Hands on with the 8pen Soft Keyboard for Android

[kinzzify]

I love this keyboard- it does take a while they have a FREE game app available which is what i suggest you use to practice with. it is the best way to test it out for free. it is called 8pen wordcup

[36arnab]

yuck

[fedmadro]

Waist of time.

[NomSkull]

swype only fixes half the problem. yes it's optimized for a touch screen, but it still goes off of an outdated keyboard interface. ask yourself this: why are we using typewriter technology on a touchscreen?

[fiscidtox]

Once you get used to this it's awesome

[stonewall403]

get a styless dumb fuck

[Parralyzed]

@stonewall403 get a brain

[jigogwapo16]

that took me pretty long though.

[rickalex21]

swype I do hello in half a second LOL. HOw many circles did you do again ?

[rockon609]

ITs faster andit acts like handwriting, If you write in chinese

[NamAim1991]

it's not so bad, but i just don't feel like getting used to it. i'm sure if i learned to get used to the interface, i'd be typing faster... but i have a droid 2 specifically cuz it has a qwerty keyboard ahaha.

[Slench101]

8-pen is free... that is if you scan the qr code on their website...

[electroum]

So how does it compare with other interesting input methods like Shapewriter/Swype/etc? Any idea what WPM someone could reasonably achieve with this? And is it comfortable to perform those finger motions for long, compared to tapping at the standard keyboard?

[lolToasty]

what phone is this?

[ronaldinho8899]

@lolToasty HTC Desire Z

[Slench101]

@ronaldinho8899 nope, it's a HTC G2 the desire z is brownish in the colour scheme, while the g2 has more grey colours

[terrencemcg]

@Slench101 theyre the same hardware only difference software :D

[jimday666]

@lolToasty siemens c1

[Wrylis]

All of these 8pen videos are overlooking the custom gesture functionality. You can save custom gestures with custom quick responses. For instance, if i draw an X across my 8pen screen on my android, it puts in the message "I'm here". Think of all the saved time! you could just draw a smiley face to input "Hey baby my wife is out again, you can come over but we don't have a whole lot of time". Or something like that.

[luigicamp69]

This is so pointless, they should put more effort to improve voice technology, so that you don't have to type at all, but just tell the phone what message you want to send. And for those who can't speak, well, tough shit, you shouldn't be using a cellphone in the first place :)

[Wrylis]

@luigicamp69 And then, like, if the person on the other side could just use the voice recognition to send a text back to the other person. Or what if it didn't even go to text! Like they just spoke back and forth on their cell pho--oh wait...

[luigicamp69]

@Wrylis sending txt by using voice wouldn't be exactly like talking directly to someone on the phone, you would still keep a sort of privacy, like.. I don't have to answer the next txt if I don't want to, whereas on the phone you really can't just decide to stop talking in the middle of a conversation... you could but... awkward!

[SpeedFreakNO]

That thing where you have to look around your finger is just bullshit :P You learn it fast, I'm sure, and also, and you can, if you really have to lift your finger, use backspace, and the continue ;)

[SpeedFreakNO]

Give it to me for Symbian^3 and the Nokia N8, and I'll use it constantly!

[ibams]

I definetly have to try it, is almost impossible to know how it works by just watching it.

[dragon1501]

The way that they overcame the finger blocking was the you could change the settings to where instead of removing your finger to initiate a space, removing your finger does nothing. Instead, tapping the dot would make a space.

[Gmod10man]

If the ipod nano had a keyboard.

[TheHotHat]

i just downloaded it was free. also they do have a pop up screen to show you where the letters are while typing. so basically all the negatives you listed are incorrect.

[MrPimpinak47]

liar.... its free on the market... 100% free, at least it was a week ago

[titan59]

The only advantage i see to this is being able to use a touch keyboard without looking. Its such a pain to have to look at your device while trying to be inconspicuous with it. If you get good enough with this, its probably the fastest way to type without looking on a touch keyboard

[itreeye]

Thanks man, excellent review!

I'm looking forward to trying this if it comes to the iphone...I get the impression that after a week or more of practice (for me) it would be heaps better than what I've got now.

[Akhius]

terrible keyboard... thats the true

[seydelstudio]

3:25 Why don't you lift up your finger, press backspace, then find the "N" and continue?

[TheFashizy]

This is hilarious...

[xman682]

2:32 is when he starts typing, if anyone cares

[m2habert]

It makes no sense, the only appeal to a "slide/scribble" approach would be the possibility of inputing without having to use your eyes. But there's already Graffiti, which is pretty intuitive..., while this weird 8 pen concept would imply in memorizing 4 x 2 groups, each with a 4 level hierarchy! All that with no pay off in speed or muscle relaxation (I tried the mofo, it's tendinitis in a software form!)

[jumpoutofmyskin]

Skilled hands would love this system. But the cursor stayed where you had left it, so it probably wouldn't be -that- hard to get back into if you rotated out of 8pen accidentally.

[firecell33]

if you dont watnt it to rotate when your typeing go into your settings and turn the rotate off...

[tscoco07]

"A buck seventy"?

Is that $170 or $1.70

[masterdaddy0]

it was free when i got it.

[betsybetsybetsy]

@masterdaddy0 - Initial users the first week or so did pay a nominal charge, but 8pen dropped that. Their website at " the8pen [dot] com [slash] index [dot] html " now notes, "Update: Version 1.1 is out! And the 8pen is now free!".

[SqeakyGoldfish]

My phone has a resistive touchscreen, so it wasn't designed for too much sliding around. You had to pay for it? My phone just let me download it for free. I think that the should be a keyboard where you just draw the letters, although it would be going back to old fashioned handwriting, LOL

[betsybetsybetsy]

@SqeakyGoldfish - Initial users did pay a nominal charge, but 8pen recently dropped that. Their website at the8pen [dot] com [slash] index [dot] html now notes, "Update: Version 1.1 is out! And the 8pen is now free!".

[ranzo80]

Qwerty keyboard is in my opinion stil the fastest, i've used this 8pen and I find it pretty useless and slow to use this.

[whitout12345]

SWYPE is so much better

[prettylolitadoll]

looks cool.

[kilizDS]

good review, but thumbs down for this input method. try swype for speed and ease.

[robsue5]

It is now free. They made a quick $50,000, or so, and are now spreading the word. It's an interesting system, but I don't use it much because of the learning curve. It would definitely require practice drills to become fast/competent using this system.

[0Genus0]

Seriously, it looks mind-blowingly stupid on paper. But I downloaded 8pen this morning for my HTC Hero, and there are already a few words that I can type in a much smoother and less awkward way. The learning curve is steep, obviously, as you're basically learning to type all over again. But it's much smoother and weirdly satisfying when you type a word. It's well worth a go, but you really need to stick with it.

[LifeisMusic07]

You said the point I got at. You can't see where the keys are when you're going around the quadrant. Maybe i'll get used to it, but as of now I really don't care too.

[caterpillarr]

Yeah this is a very neat keyboard, just downloaded it myself.. the update does help find the keys easier. the only reason i'm using it is so i can get really good at it in about a week, then be in one of those situations where youre txting next to a friend and he/she'll see my crazy finger motions and be like what are you doing?!?! and i can show off my badass 8pen skillz

[einc70]

still swype like-keyboards are way faster .. but swype is the most accurate but needs to work on keys layout... slideIT keyboard layout is the best I think to my opinion tks guys ... but a good innovative app but too slow to my taste... I'll give it try btw the app is available and FREE just dowloaded it now (8pen)

[tairanx]

its not overcomplicating anything. the newest version has alot of help, like a HUD for the keyboard to show where your at. swype is inaccurate on its best day, this lets you enter letter by letter, and the nice thing is that when you get the hang of this and learn where the letters are, you'll be able to text without looking. unlike you can do with ANY onscreen keyboard out right now. dont bash it til you try it. i just got it today, and i see a ton of potential with it

[chabab]

Sup Bra

[raydollerz]

looks stupid

[tkima1]

When will this come to Windows Mobile? :D

[cipendejsik]

just try to type while in landscape.

[triniwarrior16]

hate it

[shanklin07]

Ahh kids, they are wonderful little creatures aren't they joe. Lol Great video.

[IgnitionUnlimited]

Worthlessly confusing.

[dirtyspacemonkey13]

haha. talk about overcomplicating something simple..

[sinsnowman]

Well........interesting idea......but when it comes to speed, it's still miles away from normal QWERTY

[googler7]

hahahaa this is the stupidest keyboard that anyone thought of..

[gk3og]

the left side of your MUSTACHE TO CHIN BEARD IS MISsING

[candymike4u]

What happened to your Nexus? Did u sell It?

[vandam500]

@candymike4u G2 ftw :D

[KevinKuijpers]

This layout is based on the most frequently used letters in English words. In Dutch the 'e' and the 'n' are more common, is there a way to reorganize the letters for a different language? I'm trying 8pen out for a week and see if it's really faster

[TompanX]

whats so funny about "hello bra" thats swedish for "hello good"

[BlauTrabant]

It is neat, but it would have been better if you could just tap the quadrants and predictive text filled in the words. Like a faster version of T9 on a typical keypad.

[ps13215033]

bye bye panties

[ih8ipod]

I cant always use sound when watching videos, Most of pocketnow's content (especially reviews) is in videos recently - so do you think you could upload a transcript or even subtitles file with your videos. So that those of us without sound or that don't want to listen can still make use of your video content?

The You tube speech recognition tries, but mostly doesn't make sense. By adding those files you actually help the service!

[jiajiahairui]

Cool!

[robnaj]

Never using that such a bad idea

[CMETRIQUE]

Problem is that people type in qwerty (in the most western world) for like 100 years. I type blind on my pc and on my phone. It would mega suck to learn something again.

Normal keyboards work better imo... nice try tough.

[NyteMunkey]

@CMETRIQUE disagree. T9 on a phone keypad can be lightning fast and easier to do with one hand. I would change the keyboard on my HD2 to phone keypad, however I think HTC's T9 can't compare to SE's (Sony Ericsson). Swipe isn't all that bad but the problem is I have to stare at the keypad the entire time instead of what is being typed

[coldmetal94]

useless

[q54877]

"Swype" is best Android keyboard !

[goude19]

so basiclly it will take 1 min to right hello bra ?

[demurgetroid]

@goude19 ...and it will take you a lifetime to learn the difference between "right" and write!!

Which part of "I can type much faster...this is an on camera demo" did you not get??

[NyteMunkey]

@demurgetroid sssssssssnnnnnnnaaapppppp gouche19 gots burned!!!!

[goude19]

@demurgetroid why don't just go fuck your self nerd damn

[demurgetroid]

@goude19 that's your thank you for free education?! damn some fuckturds never learn!

[VictorPak]

This is actually brilliant.

I am windows mobile user and I want to switch to android but one thing I really thing I'd miss is the Block Recognizer SIP. It's not that easy and intuitive but it really does wonders for writing speed, less typing errors and you don't need to look at the screen to do it.

Now I think I just found something as efficient for Android. Maybe even better.

Thanks!

[ubuntu4fun]

i got this keyboard :)

[yojmd61]

this is the biggest keyboard failure

[Majrek]

cool but kind of pointless

[koattack]

"hello bra" FUNNY

[melforever27]

too steep a learning curve...most ppl won't hav the patience. also i think it would hav been better if the had left the alphabet in order or smt.

[vintoe]

'Hello bra' XD

[compl3t3]

4TH WOOOO lol im on 1.6 on x10 mini :(

[EmuTime2]

Very cool and innovative. How every it won't be successful. Too hard to understand.

[ThePokedude93]

cool video!