The T-Mobile G1’s physical keyboard sucks. The keys are oddly spaced, they’re too depressed and the device’s Leno chin makes for an overall awkward typing experience. The Google Ion (sometimes called the “G2″ or the HTC Magic) offers a much nicer experience with its virtual keyboard, and is overall a much nicer device. I’m not sure why anyone would buy a G1, but to those that did, Google threw them a rather nice bone today: Keyboard shortcuts in Gmail.
If you have an Android phone with a physical keyboard (so, as of right now, the G1), you can now use the same keyboard shortcuts you’re accustomed to in Gmail on your computer web browser. So, for example, if I’m reading a message in mobile Gmail that I want to archive, I can simply hit the “e” button on my G1 keyboard. The same will not work for devices with a virtual keyboard, presumably because it only pops up when you’re in “writing” mode, and when you’re reading email, you wouldn’t be in writing mode.
Google rolled out this new feature as a part of some overall improvements to the mobile Gmail experience. The other big improvement is that auto-completion for all phones, including the iPhone, should now be faster. Google sped this up by using previously fetched auto-complete matches. It’s a small, but nice improvement.
Back to the physical keyboard for a second, it’s nice that Google has found a way to make the G1’s not completely worthless when everyone gets the Android 1.5 “Cupcake” update which includes the virtual keyboard. But having a large portion of your device serve as basically a shortcut button area is not something most people will care about.
I know that most Blackberry’s have nice physical keyboards, and people are obsessed with them, but I finally got around to trying out the Palm Pre’s keyboard — it’s laughable how bad it is. Perhaps if I had index fingers for thumbs it would be okay, but the keys are way too small and crammed together. And the fact that it always feels like I’m popping bubble wrap when I type doesn’t help either. Virtual keyboards for the win.
[photo: flickr/Andrew Mason]
I think the G1 keyboard is great.
yes, it’s quite a nice ashtray.
I like the keyboard too, no problems with it what so ever.
I guess when you have to be productive without much to report on, articles like this get written.
Sigh.
MG, I get you don’t like keyboards on phones. Fine. Some don’t. But please stop mistaking a personal perspective for some sort of absolute truth.
I’ve also tried out the Pre keyboard. It’s fine. Fine for me anyhow. And because the Palm people are not total idiots, it’s presumably fine for a lot of the people they tested it on.
I love the keyboard on my g1, it works great. I work for a mobile developer and I get my hands on every phone known to man and I must say, I don’t know what your problem is.
Crappy article btw, “And the fact that it always feels like I’m popping bubble wrap when I type doesn’t help either.” – Sounds like your fingers are fucked up dude, have fun defending your article.
I like it too.
me too!
I’m sick of TC writing this crap about the G1’s keyboard, if you can’t type on it you’re obviously a moron. It’s an awesome keyboard and I bet most g1 owners could out-type virtual keyboard users any day of the week.
Obviously you’ve not used a G1 for any significant time. TC should be publishing better articles than this bs.
Yeah I’m a bit surprised by this rant about the G1 keyboard. It’s not that bad.
I agree – I am mystified by this rant. I like the G1 keyboard, it’s actually the main reason I bought the phone. I’ve used various blackberries and the Iphone, and the G1 is is far superior IMO.
Maybe the poster is an Apple fanboi. That’s the only explanation that makes sense…
Nice troll. +1
G1 is a great phone. I’m not much for keyboards on a phone, but I think its done well. I hear the Palm Pre keyboard is horrible, but I have yet to try or see it.
Not sure which I like less. But to be fair, I only used the Pre’s for a bit. Pretty sure it’s better than the G1s.
suck on that. the pre keyboard is smaller and feels cheaper compared to g1, why does it make it better? your biased opinion? do some research before writing something about g1 next time.
Pretty sure? No, it’s not better then G1’s.
I’m with dmt. I don’t own the G1 but I’ve tried it and found the keyboard just fine. The HTC Fuze/Touch/Go/whatever is preferable but not by a huge margin.
Virtual keyboards are alright, but if you’re a gamer having a keyboard can often be nice.
Yes, some of us use our phones for gaming
Blackberry keyboards are retarded and built for midgets or other small folk living in faraway places. I switched from a Curve to the G1 and, typical gripes aside, it’s awesome (especially the keyboard). When you type extremely fast on a phone it’s much nicer to have keys that don’t stick up too far, though I definitely agree with the Leno chin bit. Annoying.
If you think that about the BlackBerry keyboard, I advised you stay as far away as possible from the Pre.
Out of every keyboard smartphone that I’ve used, I can’t beat the speed of the T-Mobile Sidekicks. Blackberries and G1s can’t touch the keyboard marketed by Paris Hilton.
I’m confused… does this apply to the browser version, or the app on the phone?
Google just mentions the mobile browser version in the post, but I’d bet they add it to the app as well.
Yes, they did.
It’s been on the Gmail app from the beginning if i’m not mistaken.
Yes, they’ve always been there.
BTW, this article blows. MG, you have some serious personal issues with keyboards and are making a complete fool of yourself.
Every other day TechCrunch has an article about how the G1 keyboard sucks, then the comments fill with people disagreeing. You’re free to your preference, but passing it off as fact is a waste of our time.
Unfolloiwng @TechCrunch now, if I wanted to waste my time I’d go do Digg.
See ya.
First reaction to your response here was that you were being unnecessarily flippant. Then I figured you guys aren’t hurting for traffic, so what’s a little attitude here and there if it makes you feel good?
I’m okay with the random semi-useless posts. Keep ‘em coming.
I know. What if the entire Crunch network stopped bashing Pre like whiny bitches just b/c Palm didn’t send you a review loaner? It’s laughable and also really upsetting how ridiculous you guys are acting. It’s not just Arrington on Gilmore Girls – it’s the stupid “Why Pre is a suckhole of vortex crap” articles on CrunchGear, and now this piece as well.
Remember at CES when Peter Ha creamed his pants over Pre on TV saying, “I’d buy one right now?” Funny how not getting on a PR company’s A-list can make a guy STFU.
You guys are fast turning from a great network full of sources and opinions into a total joke of bitterness. Knock it off already. No wonder Mashable passed you by.
That would be all well and good had I not used the Pre that belongs to another person in the Crunch Network conspiracy group you talk about.
Your reply makes no sense. Who cares if you used your daddy’s pre. Because you guys have whined like bitches for not getting a preview unit no one can trust your opinion – after all, according to you guys, no one can trust the positive reviews of people (read: all reviewers who actually matter) who did get review units. It only follows that negative comments work the same way.
I like all phones equally. Where do I fit in this vast Crunch Network conspiracy?
I have my Pre review unit now and love it. Who said anything about bashing it?
I am another one that likes the keyboard. Don’t get me wrong… the chin still takes a little wrangling to get around, but all in all, it didn’t take that long to get used to it. And, I have fairly large fingers, as well. The two keys that I have trouble with, with the chin are Del and enter. And that is pretty mild.
The biggest thing, I think, with the G1 keyboard, is it takes some getting used to. Everyone that I know that has one, has said that, and in short order, got used to the keys.
Some people like virtual keyboards, others (like me) like the tactile feedback of a REAL keyboard.
Sure, it can be gotten used to, but it’d be odd if everyone used one and in 10,000 years humans had right thumbs that were significantly longer than their left ones.
When I’ve held the G1 to type, both my thumbs come up from the bottom while my index fingers wrap around the side edges and the rest of my fingers rest on the back of the device. The “chin” in no way obstructs my right thumb. How are you trying to hold the thing?!
What would be more odd is that that would imply that guys with physical keyboards get significantly more action than guys without.
that would only happen if everyone was only typing on it while it was plugged to charge, in which case you truly need a a prostheti thumb ala Even Cowgirls get the Blues, but otherwise, just rotate the g1 a tad counter-clockwise and get on with life with your normal size thumbs.
Ok, let me get this strait…
The fraction of a second that I spend rotating my phone, opening, and closing the keyboard is returned when only using Gmail.
Hmmm… Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll use the virtual keyboard instead.
And if your wondering, misdirection nor Jedi mind tricks work on me either.
andrew in my opinion those keyboard could improve but from there to state that touchscreen keys are better is a bold statement, in fact there is more than one cell phone model because there is more than one opinion about what a cell phone should be, if you don’t like something, it don’t make yout the owner of the only true.
Wasn’t this article about GMail keyboard shortcuts? Why did the writer feel the need to rant about the physical keyboard? The writer must be an iPhone user. Or seven years old. Excuse me while I go shoot some video on my G1and MMS it.
Mwahaha, fun comment there Len.
i don’t know why the author is such a G1, especially its keyboard, hater. bashing g1 with such an passion is strange. btw. g1’s virtual keyboard is almost useless in portrait mode.
wow its an amazing gadget from Google.i am really surprised to read it.
I love the G1 keyboard and the keyboard is why I bought the device.
Why is this article about the G1 when most G1 users probably use the built in gmail functions and not the mobile gmail interface?
An interesting point, why did Google do such a thing. But I assume they mean it does or will work with the built-in Gmail too.
Damn, what’s MG Seigler’s hatred against the G1’s keyboard. Do you get nightmares about the G1?
I like the IPhone but the main reason I’m not ditching my G1 is the keyboard.
This is almost ridiculous. A writer for a supposed-to-be respected blog cannot separate delusion from reality.
Somebody please create a greasemonkey script or a custom RSS feed without MG’s articles.
I made one for you http://feedprox....com/TechCrunch
That’d be nice. Also one that limits twitter articles would be good instead of promoting the typical hype given to the ‘now’ companies that will lose their shine (and most likely profitability) soon after. Cough Myspace Cough cough.
When is Cupcake going to be on every android phone?
it should.
It’s out on G1(HTC dream) and G2(HTC magic) so far (the two only android phones out there)
I have a pre a touch and curve and I would rate blackberry #1, pre #2, touch #3.
It takes me way longer to type on my touch than on my pre.
I also had a g1 and returned it b/c it blew so bad
I own a G1, and never owned a smartphone before it, but I certainly love the keyboard. The fact that it was _way_ bigger than any BlackBerry keyboard (or whatever else) was a huge appeal for me. I’m not a huge guy, but I do have fairly thick fingers. I was going to get a Wing until word about the G1 came around. I don’t know what all these problems are people are referring to about the “chin”; I’ve never noticed that to be a problem for me. I certainly will argue that having the tactile feel of a keyboard is excellent for me. I’ve never really been a fan of soft keyboards, though I am happy that Cupcake gave us the option for one.
Overall, I would be really annoyed if my next phone did not have a physical keyboard, unless soft keyboards dramatically improve (precision, size, whatever) in the near future. I just hate giving up screen real estate while I’m typing. Certainly what everyone else has said is true; this is all opinion, _not_ fact. I will say that I’m a fairly picky user of technology, though, and the G1 has far exceeded my expectations. The release of Cupcake even improved on that. For what it’s worth.
it obvious that MG Siegler either has an iphone, or.. never had a g1 longer then 10 seconds.. the keyboard on the g1 is prob. its best feature imo, is much better then any “virtual keyboard” ever produced. Ive owned multiple smart phones, winMO, rim, sidekick and the g1 is by far the best keyboard ive ever used before.. maybe next time you write a review, possibly do your research more so that you find out owners of the g1 quite enjoy their keyboard. //flame
Actually you can long press the menu key on the ion and that pops up the virtual keyboard at any time !
Holding down the MENU key on an Ion will bring up the soft keyboard, and then you can use the same shortcut keys.
At what stage of Process Journalism does being dead wrong on the G1’s physical keyboard belong in?
stage 6.
I’m guessing that Android donut’s onscreen gestures will handle the gmail shortcuts (ie: draw an “e” on the screen)
I’m typically not one to comment on articles… but I disagree with this article. The keyboard is fine. It’s not the greatest, but it gets the job done. I’m not sure about the Blackberry keyboards, but there is more to a phone than just a keyboard. The Android operating system is awesome.
For someone that uses the keyboard extensively… I don’t think the on-screen keyboards will ever catch up.
I really hope I don’t see too many articles like this on Techcrunch… it dinged the Techcrunch credibility factor for me. =/
I really don’t know what all the hate is about on the G1 physical keyboard. I find the keys to be appropriately spaced I find the bevel and feel of the keys to be very good compared to other keyboards I’ve used on mobile devices.
Yes, the chin causes a bit of strain on the right thumb, but I have somewhat small hands and I barely notice it. And I’m on track to average about 500-600 messages/emails a month over my first two months so I use it frequently.
To me physical keyboards blow onscreen keyboards away. I don’t know about the G2 but I’ve had my hands on an iPhone, the G1 software keyboard and a Storm and I have yet to find a software keyboard that gives me even near the words-per-minute that a physical does, even with autocomplete.
To me the biggest hardware issue with the G1 is its sheer weight. Even with a physical keyboard I think they could have had a lighter form factor. My battery lasts me 12-14 hours with moderate use so even that is not an issue for me.
In short – there are sleeker designs and more refined hardware available for sure, but the rants on the G1 handset are a bit over the top.
It’s annoying that MG has Arrington’s attitude. Arrington is a prick but we respect him because he writes intelligent posts and is a prominent person in the tech industry.
MG, meanwhile, is a poor writer that has an inflated sense of self.
Agreed.
He is a jerk, but don’t turn your gun on him. He can’t take it. He is one of those lucky bullys who can give a good game but can’t receive a good game.
I believe he suffers from a low sense of self. He needs to get on bipolar meds and maybe join a help groud of some sort.
When should we expect a Bing Phone?
Who hired this guy and what drugs were they on when they did it?
Hardware keyboards own – try the HTC Touch Pro 2 and quit your whinging
The G1 keyboard is fine for most normal people. I type at a comfortable 25 words per minute with this board. I could see it being a problem if you got fat fingers and stubby hands. Maybe the op should lay off the cheetos. =)
I find MG pretty funny, warts and all. But I think he should ask Sarah for some pointers.
who knew cellphone keyboards could be so divisive?
I type email faster on a g1 than on an iphone though.
the g1 feals low quality and is big that is the only downside in my opinion.
Have you tried NESoid, the 60fps NES emulator. That app alone justifies the hard keyboard on my G1.
It’s hands down the best application on the Android Market right now (and it’s only $1.99). I just got done playing a season of Tecmo Football. I love that you can save the season and come back to it later on. So, I play whenever I am waiting for my gf to finish getting ready to go out. PERFECT.
The G1 Keyboard rocks.
hm, i have no problem with the G1 keyboard. it’s not as nice as a crackberry, but i can type twice as fast on my g1 vs an iphone. i have big hands making the chin issue irrelevant, but also big thumbs, so go figure.
I use the G1 keyboard every day and have no problem with it at all. I barely have to look at the keyboard when I type.
I’m pretty confident MG didn’t use the keyboard for any significant amount of time.
There are problems with the G1 but my guess is that few daily users have any real issue with the keyboard. I actually haven’t noticed any posts that agree with MG’s keyboard complaints.
If I were going to complain I’d start with the battery life and camera (though improving with cupcake). I’ve also had some problems with the SD card.
The g1 keyboard is adequate. Yeah the htc designed ergonomics kinda sucks. I prefer it over the virtual keyboard though.
Say something against the google phone and the fanboys come running. I prefer to leave that to Apple users.
Your flamebait is ridiculous. Isn’t this a news site? Yadda yadda.
Personally, with my long alien fingers, I find the G1 keyboard fantastic. It’s not as nice as my Sidekick LX’s keyboard, but I can easily type a couple pages on my G1 without any discomfort. (I type about 100wpm on a real keyboard, and I’d guess about 50wpm or so on my G1.) The speed and comfort I can type with on my G1’s physical keyboard will NEVER be matched by a touch screen keyboard. In the future when all keyboards are touch sensitive screens I will be the old man going, “Back in my day we used to listen to VINYL RECORDS…”
50 wpm on a thumb keyboard? i call bs
I think techcrunch has a personal vendetta on all things non-apple.
It’s a bit annoying when MG trashes something without facts, just opinion. I suggest that you run a test between moderate users of the iphone and moderate users of the G1 to see who can write a lengthy email faster and with fewer mistakes. My bet is on the G1. The majority of texts and emails I receive from iphone users have mistakes in them, hence the disclaimer at the end of the email “this email was sent from my iphone”. That disclaimer is not needed with a physical keyboard. There is a time for a virtual keyboard (short quick text) and time for a physical keyboard (long emails). The G1 now has both, if it wasn’t so slow (constant hangups while switching applications) I’d love it.
Dude, you are a moron – I love my G1
Siegler, you ignorant slut! What happened to you as a child that makes you hate on keyboards so hard?
omg. I know why Siegler is such an anti-keyboardist!
1. Siegler is a memeber of TechCrunch
2. TechCrunch will soon unfurl the CrunchPad
3. Crunchpad has NO KEYBOARD
4. OMG! TO SERVE MAN…. IT’S A COOKBOOK!
BWAHAHAHAHA Awesome Twilight Zone reference!!!
I agree with almost everyone on this thread (except MG – sorry dude).
As an owner of both a G1 and a G2 (thanks Google IO!) – I find the hardware keyboard MUCH easier to use than the Android virtual keyboard. I’d agree that overall the G2 feels much more solid – but when it comes to text-input, the G1 takes the cupcake! (terrible…i know)
How the hell can you hate a physical keyboard? It is so easy to type fast on the G1 that I send emails from my bed instead of walking over to my laptop.
I usually never comment, but this post is just dumb, if I want to read about cell phones, I go to engadget.com, try sticking to what I enjoy about this site, internet startups.
Siegler,
Love your blog. Love what you’re doing. Keep up the great articles.
Sincerely,
S. Jobs
What happened to Swype, last years’ TC50 runner-up?
The Pre and G1 keyboards are fine.
On the Pre finger nail tips should press the keys instead of finger tips, the rubbery material is provided for this purpose.
On the G1, the right thumb should reach the keys from the bottom, not the side.
The tone on TechCrunch has really deteriorated recently.
Hey i like techcrunch very very much because you guys always show facts to backup your articles but please if you do not like a product urself stop using your power to show that you don’t like it. No one cares about what you like or not but, what everyone else does matters. this post was more like a crunchgear post please keep both the websites where they are do not combine them