S5 and iPhone 3G headset equals microphone!

Thanks to reader auzas and Darin who convinced me that the iPhone 3G headphone does work with the S5, I decided to give it another go.

I just discovered I had a faulty microphone headphone on the iPhone which explained my failed attempts several weeks back – luckily I had another spare which I borrowed from a workmate and tried it out just now. Success!

If you’re going to go out and purchase a iPhone 3G (or similar) headset, make sure you check that the headphone a 3 black, white or colored rings on the connector.

Reader Darin explains..

I’ve seen other sites post that the 3.5″ headset jack is a TRRS jack, opposed to a TRS jack, and is capable to receive microphone input.

TRS = Tip, Ring, Sleeve
TRRS = Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve (You’ll see three black/coloured rings on the connector, as opposed to 2 rings for speakers)

The second ring connection is available for a microphone connection on the headset. I’m told that the iPhone supports this same thing, so an iPhone capable headset should work for you here.

Once you plug in the headset, the RealTek Audio Manager app will pop up.

For me, I left the headphone as ticked.

Reader auzas suggested putting the Microphone to maximum (via Volume Control ) as the mic may not be sensitive.

I then tested via skype and all works well.

My iPhone headset is a good backup to my Sony BT headset (this is working fine) in case it runs out of battery during a long skype call..:)

Thanks once again to our readers auzas and Darin for their helpful comments!

I’ve seen other sites post that the 3.5″ headset jack is a TRRS jack, opposed to a TRS jack, and is capable to receive microphone input.

TRS = Tip, Ring, Sleeve
TRRS = Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve (You’ll see three black/coloured rings on the connector, as opposed to 2 rings for speakers)

The second ring connection is available for a microphone connection on the headset. I’m told that the iPhone supports this same thing, so an iPhone capable headset should work for you here.

S5 – soft keyboard

Now for a quick look at my experiences with the the S5 and its soft keyboard.

The S5 comes with a vilivSoftKey program which provides a on screen soft keyboard for data entry.

I personally found the onscreen keyboard size a bit too small for 2 thumb typing (ok if you use your forefinger) and I find myself making too many typos to the point that it frustrates me.

Another thing that bugged me was when you start typing a URL , say “www.”, the autocomplete kicks in and overlays on top of the screen keyboard (as seen on my S5 pic above). The only way to get out of this is to hide and unhide the keyboard so that the keyboard restarts on top of the autocomplete list.

At the bottom right hand corner, there’s a “Mode” key that’ll toggle the numeric and symbol keys.

Not being totally satisfied by the typing experience, I began searching for a more effective soft keyboard to suit my 2 thumb typing on the S5.

I tested the uBoard, a soft keyboard which I have used on some past UMPCs such as U71P. The uBoard’s keyboard is very configurable but my typing accuracy using the uBoard on the s5 still wasn’t as accurate as I hoped it to be.

I also downloaded an trial version of Dialkeys Gen 2 from http://www.dialkeys.com..this offers a split keyboard (kind of reminds me of the split hard keyboard of the Wibrain!)

It’s a great keyboard and I would have paid the USD30 for the license but I was convinced I’ll find a free soft keyboard that’ll meet my needs.

I finally found the zero weight keyboard (ZWKB ) at http://freshnet8.com which I’m glad to say suited me to a tee.

Here are some features I found which works well for me:

• full screen keys are big and ideal for thumb typing.
• The keys are in bold making it much more
  
• visible on the small 4.8″ screen of the S5
  
• By default, it comes with an audible albeit at times annoying click sound when keys are depressed but this can be configured to be switched off. I like having the “click” that tells you that you have correctly pressed a key and each key stays highlighted so you know which key was previously pressed.

• When using the backspace key , the opaque keyboard becomes translucent so you’re able to see your screen through the keyboard.
• It’s free!

I also find that of all the soft keyboards I’ve tested above, the ZWK B (for me) is the most accurate for thumb typing.

So there you go, some of my personal experiences with different soft keyboards on the S5.

Do let us know of your experiences with any other soft keyboards you have come across that are great for touchscreen thumb typing!

Inking on the LG P100

Written on the LG P100

Two can play at that game! The LG P100 is a passive touch screen but has awesome palm (hand) rejection technology. I can lay my hand across the whole screen like it’s a piece of paper or pad and it doesn’t affect the inking at all. J’s inking on the S5 actually reminded me of the experience on the HTC Shift if you were lazy and laid a hand on the screen and I successfully inked on it all the time, so it’s possible. I think perhaps the S5 is hampered also by the small screen size.

A comparison – Inking on a TabletPC (HP TC1100)

Inking on the S5