Nexus One Keyboard
My non-Android friends have been asking about typing on the Nexus One. Is it better or at least equal to the iPhone? Not a frigging chance. The portrait mode is just plain awful. Landscape is better but just barely. Using after-market keyboards doesn't much improve the situation.
Accuracy is weak. Fast typing almost always leads to skipped keystrokes or worse, hitting a button or zone off of the keyboard. I find that the spacebar is the key that is skipped the most - a nuisance that leads to a lot of editing. My biggest complaint is that cursor positioning is plain awful. There is no positioning magnifier such as on the iPhone so it requires either repeated taps or using the trackball.
Overall it's a very frustrating experience coming from the iPhone. Some have suggested that its a small price to pay in order to escape Apple's ecosystem. I couldn't disagree more. Text entry is the most basic smartphone function. If that sucks, then there's almost no point to the device. As it stands, Android isnt making much of a marketshare dent in the US market. But I really think Android will dominate quickly if Google improves keyboard entry to be on par or better than the iPhone.
