Why no android devices with E-ink keyboards?

[Digiflame]

Just curious if there's any reason why they aren't any android phones with E-ink keyboards. I know 2 years ago when I got my BB storm, my mom upgraded to a samsung alias 2, just a messaging phone but I thought it had a cool concept. You could open it like a flip phone and the keys would show a keypad or open it clamshell and you had a qwerty keyboard. The Alias 2 was a bit plastic-y and not a smartphone so it wasn't quite my thing but it was just an entry level phone (think it was like $80 after $50 rebate). An Android phone like that could have the keys change for a media app or game controls with the right software. Thoughts?

 

[sndplace]

I don't know what this is, but is it a touch screen or real keys that change there function based on phone and screen placement. That is a cool concept. You can put your game pad into settings so when you open up a game the keys would change.

thanks for the information. I didn't know they made something like that.

 

[enzofall]

Honestly I probably would want to use it...a portrait flip phone would definitely hinder the screen size...I would like to see the changing keys though..it would be nice if you had a full qwerty keyboard that switched between letters and numbers

Sent from my SuperSonic....

 

[ShaggyKids]

I like this concept, too. I'm new here and not real phone hardware savvy ... what's E-Ink?

 

[Digiflame]

I like this concept, too. I'm new here and not real phone hardware savvy ... what's E-Ink?

E-ink is like the display on a kindle, it doesnt need a backlight, shows text very clearly and once an image is displayed, it takes very little power to keep it there.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

I have a friend who has this exact phone, and it’s a pretty cool concept. The only problem is the keys can be very difficult to read in direct sunlight, so that might be an issue.

 

[DroidXcon]

my sister and i owned this phone , i loved the keyboard, you could have less keys and more funtions because they keys would change, but what chris says is true its hard to see in sunlight but i would still purchase it if it was part of a good design

this can also be acomplished by using OLED keys which would make it better in sunlight but would be much more expensive and battery usage would be more than E-ink

i agree though if they could find a way to add E-ink into the game they would have something really good, it would use little battery and keyboards would be much easier to use

 

[_Zguy__]

My guess is that it is not worth it since the phone already will have a touchscreen

 

[BenSWoodruff]

Good idea for Android, since most of their phones with physical keyboards have backlit keys. If they were bright enough to see outside, however, they would be entirely too bright to look at in a dark environment. I'm typing in bed right now and can barely look at my screen on the lowest brightness setting, let alone an OLED keyboard lol.

 

[DroidXcon]

Good idea for Android, since most of their phones with physical keyboards have backlit keys. If they were bright enough to see outside, however, they would be entirely too bright to look at in a dark environment. I'm typing in bed right now and can barely look at my screen on the lowest brightness setting, let alone an OLED keyboard lol.

Throw on a pair of Ray Bans and stop complaining lol