One Handed typing Android - switch from Pre

[grantnmel]

Hey All,

I'm a Palm Pre user and love my phone. I wish I could look forward to a future ever better WebOS devices, but it looks like the writing may be on the wall for Palm.

I'm a small business owner and spend the majority of my day driving to appointments and talking on the phone. Flipping my pre open w/ my thumb and typing names or phone numbers in (unfortunately while I drive) is very important to me - the horizontal keyboard layout doesn't work well for this (had HTC mogul & just couldn't). How practical is this with the Andriod on-screen keyboards? I've heard that Android voice recognition (at least on Nexus One) is very advanced - could I dictate names or numbers instead of the one hand typing?

Are there any Android devices w/ a physical keyboard in the same orientation as the Pre?

Anyone working on an inductive charger for any Android devices? I will sorely miss the touchstone - it's so elegant. I've mounted one on my dashboard and the magnet holds my phone in place & keeps the phone topped off while I drive.

How's ActiveSync/Exchange on Andriod compare to Pre.

Thanks a ton in Advance!

- Grant

 

[GenericMessage]

Hey All,

I'm a Palm Pre user and love my phone. I wish I could look forward to a future ever better WebOS devices, but it looks like the writing may be on the wall for Palm.

I'm a small business owner and spend the majority of my day driving to appointments and talking on the phone. Flipping my pre open w/ my thumb and typing names or phone numbers in (unfortunately while I drive) is very important to me - the horizontal keyboard layout doesn't work well for this (had HTC mogul & just couldn't). How practical is this with the Andriod on-screen keyboards? I've heard that Android voice recognition (at least on Nexus One) is very advanced - could I dictate names or numbers instead of the one hand typing?

Are there any Android devices w/ a physical keyboard in the same orientation as the Pre?

Anyone working on an inductive charger for any Android devices? I will sorely miss the touchstone - it's so elegant. I've mounted one on my dashboard and the magnet holds my phone in place & keeps the phone topped off while I drive.

How's ActiveSync/Exchange on Andriod compare to Pre.

Thanks a ton in Advance!

- Grant

I use the voice to text and voice search CONSTANTLY while driving or on the go.

I just picked myself up the car-mount and made it MUCH easier

 

[ERDude]

Swype is a good option too. I've become very proficient at typing one handed, but never while driving that would just be wrong. ;-}

 

[grantnmel]

Thanks Generic,

Are you using the Nexus One? I checked out their website last night and noticed that they'd come out with a pretty slick looking dock.

- Grant

 

[zhelf]

unfortunately their is no native conductive charger but the car dock supposedly works very well. I am too will be either picking up a droid or incredible in a week and i work for a family bus company so i spend a lot of time on the road while i dont text and drive texting with one hand is very crucial and something i have been weary of. unfortunately no soft keyboard is ever as good as a portrait hard qwerty :/

 

[grantnmel]

Sorry,

One other question - is the voice recognition described by GenericMessage available to all Andriod devices or just NexusOne?

Thanks for all replies!

- Grant

 

[PJnc284]

ha, you guys must be lucky and live somewhere where texting while driving isn't against the law. Looks like more states are pushing that now.

^ the speech-to-text function is available on any android 2.1+ device

 

[Duvi]

I use the voice to text and voice search CONSTANTLY while driving or on the go.

I just picked myself up the car-mount and made it MUCH easier

Agreed. I actually started using Vlingo which I find works a lot better and adapts to the way you speak rather than having to adapt to the voice recognition (that is found on stock 2.1 android).

 

[grantnmel]

Hey PJ,

I actually try to keep texting to a minimum - it's the one handed dialing that I'm doing constantly. Do the voice recognition apps work through bluetooth hands free? I've wanted that capability forever but never had a phone that would do it. I use the Plantronics Voyager Pro at the moment.

Thanks again for your patience w/ the Android Noob!

 

[zhelf]

ha, you guys must be lucky and live somewhere where texting while driving isn't against the law. Looks like more states are pushing that now.

^ the speech-to-text function is available on any android 2.1+ device

it is against the law here in Jersey but when im at a light or doing paperwork its a lot easier to text one hand then use the keyboard and i never text while driving but usually am in the car.

 

[CDH]

Or set up new folders and put direct dial shortcuts in the folders. Then one touch dial. Works great for frequently dialed numbers.

 

[nox]

To answer his question:
The Droid, Droid Incredible, and the Nexus one all have voice-to-text enabled.
There may be some other phones but I can't remember.

 

[BryEDS]

ha, you guys must be lucky and live somewhere where texting while driving isn't against the law. Looks like more states are pushing that now.

^ the speech-to-text function is available on any android 2.1+ device

So is speeding, but almost everyone does it to one extent or another regardless!

 

[nox]

But when you think bout it, texting is a lot more dangerous. Especially on a touch screen phone.