VITO ZoomBoard review
After moving from an HTC Vario with in built keyboard to a HTC Touch (I have to admit I much prefer the smaller phone for sure) I did start to miss the keyboard as I do quite a bit of texting and sending of Outlook e-mails. Whilst the word completion on the Touch does really help, the standard Windows mobile keyboard is pretty poor for fast and accurate entry. Being out and about quite a bit, grabbing the stylus just becomes a pain and requires both hands and lots of concentration!
Looking through at tracyandmatt.co.uk last week, I noticed the release of VITO Technologies ZoomBoard application. ZoomBoard is a replacement for the standard on-screen keyboard included on a Windows Mobile device. The download site http://iwindowsmobile.com/onscreen-keyboard.html offers a free trial (I think all software should be available on a free trial basis) so I downloaded as I had nothing to loose!
I have to admit using the ZoomBoard keyboard was a little strange at first. ZoomBoard is unlike most other keyboard addons as it uses a very clever “Sliding Technique”. Keys are not actually accepted or processed until you remove your finger from the screen. As you slide your fingers over the screen, a magnified image is shown on screen showing a much larger version of the key that you are hovering over, so you simply can not choose the wrong character. This allows even those with the biggest thumbs to enter information concisely without mistakes.
Even if you are a stylus addict, the larger on screen keys are much, much easier to select and access with the stylus as well. You don’t have to use the sliding mechanism to use this keyboard all the time so for quick messages I tend to just hit the larger keys just like a normal keyboard. The simple buttons to change to upper case and numbers/symbols also offer much faster keyboard entry.
The best part of this application? The cost… $9.95 so around £5.00 in English money so, yes, I now have a fully registered version!
Review by: John
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, VITO Technology, VITO ZoomBoard, Tracy & Matt]
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