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#1
UPDATE 30-04-2014


FAQ:
Can I order a keyboard? -> No, sorry
Will you make more? -> No, sorry
Can you make the thread shorter so I can read all things and don't ask questions that have been asked multiple times before? -> No, sorry
Can you convince/force Jolla to produce 1 million keyboards for 10 euro's a piece? -> No



[edit]

VIDEO:
VIDEO 2:

PRE ORDERING



Okay, I have decided! I am going through with this and will try to make 100 pieces.

-The 22 heroes that have donated to me are first in line and their donation is converted in a 'qwerty-oh' voucher!
-The next 78 will go to the first people that complete their purchase via the donate button.

Price will be 100 euro's plus shipping. This is a summation of the components, bit of labour, return of investments and a safety factor.
Shipping: country-codes and costs

-If the demand is way higher, I will either make another (or more) batch of 100 or transfer the money back! Kind of like a kickstarter.
-No Paypal? Send me a PM

Questions? PM me with 'qwerty-oh question' as subject, then I will update this thread with the extra info!

The Qwerty OtherHalf
"Made in the bedroom, just like you"

[/edit]






Yes, I am the first one (nice, Jolla slogan used!) to open a thread about building an OtherHalf with a qwerty slider! In this thread I will post my ideas, pictures and ask questions to you guys.

The goal -for now- is to have a complete setup ready for when the first batches of Jolla phones is shipped. The qwerty slider is without a doubt the most anticipated extra feature and with some extra time on the hand, why not!?



So, lets dive right in! The Jolla phone will have a I2C connector on the back. Luckily, my RPi has I2C as well, so the first prototypes and proof-of-concepts can be tested. The RPi and Sailfish both support Python, which makes the programming a lot easier. I don't have any experience with the Sailfish SDK, but that will come later on.

The keyboard itself will be taken from my old -and dead- N900. Nostalgia much?! The keyboard consists of the motherboard with the electrical connections, a plastic sticker with pieces of metal to make the connection and the *click*, and the actual buttons.


The motherboard will be scrapped. To complicate things, I will try to build my own pcb from scratch. This tutorial provides all the necessary steps. It will be a double-sided board.

On this pcb, there will be a button-matrix similar to the one on the motherboard. To connect the keys to the phone, a mcp23017 i2c gpio port expander will be used.

Next step, pcb design. The N900 keyboard had some issues with NKRO, perhaps someone can shed some light on this to design a new way to connect the keys in a better way? The gpio-expander had 16 i/o ports.

The software: the keyboard has to be continuously scanned for key-presses. How will a background python (or other) script affect cpu and battery usage? Better/possible to start/stop the script when the keyboard is slided out? Continuously scan for I2C devices? For the near future, testing software will be on the RPi. I have some experience with that, but help is welcome.

The slider mechanism: Maybe the old slider mechanism from the n900? Design a new one? Other options? Personally, if parts are machined nice, I love to show mechanical parts. If not, the game is to not show anything.


Please keep the topic clean and respond if you would like to (and can) help!

Last edited by dirkvl; 2014-05-02 at 10:44.
 

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www.rzr.online.fr's Avatar
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#2
Actually I think i prefer n810 hwkb slider than N950/E7 mecanism...

Last step would to design SFOS to support hwkb (hide swkb) and switch orientation to landscape ...
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#3
Isn't the N900 keyboard a bit too small? Or is this supposed to be just a proof of concept?
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#4
@rzr Exactly, but that is a subject I will need some serious help. For now however, the first step is to design a keyboard that works over i2c.

The N900 keyboard is 93mm wide, the Jolla phone will be 131, which would leave 19mm on both sides. I could chop the keys up and space them out, but for now, this will do. Suggestions for other keyboards are welcome!

Last edited by dirkvl; 2013-10-06 at 12:04.
 

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#5
There are specifically made i2c keyboard controllers like this, but I don't know if there is any benefits to using one of those instead of the controller you were planning to use.

Last edited by DeeGee; 2013-10-06 at 13:09.
 

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#6
Why have you chosen to go the N900 keyboard route instead of one of these made for iPhone5 sliding keyboards.
 
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#7
The quality of those iPhone bluetooth are not satisfying. Plus it's bluetooth
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#8
is nico projector possible in other half
 
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#9
Originally Posted by Akkumaru View Post
The quality of those iPhone bluetooth are not satisfying. Plus it's bluetooth
I meant the keyboard keys, not the bluetooth part obviously. I asked because his mockup looks like an already existing iPhone keyboard.

 
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#10
How do you plan to deal with the camera that in latest Jolla design is centered in the middle of the body?
 

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