You can hardly fault people for enjoying their RIM Buh-Berries and their full QWERTY thumbpads, but I really love my iPhone’s software keyboard. However, it wasn’t any Blackberry that got me thinking about writing this piece, but rather all those video demos of the Palm Pre – especially from the Palm presenters themselves. One of the things they seem to love mentioning is that it’s a real, genuine keyboard, tempered under the hot sun on the Isle of K’Bord. Feature sets aside, RIM Blackberries and Palm Treos rank among the smartphone all-stars because of all of the thought that has gone into designing them. That got me thinking about how my love for software keyboards developed, the hardware that supports them, and why I think they beat hardware solutions on handsets every damn time.

A framed, resistive touchscreen

I bought my last Windows Mobile device based on the fact that it had an awesome little slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but towards the end of its life cycle I found myself barely even using the thing. One of the biggest downsides of the device was having to switch from portrait to landscape orientation, which could take eons sometimes. The other bother with the hardware keyboard was that it just felt too big and too small…at the same time. It was too big because I had to move my thumbs all over the place, since the keys were so well spread out. On the other hand, I just couldn’t manage to develop the same speed and accuracy that I have on a desktop keyboard because I lacked the ability to use all ten of my digits to type.

It was likely this conundrum that drove me towards software input panels (SIP’s) on Windows Mobile. The one I eventually ended up with, PocketCM Keyboard (freeware!), was extremely customizable. I could re-skin it, choose my own key sizes and layout, and even adjust the number of word suggestions that popped up when I typed. I could probably have gone on and on using that software keyboard if it hadn’t worn down through use.

You had to put your finger or stylus to the TyTN screen and press down on it for the device to pick it up. During my lasts months of TyTN usage I was getting some very strange errors while typing, and I eventually realized that the screen had just gone batty. I would be typing something and tapping on the bottom of the screen, but the device would register hits in the top-right corner – which, as all WinMo users know, is where the minimize/close key resides. This resulted in a lot of unwanted closing of programs when all I really wanted to do was type in a login or tap out a quick text message.

My final pet peeve with the TyTN was the ridiculous frame that kept me from easily tapping the corners of the screen. Since the screen needed pressure to register a tap, it was a lot harder to press anything located in a corner. This was fixed in later phones such as the HTC Touch, but that was too late for me. I’d had it with resistive touch.

a flush, capacitive screen with delicious durability

It wasn’t the reason I bought the device, but the capacitive touchscreen on Apple’s iPhone has certainly become one of my favourite features. It’s what makes the concept of a software keyboard work. Capacitive touchscreen technology reacts only to areas where the electric field along the screen is distorted, so it registers only touch and has nothing to do with pressure. The downside is that you lose any ability to use a stylus, but the typing experience should stay exactly the same for the life of the device. My TyTN’s screen broke down in less than a year of usage – it still registers touches, but it’s pathetically inaccurate for finger typing now. My iPhone, on the other hand, is still going strong after a year of texting, emailing, and note-taking. The keyboard won’t break down unless the screen does.

Capacitive technology aside, it also helps that the iPhone’s screen is flush with the face of the device. You don’t have to worry about any dust seeping underneath, nor do you have to worry about having trouble tapping something right at the edge of the screen unless you put a case on the device. No high-tech design needed here, just the desire to make a sleeker device by cutting out the ridge that used to frame the screens on older devices.

a flexible, foldable input method

Like I mentioned earlier with PocketCM, software keyboards can be customized on the fly. Tilting the iPhone in most any application in firmware 3.0 will result in a larger, landscape keyboard. Entering URL’s is much easier with dedicated “.com” keys, and languages are easier to switch between when you can call up symbols by simply holding down on a letter (to generate umlauts, for example).

The last key factor in a software keyboard’s favour is lack of a physical compromise. Whether the keyboard slides out or just sits on the front of the device, it will either take space away from the screen or add bulk to the device. The iPhone’s keyboard (pictured right) does block some of the screen when you’re typing, but it disappears again when I want to review the whole email.

what was I trying to say again?

Oh yeah.

With all of the Palm Pre buzzing in the air, I actually find it very strange that the Palm has completely neglected software input. Weren’t they one of the first companies to introduce a decent input system with Graffiti? Android tried to launch without any on-screen keyboard, but even they’re looking to fix that with the Cupcake update.

The software keyboard isn’t perfect: you can’t touch type, you can’t “feel” the key presses without haptic feedback , and a lot of companies can mess them up royally if they don’t include adequate auto-correction. However, I’d argue that everything but the last point is easily solved by just looking at the screen. I’m never in such a rush that I can’t afford to stop and look at my keyboard to type something out.

It’s the ideal solution for a user like me – someone who values a large screen, but still wants the ability to input text on a system outside of T9 or gestures. I don’t think I’d kick and scream if the next iPhone magically had a hardware keyboard, but I really don’t get why software input isn’t a bigger deal in the mobile industry. I love it!

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