Microsoft's iPhone & Android Keyboard is Very Innovative

[dgstorm]

It looks like Microsoft's mobile engineering team still has some impressive innovation ideas to draw on. The above image is the new mobile keyboard that Microsoft is creating for iOS and Android. As you can see, what sets this keyboard apart is its unusual configuration of keys. The keys fan out around your thumb's natural pivot point, making the keyboard a more natural extension for one-handed users.

This idea is so good, it makes you wonder why no one has thought of it before. The irony of this idea is that the implementation of this keyboard on Microsoft's own handset isn't the same, and is far more cramped and awkward. Of course, if it works as well as it seems, then that might change pretty quickly.

Either way, using this keyboard on an Android or an iPhone would be pretty funny. We imagine that copycats will start popping up now that this idea has been actualized. The final version of this keyboard is expected to arrive on iOS in a few months, and on Android later in the year. What do you think?

Source: The Verge

 

[liftedplane]

I could see swiftkey offering a version of this with flow, pretty awesome idea. I'd love to try it one handed on my Moto X pure

 

[Vepaot]

I'm with Lifted. I need Swype like gestures to type. If it has that, I'd love to give it a go when it's available.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I feel like there have been other third-party keyboards with a similar layout. I'm wondering if this would help my wife with the Note 4 though. She was reluctant to even try it, but is loving the larger screen. However, she did tell me just the other evening that she wants her next phone to be smaller again so she has an easier time of using it with one hand. I'm not sure if she's tried the built-in one-handed features of the Note yet. I pointed them out when I first gave her the phone, but I showed her a lot of stuff and then she got to work setting it up.

 

[kixfan]

I would try that. Looks like a great concept for using a larger phone one handed. Anyone know if other keyboards already use this layout? Just curious.