Shocker: iPhone virtual keyboard not as good as real ones
A usability consultancy firm called Centric Inc, has determined that the iPhone’s virtual keyboard is more error-prone than its physical counterparts. I have heard “it gets a lot better after a month” a hundred times from iPhone users, but the experiment seems to show that the number of errors while typing on the iPhone doesn’t really go down with experience.
“iPhone owners entered text as rapidly as QWERTY owners on their own phones. However, iPhone owners made significantly more texting errors on their own phone (5.6 errors/message) than both QWERTY owners (2.1 errors/message) and numeric phone owners (2.4 errors/message) on their own phones, p < .01. Interestingly, comparing texting performance between iPhone owners and novices (non-owners) on the iPhone found no significant difference in error rates. “While the iPhone’s corrective text feature helps, this data suggests that iPhone users who have owned the device for a month still make about the same number of errors as the day they got it,” (more details)
We said in Jan 07 that the keyboard would not perform all that well, but it’s not important enough to stall sales: many iPhone owners don’t type extensively or carry a blackberry in addition to their iPhone.
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Add comment November 13th, 2007
After a few days of rumors and poor-quality photo circulation, the official images from Nokia are out… The official announcement is tomorrow, but someone at Nokia made a gaffe and posted them early (or may be it’s on purpose, it’s hard to tell these days). Anyhow, a little more buzz won’t harm the N82. The specifications highlights are in the full post. (click photo to zoom)
NTT DoCoMo’s N905i comes with face detection technology normally found in dedicated digital cameras. This rectangular clamshell handset feature a 3″ internal display at 480 x 854 resolution, a monochrome external display, HSDPA connectivity as well as GPS navigation support. You also get a 5 megapixel camera with face detection, allowing you to capture picture perfect portraits that contain up to 3 people in a single frame. In addition, the N905i is capable of recording video in H.264 format in VGA resolution at 30fps. This Japan-only cellphone will be available in red, black, white and pink when it rolls out this November 26th.
Now here’s a DIY WiFi network detector from Austrian artist Gordan Savicic. Made from the humble (but fun) Nintendo DS, it is hooked to high torque servo motors that actually tightens the garment whenever you get closer to a WiFi signal. Hopefully the crushing grip isn’t as bad as an phyton. The main thrust of this painful idea is to generate a “schizo-geographic pain map” of the “invisible” networks that are surrounding us.
For those who still have nostalgic moments of their Palm OS experience can now experience it on Nokia’s line of N Series tablets - and they are the N770, the N800 and the N810. Access has just unveiled a beta copy of their Garnet Virtual Machine software that is compatible with over 30,000 Garnet applications. Production will begin at the end of this year, so why not download the beta for free today?
The Eco Media Player is now available, bringing a little shade of green to the world of portable media players in addition to standard PMP functions such as an audio and video player, an integrated FM radio, a LED torch, a photo viewer and a memo recorder. Heck, it doesn’t need any replacement batteries of any sort since you will have to rely on the traditional hand crank in order to get it going. A single minute of self-charging will provide up to 40 minutes’ worth of audio playback. The Eco Media Player comes with 2GB of internal memory as well as an SD memory card slot for expansion options. While it supports Microsoft-based computers when connected, there is no indication of Mac compatibility. The Eco Media Player retails for £155.
Looks like the Fall update for the Xbox 360 has gotten all the more interesting - it will support the downloading of classic Xbox titles over Xbox Live, giving access to titles such as Halo, Fable, Farenheit, Crimson Skies and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex for $15 a pop. If you’re interested in a little trip down memory lane, look out for the dashboard update when December 2nd rolls around. Otherwise, you can always pick up used copies of these titles for under $10, but why leave the comfort of your home to save a few bucks?
