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Review: Bluetooth mini keyboard + considerations about QWERTY keyboards in mobile phones March 05, 2006 [Wireless (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ...)] | By Edward J. R. Many people don't care whether mobile phone has QWERTY keyboard or not, but for many other people this is a deciding factor in buying decisions. Examples of Palm Treo phones (that are the best selling smartphones in USA) and BlackBerry phones (that are extremely popular all over the world) show that having good QWERTY keyboard is of utmost importance. Soon new Pocket PC phones with built-in QWERTY keyboards will be coming to market: HP hw6900 series, Fujitsu-Siemens Loox T800 series and new Treos from Palm (this time also for GSM/UMTS), so it may be worth to think about these topics already now - so that you could take the most informed decision! At this moment there is only one small Bluetooth keyboard on the market. By 'small' we mean simply a thumb keyboard... and here we are reviewing it: 
As you can see above the keyboard is roughly the same size as HTC Magician Pocket PC phone, but thinner. At the back of the keyboard one can observe a battery compartment (at the bottom) and a kind of clip that makes it possible to hold the phone with which this keyboard is used: 
First of all let us underline that this keyboard is designed to be used by 2 hands - by 2 thumb fingers. It is not working with one hand only. Secondly if your Windows Mobile phone already has a QWERTY keyboard you may think that you don't need such a thing as mini Bluetooh keyboard, but it would be mistake because even then you may find this mini keyboard useful - for example to be able to enter text also from a distance (i.e. more comfortably) or just to spare the built-in keyboard. Interestingly this mini Bluetooth keyboard fully supports Bluetooth HID profile, what means that not only Windows Mobile phones but also any other kind of devices with HID Bluetooth support - like Windows XP with SP2, Mac OS X, Symbian, Palm OS, etc - can use this keyboard very well. We have tested this keyboard also with a Tablet PC computer and it worked perfectly, and particularly in the slate mode (when the keyboard of Tablet PC is hidden) this mini keyboard was improving very much the efficiency of work! Speaking of Windows Mobile it is worth nothing that Windows Mobile 5.0 (both Pocket PC and MS smartphone) has support for Bluetooth HID profile by default - already in a Microsoft Bluetooth stack. In case of Windows Mobile 2003 many Pocket PC phones have 3rd party (not from Microsoft) Bluetooth stacks and then also Bluetooth HID is supported. The only situation when Bluetooth HID profile is not supported is in case of Windows Mobile 2003 with pure Microsoft Bluetooth stack (and in rare cases of Windows Mobile 5.0 devices where manufacturers were meddling with Bluetooth and used their own Bluetooth drivers and removed HID support thus). In this case one can download a driver for HID from the website of the manufacturer of this Bluetooth mini keyboard! Since the case of Windows Mobile 2003 with Bluetooth stack is the most convoluted one we use it here in review as an example! * * * * * This is a Bluetooth keyboard so obviously before using it one needs to switch the Bluetooth "on" by tapping the proper check box: 
... and the first thing to do is to pair the keyboard with the phone: 
Pairing is done in this way that some sequence is entered on the phone first and then, in next step, the "Link" key on the keyboard must be hold down so that the lamp on the keyboard will start blinking and the keyboard will be put into "pairing" mode, then this sequence is typed with the mini keyboard! If these sequences are the same, then the phone and the mini keyboard are paired and ready to use. Of course if you have Windows Mobile 2003 with native Microsoft's Bluetooth stack then one needs to install a driver for HID that is available at the website of the manufacturer of this mini keyboard. After installation in "Settings" one needs to launch the application with icon with "BL" text in it: 
Then, by tapping on the check box, one can already activate the connection with the mini keyboard (which must be previously switched on and paired): 
One nice feature of the HID drivers provided by the manufacturer of this keyboard is ability to use shortcuts by pressing and holding down the "Ctrl" key and some letters: 
Here is the "About" dialog of this application/driver for HID: 
With this mini keyboard you can set the font to big size and use your Windows Mobile phone for writing even when distance between yourself and the device is big (but less than 10 meters): 
For some people putting the Pocket PC phone into horizontal mode brings even more pleasant typing experience: 
The construction of this mini keyboard is rather solid and full compatibility with HID Bluetooth profile makes it usable for all platforms, both mobile and regular one. This keyboard is an invaluable addition for Tablet PC users but also for people who already have QWERTY keyboard built-in. Obviously one can't achieve such high typing speeds as with full size QWERTY keyboard, however this mini keyboard is very comfortable to use and in current phase of Windows Mobile development even Treo 700w has not achieved full one handed usage (without the need to pull out the stylus or use 2 hands to type), so this keyboard may be very usable for many people. Having built-in QWERTY keyboard is nice, particularly when such keyboard is usable with one hand as it is in phones from HP, Palm and Fujitsu-Siemens, but it increases the size of the device and due to the inherent limitations of Windows Mobile (no 320x320 support) it also enforces the reduced resolution (240x240) of the display in such devices with one-handed QWERTY keyboards! So sometimes it may be more usable just to buy this external Bluetooth mini keyboard and some keyboard-less Windows Mobile device, because then phones with bigger display, smaller overall size, and of higher resolution (240x320 instead of 240x240) can be used. Conclusion: this Bluetooth mini keyboard is extremely usable in various situations and may be interesting for all people who would like to enter some text with their Windows Mobile phones. While it requires 2 hand usage (2 thumbs) and thus can't replace phones with QWERTY keyboards designed for single handed usage, it may enable you buying a phone that is cheaper or offers higher than 240x240 resolution but has no keyboard and probably is also smaller. If you don't insist on single handedness in QWERTY keyboard usage, then this Bluetooth mini keyboard may be something for you! * * * * * Update 1: this mini keyboard works ideally - without the need to install any drivers, in Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, both Pocket PC and Microsoft Smartphone, as you can see in the following screen shots that show whole process - pairing and using: 
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