My Next Phone?

[mrlich]

So the world of phones with tactile keyboards is diminishing - much to my shagrin. There were rumors for a while of a Motorola Droid 5 with a keyboard, but they seem to have faded with the passing of the 'holy shit go out and buy buy buy' season. The situation has become so dire for those of us looking for that physical keyboard that I've seen the concept used as a punchline in a few tech posts.

With the sausages that I have for thumbs, physical keyboards have always been a requirement. Yes, I've heard the "you just need the right touch screen keyboard to be happy" argument before. If such a keyboard exists, I have yet to find it. And I've looked. A lot.

But here's the good news: Google is getting voice recognition right. No, it's not really where I would want it to be in a perfect world, but it's getting there - and fairly quickly.

It's not uncommon for me to find a situation I feel is unattainable and go in the reverse direction. Balance and all that. So what if I did that here? What if instead of focussing on the idea of a tactile keyboard I looked into a phone which satisfied all the other things that I would want from a phone?

I present to you the Neptune Pine. There are some components that they're still a bit vague on (water resistant? what does that mean) but for the most part, this could very well be my next phone. In a watch.

You can read more on their site, but the short version is this: They got a lot right that the other smartwatch makers out there are not - mostly design elements that made me want to smack the other smart watch makers. There are two cameras - one front facing (Hello Hangouts from my rist. Yes, I'm James Bond. What?) It's 'water resistant' - still looking into what exactly that means. It's small (for a phone). It's Android - and a recent enough version that Google Now works on it - which opens a LOT of functionality.

It's cheap compared to most modern phones. This worried me until I thought about the size factor. This phone is designed small. Small screens = cheap. That should be enough to cause the drop in cost.

Basically, I'm not 100% sold, but at the very least, this device has opened my mind to looking in a new direction. If I get one, I'll let you all know what I think of it. The only trick will be where I order the device to since it's only available online currently.

Comments

[boutell.livejournal.com]

I'll be very curious to hear. It's clever. I think I use my phone as a small iPad too often though.

[mrlich.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. Though in my case it's the reverse. I actually have 2 large tablets (one 10.1 Note (Android) and one full blown Win8 machine). Because of this, I feel kinda like I could skip that middle stage (phone/phablet) and go down to this.

Of course, I would likely keep my MotoDroid 4 around for a good while as an 'in case' device. I just wouldn't have to worry about updating it and then having those updates bog it down to unreasonable levels.

[xtingu]

Neat neat neat!

My first thought was, "Sweet JESUS that thing is huge on a wrist." But then I remembered your wrists. :) So you're fine there.

My only worry is that when it comes time to typey-type (rare as those times may be), your gigantor fingers will press 872683 keys at once. Like, if the Droid4 on-screen keyboard is too small for you to type on, something half the size may make you nuts. I imagine you trying to do a voice command for something and it doesn't work, so you try it again and it doesn't work, so you try it a different way and it doesn't work... so finally you decide you need to actually type (you're slightly annoyed), and then your fingers will be too big and you'll wanna throw something. Or maybe that's just me. :) I'm sure the manufacturer has really thought about this, however, so I'm likely worrying over nothing.

In other news, last night I discovered this magical page which describes a zillion keyboard shortcuts for the Droid. (You've probably known about them forever, though.) HOLY CRAP, IT'S LIKE I HAVE A NEW PHONE. I can do a "Find on page"! I never knew that! Sweet Jesus!

okbye.

[drjohn.livejournal.com]

Yeah but if it pisses him off he can't throw it like a tablet, 'cause it's on his wrist!

That's progress right there.

[tfcocs.livejournal.com]

I am with you---I need a tactile keyboard integrated into the phone. I know, I can use one via bluetooth, but I prefer to KNOW that it will stay connected. Alas, I do not have that option with my current phone.

[mrlich.livejournal.com]

Yeah - if I get this device, it would be me gambling on the voice commands being sufficient. I suppose I could keep a bluetooth keyboard around, but that's not likely. I already want to connect too many things (headphones, van, PC) via bluetooth, and I have yet to see any app/device that allows you to bounce from one to another easily.