By One of the biggest complaints about the Motorola Droid was its sub-par hardware keyboard. The keys were all just a little too flat and bunched together in a non-text-friendly way. So the assumption is that on the upgraded Droid 2, one of the things that could (and should) change is the keyboard. Through the ever vigilant eyes at Howard Forums, have we spied the successor to the Droid’s keyboard?
While this hasn’t been confirmed, it definitely looks like a keyboard updated for an Android 2.1+ device (voice input key, anyone?), and the body style is distinctly Droid. The understanding is the actual casing of the Droid 2 shouldn’t vary that much from the original, and that is what this looks like.
Playing devil’s advocate and assuming it is real there are some things to like. More room is devoted to keys that look a bit friendlier to tactile input, but gone is the directional input pad of old. It has been replaced by a set of directional arrows and an “OK” button implemented directly in the keyboard layout. The large amount of real estate devoted to the “ALT” and Shift keys may be unnecessary, but it does give the keypad a more traditional QWERTY design.
Regardless of whether this is fact, fiction, or something entirely different I’m not all too sure how I feel about it just yet. What do you guys think?
[via Engadget]
Hey Motorola…theres No Shame in Calling HTC and asking how they did the TP2’s Heavenly Keyboard.
That itself is why people have a deathgrip on it despite the fact it runs WinMo.
Placement might be better, and without trying it out I guess you can’t really know… but I was really hoping for a keyboard with harder, “clickier” keys that are actually spaced out.
well the voice input button is pointless because that’s used as a substitute for the keyboard so i dont see any point in time that i would slide the keyboard open and use voice input when i couldve done that from the beginning. The new directional buttons and then an OK button shoved in there looks awkward so i think it’s a downgrade from the D-Pad. The Droid keyboard layout is definitely 1 of the better 1s already since the spacebar has it’s own row and there are dedicated buttons for “/” “?” “.” “,” but if this is an “improvement,” i hope this doesnt make the final cut
Looks nice.
If it does not run motoblur it may well be an actual replacement to the droid. Would be nice to have | and crtl on the keyboard. Us adults often need keys like that.
Just the fact that the keys are now staggered and have more space.. should make it A LOT easier to work with. Although I hated the current Droid keyboard when I first got the phone.. I have to say that it doesn’t really bother me anymore. I got used to it and I can type very quickly with it.
@MarvinAndroid any real keyboard beats a touch one. For both feel and screen space preserved, if you want to do any real work.
i really would also like to see a trackball
the more i look at it, the more i wish they kept the same size buttons for the enter, alt and caps button and remove the “alt lock” key and spread out the buttons and try to emulate the Touch Pro2
I got my droid on launch day and I have the raised keyboard I have no idea what that flat one is pictured above the supposed new one but I’m sure glad I didn’t get that one, however I am getting a refurb tomorrow I hope its not that flat one!
Looks poor. I’ll probably wait to see what HTC has to offer
@ari-free,
Right an optical trackball ala Indcredible would free up all the space used by the directional buttons.
Looks similar to the Cliq buttons, which are pretty nice.
How can this be a real Android keyboard without a menu key? I’m skeptical.
Where is the “+” d-pad on the left for nintendo emulators? :(
Oh god, if that’s really the keyboard, I’m jumping ship to HTC asap! The main reason I got the Droid to begin with was that it had a hardware keyboard, which has also proved its most disappointing feature.
This was a chance for them to shore up the ‘hardware keyboard’ niche by actually producing a Droid with a good one. But that looks like the exact same look/feel of the worst phone keyboard I’ve ever used. That Shadow better be one badass device, or I’ll be going Incredible.
Shopped. Look at the edges of the picture.
Does the increased size of the Alt key (along with all keys?) imply a larger screen?
Definitely looks like a terrible photoshop job. I really hope the Droid 2 has a D-pad on the left.
What I hope is that they make one with a touch screen only keyboard as well
Gotta be fake, no Menu button :P
Wow in somewhat related news just got confirmation the vzw phone droid Ultra code name moto shadow will have not 1 but 2!!! Snap dragon processors!!! One for graphix and the other for the phone it’s self. He said also droid 2 is pretty cool 2 but the ultra will be the it phone to have …. Hhhmmmm should I get my deposit back for my Evo ???
It looks almost exactly the same as the TP keyboard.
@ 3 Phones Jugglin: how does it look like the TP2 keyboard?
D-pad on the left!… we can only hope…
To the first poster that said:
“Hey Motorola…theres No Shame in Calling HTC and asking how they did the TP2’s Heavenly Keyboard.”
I own a TP2 and a Droid. With the TP2, “the way they did it” was to make the phone a huge, thick, heavy brick. After all, my Laptop has a much better keyboard than the droid too! The potentially new keyboard looks nice and has some improvements on the original design.
@jake044
You misread. I said they can ask to borrow what made the TP2 board so great.
The TP2 has 5 Rows not 4 and better Spacing.
Has anyone else noticed their keys have flattened more and are harder to press after so long? I got mine about 3 weeks after it came out.. hoping I’m not alone.
I like the pad for video games like NES.
This is def a fake.. And if not, Im not sure what Moto was thinking.. As someone pointed out.. There is no Menu button like the current Droid. And an ALT Lock button.. Why the F. do you need an ALT Lock. Double tap ALT works just fine. And as for the reg ALT, Why so big.. Also who needs a dedicated TAB key.. Pffff..
And now after taking another look, there is NO, I repeat NO F’n way this is legit. Shared keys have been alter’d too which wouldnt make any sense either. The text looks like crap. Who ever photoshop’d, wait, paint’d this needs better skills. Look at the 3. That looks as if the button should be dimpled.. Um yeah, but yet the button looks kinda raised..
** Note to Phandroid ** Plz put a (Possible Hoax) on the title.
The G1 has a 5 row keyboard that is extremely useful. There in no reason to produce a keyboard without a number row.
Touch Pro 2 may have a great keyboard but it is also THICK
Oh thank GOD! I’ve been stuck on a Nokia 9300 far ages because all the phone keyboards since have been worse!
Finally it looks like I can have something with all the symbols, proper cursors, and something I can configure as SHIFT+CTRL+ALT and TAB. Even looks like I could set up an ESC key to boot. Bonus! I couldn’t face remotely wrangling a server farm without them.
Looking at that board, it looks like they’ve given good real estate to the right keys. The muscle memory should be happy. No idea what that ALT LOCK thinks it’s doing – I’d make that an ALT+ENTER combo and move the OK key to its spot so I could have a second SHIFT or ALT key.
Droid pops out with that then I’m putting my money on the table.
Looks like another useless keyboard. Why don’t the learn from the first failure?
I’m sure it’s an improvement on the original Droid’s hardware…but after all the complaints and hoping for a better keyboard you think that would have been not just a priority, but THE priority, for Moto to fix. Again I’m sure its great, but it could have been amazing. But I guess evolution doesn’t work that quickly, even in the tech business.
It is a real keyboard, but it is not a keyboard for Android. Only Windows ketborads have OK bottons. Nice try whoever did not show the whole phone in the pic.
Keyboards are overrated anyways. Makes the phone clunky, and has minimal benefits over a virtual keyboard. Especially the ones they have coming out now.
Sure it takes some getting used to, but after you do, you won’t look back on a physical keyboard. I’m bumming just typing this on my computer…not really.
Right now the only plus to physical keyboards would be emulator play, but that’s such a small part of my phone usage, and i’m sure over time updates and such will improve virtual keyboards to work all the same.
Why don’t they just completely remove the hardware keyboard… I would love that.
Virtual Keyboards are a bad fad , they SUCK compared to an actual physical keyboard. I hope the Droid 2 has an actual keyboard even if it equals or betters the existing keyboard. If you ask 90% of Blackberry users why they haven’t switched to a iPhone or Android phone yet they always say ” I use my Blackberry for business ” what that really means is they need a keyboard and a dial pad that they’re used too. The Manufactures need to figure this out and get a dial pad with a typical number pad with a send key and a decent qwerty keyboard and they’ll have a phone that will be a winner.I’ve been using a HTC Hero for a couple days as a loaner phone because my Droid is broken and I’ve just about smashed it because it sucks so bad. Virtual keyboards are too glitchy and hard to use , especially if your on the go or in a vehicle.
this looks like a windows mobile keyboard. seriously, since when does android have use for an OK button? and that back button? doesn’t look like the ones any android phone has sported, so far. I mean, I could be wrong, but i think people assume too much, too quickly. either way, both are ugly.
I disagree. I’ll take the HTC_IME keyboard over most physical keyboards anyday. Especially the Droid keyboard.
I know I may get slaughtered for this but, I’ve got a Milestone and I find the physical keyboard excellent. It suits the way that I write. However people who have other phones (G1, various LG’s) hate it. I guess it comes down to that old chestnut, personal choice.
Alan , I agree with you. For me there is absolutely nothing wrong with the keyboard
Where can I get them now?