Zippy bt-500 Bluetooth keyboard

[MunkinDrunky]

I just bought a bluetooth keyboard that is compact and very portable and still reasonably wieldable (given it is smaller than a netbook keyboard, 9 by 4 in.). I believe it uses the HID interface but this may be incorrect because I am typing this from my Archos 5 internet tablet with the bt keyboard. Note: the Archos is running android 1.6 and I thought it did't support HID. This sounds great but I can't get my Samsung Fascinate to connect, not even my brother's Droid Incredible. Is there anything anyone knows of that might help me get my new keyboard working on the Fascinate? Do I need drivers or some app for bt keyboards? If those eve exist form my specific keyboard..

To get paired and connected with the Archos was this simple: Turned on bluetooth and keyboard. Push pair. Enter in 0000 on my Archos (or any four numbers) hit ok, then enter 0000 on the keyboard and hit enter. (Note: what I type on the keyboard while the pairing was in progress I could not see on my sceen, this step I figred out just by playing around and it makes the connecting work) But when I try this on my phone, no success. Makes me think, WTF, it works on my archos, but not the fascinate!?

If I eventually get this thing working, for anyone who is looking for a keyboard, here are my initial thoughts. The keyboard looks sleek, not cheap, feels quite durable, and all in package that is really portable. I will definately take it to school, in my backpack, though I will store it on the box it comes with ,which doesn't add too much in transport. It runs on AAA, which I like better than a rechargable alternative. The physical keys are about 1/2 in. by 1/2 in. square but I can type quite well, though I have noticed some lag. I think that it might be due to my tablet's speediness. It has little kickstand feet too.

 

[JettaStorm97]

I am also curious if there is a bluetooth keyboard out there that works with the Facinate. Not sure that I really want to drop the cash for a Galaxy Tab just yet.

 

[nugiene]

I don't know about your particular keyboard but I believe most of the portable ones do use the HID profile. If your android device is vanilla or one of the brands other than HTC(using sense) or Samsung(using Touchwiz), than it should work fine. I had a Stowaway that worked fine with my Droid 2, but when I traded it in the this God forsaken fascinate it wouldn't work...I did the research and it turns out that both of the aforementioned manufacturers use such proprietary ui's that they had to remove many Bluetooth profiles for their respective ui's to work properly.sucks for us that planned to use our phones as mobile computers.

 

[MunkinDrunky]

I guess thats why it took so long for so few replies, there was little hope. I was hoping that 2.2 would allow for the Fascinate to have compatibility with the HID profile. From what you are saying nugiene it sounds like the problem lies with Samsung's UI and we may never get HID support. But if I am to remain hopeful, I should hope this is not the case.

 

[nugiene]

I'm not sure, but if/when the AOSP gets released it should have support for more bluetooth profiles. I guess we are going to have to wait and see.

 

[martque1]

i dont have a keyboard for my phone yet to try this but there is an app on the market called bluetooth keyboard and it is supposed to help you connect the phone to the keyboard. please post your results because i would like to get a keyboard for my fascinate

 

[MunkinDrunky]

I hear ya, Ive wanted a bluetooth keyboard to work of the Fascinate for soooo long now. But bluetooth keyboard easyconnect, bluekeyboard pro jp, I just tired and were the only apps i could find that looked like they could remotely do what we want. They do not work and the first one only crashed a lot. What we need is HID support for the Fascinate and I have given up hope on ever seeing this functionality. We were maybe supposed to see this with official 2.2, but no go. Its such an amazing device hardware-wise, but so much impracticality and software bugs/drawbacks have just left me with a "meh" feeling toward my phone.

 

[jgisme]

Okay.

I too was hoping to use my Samsung Indulge plus BT-500 keyboard as a handy-dandy laptop replacement. I have to carry a real computer (a laptop,) with me and two laptops is actually a real mess, travel wise and such.

So, this business of making my Zippy keyboard work for me is pretty important.

If this becomes possible, please contact me: I'm Jules Gilbert, my email address is:

repeatable_compression@yahoo.com