Any programs out there that create a virtual on screen D-pad?
The lack of a hardware D-pad seems to be putting off a lot of people.
Given that virtual keyboards have D-pad arrows on them, does anyone know of any software that produces a virtual D-pad on the screen without the keyboard. This would obviously save a lot of screen realestate and provide some added functionality.
If there is no such software, would anyone be interested in programming a utility. I have no experience with programming but can assist if given help.
Thanks
Moved to General.
Yea, I know that this thread is nearly a year old, but with the recent announcements of all the new WinMobile phones with WVGA (480x800) screens but no D-pad, I was looking for such an utility too.
Possibly something that would give the top 480x640 to the app (making it think it is running on a VGA screen), and use the bottom 480x160 for a virtual D-pad and its up/down/left/right buttons.
There are a lot of older WM apps that expect and use those hard scroll keys, and without any updates possible for them, an utility like this would come in real handy.
Related
I like to carry my Advantage on the leather cover without the keyboard, what help to keep it protected without making too much bulk on my pocket. I have tried many of the soft keyboards available and like very much Resco, Zoomboard and PocketCM. However I think the best layout is the one which have the keys on the 'smile' orientation which apparently none of them offer. I'm using SPB full keyboard because of that but don't like the fact it covers the all screen, it's more oriented for small screen than to the Advantage. Does anyone knows about a VGA skin on this shape? What everybody is using for soft keyboard?
I've tried many software keyboard. I always go back to Tengo 2.1. If you're not using 192dpi, it's good to also have Resco Keyboard in addition to Tengo 2.1.
At the moment I'm back to using my device in 192dpi again, after using it in 96dpi for many months. At this dpi, I like to completely do without the stylus. So I've redone my iLauncher to use the Thumb tab and have big icons throughout. Tengo 2.1 works very well for Thumb typing. There are only six big keys (or rather six areas of keys) to touch most of the time, so its really easy. Tengo's keyboard size is the same under all dpi. It does not invade your screen like some other soft keyboard, despite having one of the largest sized keys (or areas of keys).
One other important consideration is weather or not you need to input in other languages too. If you need to input in East Asian language, then your choices may be different again, just as example.
Thank you Eaglesteve, I will try Tengo. I'm using 192dpi also because on the move I need something that I can easy 'shot' the right key due to the large icons instead of 'aiming' perfectly on the bullseye. Many times walking and working with the Advantage, what a great machine!!
rcf2 said:
Thank you Eaglesteve, I will try Tengo. I'm using 192dpi also because on the move I need something that I can easy 'shot' the right key due to the large icons instead of 'aiming' perfectly on the bullseye. Many times walking and working with the Advantage, what a great machine!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be sure to go through the tutorial first.
If you're using it in 192 dpi, forget about Resco, because Tengo 2.1 has three different layout, one of which is the big sized standard keyboard, which is good for typing in software serial number, etc. The other two layouts are not suitable for such job.
The thing that you will like about this keyboard is that it is not necessary to type the specific key precisely although that would also work. The idea is to allow you to be very very imprecise and yet give you the correct words to choose from. Your finger need not travel all over the place when you type. Just touch the TYGHBN area.
If you need special and unique words, then go for the key precisely. What you type will appear on top right corner. Just choose that word instead of the proposed ones. Once you have used that unique word once, it automatically gets added to the dictionary so that you can use that word by typing imprecisely at the six area later on.
Enjoy.
How do you change resoloution?
Forgive me for my stupid question, but how do you change the screen resolution on your athena?
Would like to do that myself!
branko.savic said:
Forgive me for my stupid question, but how do you change the screen resolution on your athena?
Would like to do that myself!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if I understand what you're asking. If your question is what I think it is, then the answer is to use realVGA. Am I missing something?
I think that's what he's asking.
RealVGA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=327830
techntrek said:
I think that's what he's asking.
RealVGA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=327830
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Thats exactly what I meant!
Hello everybody,
Today, I have HTC Wizard with a lot of hardware keys . I like the blackstone but I'm affraid to see that there is no hardware keys (no Dpad). I use applications that work only with Dpad (no touchscreen functions).
Have you solution to have software direction pad when applications run (Like the soft direction keys on the virtual keyboard)?
The standard SIPs provided by HTC all have "virtual" arrow keys. Most apps will work fine with these, provided that they play nice when the SIP keyboard is enabled.
Also, I'm sure D-pad specific SIPs will appear soon, and I'm hoping for a virtual D-pad solution + WVGAFIX3 combo. The 160 rows of leftover pixels when in 480x640 mode would be just great for 4-directional buttons and and action/Enter key.
However, I've had the HD for a couple of weeks, and I can honestly say that I don't miss the D-pad at all. I migrated from a smartphone (HTC Vox), so I was definitely wary. I've found that most apps/games (and the WM 6.1 GUI) work fine with touch (as they well should, on WM Professional). For the really small buttons, a finger nail or stylus is needed, but I find these occasions to be rare.
The worst example I've come acroos is Opera Mini (essential on my Vox), which is practically unusable on the HD without the stylus. Then again, I don't miss Mini when I have Opera Mobile.
Would you care to elaborate a bit on the apps you need to use?
ugumba said:
Also, I'm sure D-pad specific SIPs will appear soon, and I'm hoping for a virtual D-pad solution + WVGAFIX3 combo. The 160 rows of leftover pixels when in 480x640 mode would be just great for 4-directional buttons and and action/Enter key.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I agree and I hope too
I hesitate between the touch HD abd the Xperia X1
Does anyone know a utility that you can run before a game, configure a key map for the game, set screen orientation and override the HTC typing function so it won't crash the phone / game?
I've found some good Touch Pro 2 compatible games but many need a D-pad or use of other hardware buttons. Others put the screen into the wrong orientation relative to the keyboard. Yet others allow use of hardware arrow keys but the directions are mixed up... If there is a utility to do this for all WM games the Pro 2 would be one of the best PPC games machines out there... Any ideas?
Anyone know if it's possible to tweak the qwerty keyboard? I'm coming over from a TP2 and I like the builtin KB that HTC provides, and it should be even nicer on the larger screen, but it's not as handy as it could be. There are extra, blank keys on the 2/2 Numeric pad and I'm wondering if it's possible to add some keys. For instance it would be very handy to have a space key in the numeric pads.
I just upgraded from a TYTN II and i do miss the physical keyboard and i'm not too crazy over the software keyboard mainly because i don't get the tactile feel of pressing the keys.
But have you tried the Swype ? Needs a little getting used to but i'm getting pretty good with Swype and i feel it's a lot faster than typing. Plus it looks pretty cool
Ther are other keyboards. Sorry, I don't recall their name. One was very customizable though. I tired two different ones, but they didn't play nice with predictive text.
I have Resco and I like it well enough, though the version I have doesn't seem to have been built for 800x480 so it doesn't use all of the screen real estate. Therefore the keys are too small.
I like the HTC QWERTY keyboard a lot. It just doesn't seem to be customizable and therefore one has to switch between the screens more than it might otherwise be necessary in order to get the keys you're after. All I really want to do is to be able to enter a space while on the numeric screen. Not move the cursor, but to add an actual space. And to swap a couple of the characters on the 1/2 screen with others on the ABC and 2/2 screens.
Other than that I think it's a great keyboard. The haptic for me provides enough feedback and the keys are plenty big enough. My Leo should be here today or tomorrow and then I can start trying different things. If it turns out Resco's current KB can be made larger then that would probably be just the ticket assuming the HTC KB cannot be customized. I'm not really interested in tryiing Swype, but thanks for the tip.
I would imagine there's an XML keymap somewhere that we could conceivably edit but I'm not sure, i'd like to know the answer as well.
Tref said:
All I really want to do is to be able to enter a space while on the numeric screen. Not move the cursor, but to add an actual space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you dont mean THIS space then?
Since windows 8 is quite unpopular with touch enabled apps and games and Microsoft store is quite poor for the time being, I decided to make a list of apps and games and the required optimizations for touch, where necesary.
This is also the chance to replay some brilliant oldies! As we all know 10-year old PC games easily outshine modern tablet games in both gameplay and graphics. As most of them are forgotten by the developers and will probably never be remastered for the touch screen, there is no reason why they shouldn't be enjoyed on modern tablets.
I will list older (and newer) games and apps that either work flawlessly on Windows 8 or require some easy modding to get there.
My input will be based on the VitoTab TF810C but any input is valuable and will be added to the first post.
Please share your own experiences and I will try to keep this thread up to date with any news.
UI
Obly tile - Add new shortcut tiles on your Metro UI desktop in style!
Windows 8 Start Screen Customizer - set start menu wallpaper, sync it with the desktop one, add transparency etc.
INPUT
Comfort virtual keyboard pro - decent replacement for the built in OSK allows custom layouts, keys and app triggering
Comfort Hot virtual keyboard - the same as the above but this one allows macro buttons.
Comfort Keys Pro - a mix of keyboard, macro, clipboard etc.
I added my custom keyboards below. It should be compatible with all the programs listed above, but you should fiddle with the program a little to make it work.
For a gaming setup, go to: On-screen Keyboard > Typing aid and enable key repeat.
To switch different layouts (the examples I posted have the switch key included) go to Keyboard shortcuts > Set the list of keyboards
To make a custom keyboard run with a particular app, see the "Dependencies menu in settings".
If the keyboard gets closed during intro or while the game loads: On-screen Keyboard, enable "Lock"
The program is buggy esp. when resolutions get switched.
To get it back in place, try:
On-screen Keyboard > Docking
On-screen Keyboard > Advanced > Screen border
In case it's stretched:
On-screen Keyboard > Zoom
GAMES: Atom-based tablets
GREEN: fully playable, YELLOW: fully playable, custom OSK required or mild annoyances RED: has issues but is at least partially playable.
Unstoppable Gorg - available on Steam
Monopoly 2012 - available from bigfishgames.com
Westward 1-4 - playable, you need to disable any mouse device in device manager or you will get erratic input in-game - available from bigfish.com
Need for Speed 5: Porsche - stretched in fullscreen, custom OSK
Carmageddon TDR 2000 - custom OSK, mouse is ofset in menus: start dragging from the top left corner
Neighbors from hell - 800x600 only, delete cinemaware.exe to get rid of pesky intro D-pad keyboard recommended - available from gog.com
Mafia 1 - driving only, custom OSK, needs virtual joystick/mousepad app for aiming.
Fallout tactics - requires HiRes Patch, without proper right click game pace might be too slow.
Requests:
The keyboard I found so far seems to behave quite inconsistently when resolutions are switched. It also doesn't come cheap, so if anyone knows a better one or plans to make one, please let me know!
Any virtual keyboards, joysticks, joypads, touchpads news are extremely welcome!
More to follow
Bec07 said:
Since windows 8 is quite unpopular with touch enabled apps and games and Microsoft store is quite poor for the time being, I decided to make a list of apps and games and the required optimizations for touch, where necesary.
This is also the chance to replay some brilliant oldies! As we all know 10-year old PC games easily outshine modern tablet games in both gameplay and graphics. As most of them are forgotten by the developers and will probably never be remastered for the touch screen, there is no reason why they shouldn't be enjoyed on modern tablets.
I will list older (and newer) games and apps that either work flawlessly on Windows 8 or require some easy modding to get there.
My input will be based on the VitoTab TF810C but any input is valuable and will be added to the first post.
Please share your own experiences and I will try to keep this thread up to date with any news.
UI
Obly tile - Add new shortcut tiles on your Metro UI desktop in style!
Windows 8 Start Screen Customizer - set start menu wallpaper, sync it with the desktop one, add transparency etc.
INPUT
Comfort virtual keyboard pro - decent replacement for the built in OSK allows custom layouts, keys and app triggering
Comfort Hot virtual keyboard - the same as the above but this one allows macro buttons.
Comfort Keys Pro - a mix of keyboard, macro, clipboard etc.
I added my custom keyboards below. It should be compatible with all the programs listed above, but you should fiddle with the program a little to make it work.
For a gaming setup, go to: On-screen Keyboard > Typing aid and enable key repeat.
To switch different layouts (the examples I posted have the switch key included) go to Keyboard shortcuts > Set the list of keyboards
To make a custom keyboard run with a particular app, see the "Dependencies menu in settings".
If the keyboard gets closed during intro or while the game loads: On-screen Keyboard, enable "Lock"
The program is buggy esp. when resolutions get switched.
To get it back in place, try:
On-screen Keyboard > Docking
On-screen Keyboard > Advanced > Screen border
In case it's stretched:
On-screen Keyboard > Zoom
GAMES: Atom-based tablets
GREEN: fully playable, YELLOW: fully playable, custom OSK required or mild annoyances RED: has issues but is at least partially playable.
Unstoppable Gorg - available on Steam
Monopoly 2012 - available from bigfishgames.com
Westward 1-4 - playable, you need to disable any mouse device in device manager or you will get erratic input in-game - available from bigfish.com
Need for Speed 5: Porsche - stretched in fullscreen, custom OSK
Carmageddon TDR 2000 - custom OSK, mouse is ofset in menus: start dragging from the top left corner
Neighbors from hell - 800x600 only, delete cinemaware.exe to get rid of pesky intro D-pad keyboard recommended - available from gog.com
Mafia 1 - driving only, custom OSK, needs virtual joystick/mousepad app for aiming.
Fallout tactics - requires HiRes Patch, without proper right click game pace might be too slow.
Requests:
The keyboard I found so far seems to behave quite inconsistently when resolutions are switched. It also doesn't come cheap, so if anyone knows a better one or plans to make one, please let me know!
Any virtual keyboards, joysticks, joypads, touchpads news are extremely welcome!
More to follow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you tell me what all games i can play on my netbook running win8 pro with 2gigs of ram?
TouchPal is also a nice keyboard app worth trying for Win8