Jørgen Sundgot gets up close and personal with ORA's new, foldable fabric keyboard for the Orange SPV - and finds SPV users now have a faster means of input than predictive text.
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Although add-on keyboards could far from be described as a new concept, the SPV Fabric Keyboard from ORA certainly introduces a new twist to this category of mobile device accessories. Created entirely in fabric, with the exception of the rigid plastic stand for the Orange SPV, the keyboard uniquely uses conductive fabrics to deliver signals to the SPV. It also offers faster text input than that offered by T9 predictive text.
The keyboard itself is rather small, measuring approximately 23,5 x 12,5 x 0,3 cm, and weighs next to nothing. The construction enables it to be rolled up when not in use, and even serve as a protective case for the Orange SPV, while when in use it requires a flat surface - mostly because of the rigid plastic stand which connects the SPV to the keyboard.
 | | Ill: ORA |
Following installation of the keyboard drivers, users must go through a quick and simple process to calibrate the keyboard. Users then get to tune settings including the sensitivity of the keyboard, including its repeat rate and repeat delay, as well as whether each key press should emit an audible alert. Also, users can choose whether the backlight should switch on whenever a key is pressed, and set up Hotkeys for certain applications.
The keyboard does not add any specific functionality to the text input capabilities of the SPV, and as such has a few limitations imposed by the platform itself: it is for instance not possible to select text, nor as a result cut, copy or paste any. On the bright side, users can quickly start favorite applications through setting up 9 Hotkeys using Fn+1 through Fn+9 key combinations, and the keyboard also has 5 specific Hotkeys in the upper left corner to start frequently used applications.
Unfortunately, it was quickly discovered that one must limit oneself to type slower than than one would think would be feasible with the keyboard. Despite fingers hitting the correct keys and hard enough, the keyboard has a tendency to leave out single presses during rapid entry of long sequences of text, requiring users to adapt and learn to slow down to an acceptable level. Still, the keyboard proved itself as a better alternative than predictive text, but cannot match the rate at which key presses are registered using the kind of hardware foldable keyboard commonly available for handhelds.
Availability
The ORA SPV Fabric Keyboard is available from the ORA web site for £49.98 GBP including VAT.
Conclusion
Despite earning marks for innovation, the ORA SPV Fabric Keyboard would not be able to outperform a hardware alternative of any kind. It does however outperform predictive text input, and since there are currently no other alternatives it is indeed the fastest method of text entry for Orange SPV users. It also allows users to control all aspects of the SPV directly from the keyboard, which is of great convenience, and thus allow users to multitask better. And last, but not least: it is relatively inexpensive.
- What's positive: Outperforms predictive text, low price
- What's negative: Tendency to not register key presses during long and rapid sequences of entry
Overall: 
Price and availability
The will start selling for TBA () in November 1999.
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