Soft/Virtual Keyboard For The T-Mobile G1 Android Phone
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I have to admit that one of the biggest annoyances of my T-Mobile G1 Android phone is the lack of a virtual or soft keyboard. Am I crazy, I hear you ask, when I already have a "hard" or physical keyboard available on the G1? No, I answer - because to use the physical keyboard on the G1, you have to slide the screen up to reveal the hidden keyboard. The problem is, when you slide the screen up, the orientation of the screen stupidly automagically changes from portrait to landscape. So, therein lies the problem - whenever you want to use the keyboard for anything, you have to slide the screen up and live with a landscape orientation. Why can't we just use the phone like a "normal" phone in portrait format? Well, until lately, we couldn't, because the first implementation of Android didn't include a soft/virtual keyboard. The good news is that the next firmware revision will have a soft keyboard, but what about current G1 owners? Well, the video below shows a soft/virtual keyboard in action while the phone is in portrait mode. Excellent development, I say. Much more useful than just spending more time developing mindless games for the G1!
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