[SwordfishII]

https://image-us.samsung.com/SamsungUS/p...052016.png?$product-details-jpg$

Please start by reading this blog post.
In this thread you are welcome to discuss and submit your PinePhone keyboard designs. I am well aware that myBB (the software running this forum) isn't particularly permissive of hosting various document types (e.g. it will not permit you to upload a .stl), so some portion of your idea(s) and design(s) will have to uploaded externally. You are also welcome to use our Wiki for the purpose of uploading project-related files.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

a good physical keyboard case that snaps on to the lower quarter of the samsung s7 is solid and instantaneous.    https://www.droid-life.com/wp-content/up...Main_5.jpg

Unfortunately if pine goes that direction I would be out. There are numerous such mods and phones with that feature but few horizontal keyboards.

I know because i have bought most of them. From the 2011 to 2012 slide phones which sadly don't really work today to the Cosmo Communicator which is a fantastic design and hardware but poor software implementation.

A bottom snap on would still need a reworked back cover to allow power and data transfer via the pogo pins.

[Djhg2000]

An interesting thing I would love to see in a keyboard is a "mouse nub" on the keyboard. If we adopt a horizontal slide out keyboard as the "standard" keyboard I believe that many people my have difficulties typing and "clicking" efficiently. This is just a thought. I'm not an engineer so whether that much I/O is possible with 6 pogo pins is beyond me.

The pogo pins are in an I2C bus with at least 400 kHz bit clock (in theory up to 400 kbaud/s), which should leave plenty of bandwidth. Preferably the keyboard would scan the keyboard matrix on pin interrupts and debounce the keys by itself into a readable buffer so that it doesn't miss any keys. Since we have an interrupt pin the keyboard could then pull down the interrupt pin to tell the A64 there's new data in the buffer.

Actually, could we have passthrough pins on the back of the keyboard? It's only going to occupy a single I2C address anyway so we should be able to attach another thing below the keyboard and get the ultimate open source communicator brick.

[x0r]

Please complete the questionnaire:

1. Which key should be physically accessible on the keyboard. 
for example PgUp, ~, `, Esc, arrow (If the key e.g. pgup should be physical
but not on the keyboard (next to increasing the volume),
please also write)

2. What key should not be available on a physical keyboard.
for example 'Ins' 'Print screen', F12 (but will still be available as a key combination
for example Fn3+key)

3. Which multimedia keys should be available?
e.g. increase the volume, contrast+- ,  turn on/off internet, open program mail, back, forward

4. How many modification keys should be on a keyboard.
(the so-called function keys, Fn) for example Fn1+A = Ą or
Fn2+Shift+t= Shift Tab on normal full keyboard. (this is not AltGr==RightAlt,
this is key for other functions, meybe multimedia, meybe localisation language etc.)

----------------
Unfortunately it is not possible to do a survey on specific keys here

[lonze]

Please complete the questionnaire:

1. Which key should be physically accessible on the keyboard. 
for example PgUp, ~, `, Esc, arrow (If the key e.g. pgup should be physical
but not on the keyboard (next to increasing the volume),
please also write)

2. What key should not be available on a physical keyboard.
for example 'Ins' 'Print screen', F12 (but will still be available as a key combination
for example Fn3+key)

3. Which multimedia keys should be available?
e.g. increase the volume, contrast+- ,  turn on/off internet, open program mail, back, forward

4. How many modification keys should be on a keyboard.
(the so-called function keys, Fn) for example Fn1+A = Ą or
Fn2+Shift+t= Shift Tab on normal full keyboard. (this is not AltGr==RightAlt,
this is key for other functions, meybe multimedia, meybe localisation language etc.)

----------------
Unfortunately it is not possible to do a survey on specific keys here

I would really need Finnish letters Ä and Ö. I think something like US international keyboard's dead accent keys would serve most of us.

[murak]

Please complete the questionnaire:

1. Which key should be physically accessible on the keyboard. 
for example PgUp, ~, `, Esc, arrow (If the key e.g. pgup should be physical
but not on the keyboard (next to increasing the volume),
please also write)

2. What key should not be available on a physical keyboard.
for example 'Ins' 'Print screen', F12 (but will still be available as a key combination
for example Fn3+key)

3. Which multimedia keys should be available?
e.g. increase the volume, contrast+- ,  turn on/off internet, open program mail, back, forward

4. How many modification keys should be on a keyboard.
(the so-called function keys, Fn) for example Fn1+A = Ą or
Fn2+Shift+t= Shift Tab on normal full keyboard. (this is not AltGr==RightAlt,
this is key for other functions, meybe multimedia, meybe localisation language etc.)

----------------
Unfortunately it is not possible to do a survey on specific keys here

I would really need Finnish letters Ä and Ö. I think something like US international keyboard's dead accent keys would serve most of us.

Can you post a picture of that layout? Is it similar to the handwritten one from Pine64? I also think a English layout of some sort would please the most of us since terminal commands are mostly in English If there is a FN-key combo for my Swedish ÅÄÖ then that would be a plus. The important thing is that the keyboard will be made at all (looking at my N900 laying in the drawer.)