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Keyboard Update

May 17, 2009
Posted by: Butterman
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keymat

Craig posted some information on the forums regarding typing, I know many of you are unsure about exactly how comfortable and intuitive it is, hopefully we’re getting a video of it in use soon. I’ll shoot craig a PM.

I was using the Pandora in the dark to record some new footage yesterday and I can confirm the LCD easily gives off enough light to reflect on the keys, the keys are shiny so you only need a tiny amount of light to see them.

I’m also getting pretty quick on the Pandora keyboard now, once you get used to where everything is you can type pretty quick. It just takes a few days to adjust to the layout and the way you press the keys with your thumbs (or fingers if you like).

For example I can now type:

cd ..
cd media
cd mmcblk0p1
cd pico128
PicoDrive

And various variations without looking.

Source – GP32x Forums

Posted in Hardware, Official, Pandora |

21 comments

  1. What happened to the glow in the dark keys?

         by RoCP May 17, 2009 at 2:11 pm

  2. ^they decided against that, i believe. unfortunately, i don’t remember where it was said.

         by Xian Long May 17, 2009 at 3:04 pm

  3. Too bad, glowing was quite interesting.

    I hope mountpoints are easier to type, a mix of numbers and letters no. Will this be fixed in the final firmware?…

         by timofonic May 17, 2009 at 3:13 pm

  4. No glow in the dark keys? Bummer. I wonder why.

         by Kyo May 17, 2009 at 3:42 pm

  5. You can always bind the “Tab” key somewhere for autocompleting directories…

         by Anon May 17, 2009 at 3:53 pm

  6. I got concerned when I read “I’ll shoot craig” without finishing the sentence.

    Shame about the glow in the dark keys though. If there’s another keymat in the future with them on (like a replacement part) i’ll be the first in line.

         by ashdjones May 17, 2009 at 4:04 pm

  7. I’m making a video right now.

         by craigix May 17, 2009 at 4:30 pm

  8. Great ! A new video tonight 🙂

         by Hells_Dark May 17, 2009 at 4:52 pm

  9. Can’t wait craig.

         by Butterman May 17, 2009 at 4:53 pm

  10. Yep – I’ll definitely buy a glow-in-the-dark keymat if they ever become an option. I wonder what sort of minimum batch size would be needed before this is feasible?

         by pelrun May 17, 2009 at 5:18 pm

  11. I wouldn’t want glow in the dark keys when I’m watching a movie in the dark (say on the bus at night)

         by Andrew Roth May 17, 2009 at 5:33 pm

  12. I just played with the Pandora in one of my dreams! Honest!

    I’m guessing it’s all the progress lately. Oh well.

         by shoddy May 17, 2009 at 5:56 pm

  13. glow in the dark keys would be annoying. i dont miss them. those analog wells, however…

         by poisonedv May 17, 2009 at 6:05 pm

  14. Nice update, indeed. Can’t wait for the video!

         by GuSec May 17, 2009 at 6:09 pm

  15. @timofonic: There are 2 solutions:

    – Mapping the tab key as mentioned above
    – Creating simbolic links to frequently used devices (i.e. /dev/sd)

    And of course, using hal/dbus/udev or using any script or GUI to automate such things.

         by DiThi May 17, 2009 at 8:21 pm

  16. He’s just posted the Iphone game vid on his youtube account, so hopefully he’s about to upload the pandora one too.

         by DrCJBoduma May 17, 2009 at 8:51 pm

  17. I’ll upload the new one today, had problems getting Descent running.

         by craigix May 18, 2009 at 10:53 am

  18. I’m waiting it !

         by Hells_Dark May 18, 2009 at 10:58 am

  19. Glow-in-the-Dark keys wouldn’t be that big of a deal in most situations.

    Since it’d be the kind of GITD that needs to “Charge” in the light, they would be dead anytime the thing sat for more than five/ten minutes with the clamshell closed.

    I’m sure there are situations where you’d be moving from light to dark, but it seems like it’d be limited.

         by AndyL May 18, 2009 at 12:37 pm

  20. AWESOME! Can’t wait to see Descent running on it! 😀

         by Warner May 18, 2009 at 3:38 pm

  21. It’s a good thing they dropped the idea of glowing keys. I hate the glowing buttons on my remotes (TV, DVD…). The color is awful and the don’t glow enough to see what’s printed on them.
    With the Pandora you obviously have enough light coming from the screen to illuminate the buttons.

    So far everything looks really great. Can’t wait for the Pandora to be shipped.

         by monthly visitor May 19, 2009 at 9:25 am

Comments are closed.