Donnerstag, 18. Juni 2009

Efficient text input shortcuts on N800/N810

These "tricks" are scattered around the web, but I have not found a compact, to-the-point post with all the shortcuts that we can use on the on-screen (stylus) keyboard and with the hardware keyboard, so here it is:

N800/N810 on-screen stylus keyboard gestures

  • Space: Tap and move right
  • Enter: Tap and move down
  • Backspace: Tap and move left (keep the stylus on the touchscreen and move to the right, then left again, etc.. for multiple backspace keypresses)
  • Shift inversion: Tap the character you want shifted and move up (also works for the number block and its special characters)

N810 hardware keyboard shift+Fn alternatives

  • Shift single character: Press shift, release shift, then press character
  • Single "blue" character: Press Fn, release Fn, then press character
  • Shift lock: Press Shift twice (press shift once to leave the shift lock mode)
  • Fn lock/"Number mode": Press Fn twice (press Fn once to leave the Fn lock mode)

The Single "blue" character shortcut is helpful to enter special characters and numbers on the left side of the hardware keyboard with your left thumb only, as there is no Fn key on the right side of the keyboard.

Update: Timeless pointed out that these are well documented in the OS2008 "Help" application under "Text input methods" and then "Virtual keyboards" and "Integrated keyboard". The latter even includes another hint for entering accented letters and umlauts: Hold down Chr and press the letter key repeated until the desired accented letter appears. Even if you normally don't read the online manual, these two pages are worth reading.

Montag, 15. Juni 2009

gPodder Maemo 5 UI Preview

While we keep the Diablo packages of gPodder updated, and even improve the UI somewhat, it's also time to think about how to create a good podcatcher UI for the next iteration of Maemo. During the weekend, I've come up with some ideas on how it could look like. Some of the problems have already been fixed in the latest release, watch the video of the new UI here:

You can find a list of things that are already working and things where you could help on the gPodder Fremantle Roadmap, and don't forget to report any bugs you find (both in Diablo and Fremantle) to gPodder @ Maemo Bugs.

Freitag, 5. Juni 2009

Removing the Wikipedia sidebar in MicroB

I was looking for that for quite some time, and now I have found it: Removing the sidebar of Wikipedia to make better use of the tablet screen. If you have been using Greasemonkey before, you probably know that already. If not, here's a mini-HOWTO:

Are there any other good userscripts that you are using on your tablets?