[1/28/08] iPhone skin for PCM Keyboard - refined

[2manyphones]

After many months of tweaking this skin, I think it is about as good as it can get (for my personal use). For those of you not familiar with PCM Keyboard, it is a program being developed as a replacement on screen keyboard for PPC devices.

I am providing the skin and layout files only, please refer any program or device compatibility questions to the developers thread or website.
The latest version the application can be downloaded at this link (keep in mind the developer currently puts an expiration of 30 days on each version until it is commercially released. So plan on upgrading to the newest version each month or plan on purchasing the software when it is launched):
http://pocketcm.com/keyboard2.php
Support:
http://pocketcm.com/phorum/index.php?9
XDA thread with the latest version information:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=321712

There are two types of files that have to be loaded onto your device and selected in the options/settings for this skin to work: The keyboard layout file and the keyboard skin file. Choose either the Eng 2many or Eng 2many., layout (the second having the , and . next to the space bar) AND either the 2many GreyiPhone or 2manyiClone skin. I suggest restarting the device to make sure everything has changed correctly.

This design was done to allow almost any layout work with this skin, so check out the multi language layouts and a "azerty" layout created by ialu in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=330525

Here are some features of this skin:
Main screen:
-Numbers pop up if you press and hold the "123#?" key
-Basic symbols pop up from the space bar. Period with a space is the default pop up key, so if you press and hold too long and don't slide to another symbol, you will get a period and a space.
-If you press and hold a letter, you will get a caps letter (idea borrowed from my BlackBerry).
-Caps lock is still double press on the shift (up arrow) and double press to change back to lower caps.
On the symbol keyboard (one press of 123#?):
-If you press the internet explorer key you will get "http://www."
-If you press and hold the internet explorer key you can choose: https://, .net, .org, .com or www.

The Grey iPhone skin / layout also supports landscape. This was not easy and I had to compromise some eye candy to get all the buttons to look right in both orientations. It does take up a LOT of screen in landscape, but I didn't want to make the buttons smaller for portrait use.

Keep in mind all of this customization is set in the layout file and can be opened and modified in wordpad. The only trick is making sure it is saved as a .layout file. I suggest making a copy of the layout file you are changing, rename it, make your changes and then save it (not save as).

I made this skin for my personal use and am sharing because I haven't seen anything else that works as good - for me. I am not a developer or a designer, so again please try to search for questions in the thread links I have provided. Please feel free to modify, use, distribute any of the graphics or file settings - no need to ask

Newest Version has been posted in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=366987
If you prefer black keys with white letters, got to this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...9&postcount=26
If you like some color in your keyboard, try this version:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...1&postcount=21
Layout file with ( ) that pop up from the "." key:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...3&postcount=46
HTC Touch Style Skin, with help from Kin0Kin:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...08&postcount=2

Here is the eye candy:

[Kpyto]

Great look!

What about support cyrrilyc? (Russian?)

[M.A.S.]

Tks for sharing...

[lepsyfou]

very beautifull thank you man

[boyet804]

preciate you

[randomelements]

This is VERY nice
Many thanks.

[radiototal]

I download the zip file but how do I install it on my PPC 6800 ?

[jomo25]

Excellent! Thanks! Though I will need to slightly mod it to add the "_". No one seems to put that on their layouts. Apparently, I'm the only one who ever uses it, and I do in my passwords sometimes...

EDIT: Just noticed that a hold of the "-" will also do a "_". Cool! I'll still add a dedicated button for it. I don't need the .com since I made the press and hold of the http button default to a .com, instead of .net, and also I use the "_" much more than .com as I have most of my sites bookmarked...

But awesome skin again! Thanks for the time and effort!

[M.A.S.]

Originally Posted by jomo25 Excellent! Thanks! Though I will need to slightly mod it to add the "_". No one seems to put that on their layouts. Apparently, I'm the only one who ever uses it, and I do in my passwords sometimes...

Press and hold the "-" key and voilá...

[2manyphones]

Originally Posted by radiototal I download the zip file but how do I install it on my PPC 6800 ?

1. Download the program cab from the link on post one (v12 is the current).
2. Install onto the device
3. Using active sync, open the folder program files\PCMKeyboard
4. Drag all of the files in the zip (or just the iphone12 skin and eng iphone12 layout if you don't want the multi language options).
5. Go to settings, input and select PCM Keyboard as the input method
6. Click on the options button and change the keyboard layout and keyboard skin to Eng iphone12 and iPhone 12. See the screen shot. I alsot changed the feedback on letters to 30 ms from the default 100. This is how long it takes for the feedback graphic to pop up. Basically 30 is if you want it to show up quickly when you press letters (like the actual iPhone) or if you want to type faster and not have it show the pop up of the letter you pressed, leave it at 100.
7. Once the options are set, press OK and OK to exit the input screen.
8. I suggest restarting the device to make sure the layout and skin set correctly. If you do not have a SIP change program on your device, when you restart, it will default back to the standard keyboard. I recommend default IM and have attached the cab file in this post. Install it, run it and it should keep PCMKeyboard as your default, even after restarts.