App Review: KII Keyboard

Keyboard in Android: a component which makes heck lots of difference compared to many other mobile OS out there due to the fact that we can change our keyboards and replace it with another. But as we are spoilt with many choices of 3rd party keyboard, looks, feel, features and functions, the final question remains - which keyboard should I use ?

Having been in the Android platform since version 1.5, I had been using quite a few keyboard replacements. Be it the stock keyboard or 3rd party ones, there is always a demand for some features and functions which generally helps in making our live easier. Overall, if you think about it - you ought to use the keyboard the most in your smart device right ?

Today I'm writing about a keyboard which I am using quite extensively - the KII Keyboard. This article highlights the features of KII keyboard which I had placed my money upon. There are other basic functionality which is expected from a third party keyboard which I believe everyone is using and exploiting.

Sliding input Gesture Input / Swype / Flow)
These sliding input between one keyboard button to another had existed since days when Swype was introduced into the market. Since then, many of us Android users had been showing off this feature as to how we perform text input by sliding from one key to another. For many of us, this feature is more like a standard when it comes to keyboard selection.

Advanced Slide to Word
So here's the thing, what would you do when you need to get a punctuation character ? Press and hold a key until it turns up ? It's a bit tad sad when you're performing all the sliding from one key onto another and finally have to press and hold onto a key because you want a question mark character right ? With Kii keyboard they had added the feature whereby you can slide from SPACE to the Key of the punctuated character to give you quick access to it.

Delete Word
Ever encounter a moment when you typed out something stupid and wish to delete the whole word with a single gesture ? Word deletion may not be available in all keyboard, it's even harder to imagine if you wish to use it along with the gesture input as above. But Kii Keyboard had made it so that you can delete a word by simply sliding your finger from space to backspace. How convenient is that !

Customization Gesture
Some of us may not like the slide to word functionality and if you are one of those who would rather off this feature, you can customize the sliding gesture into a different function altogether. Well, it's good that this feature exist as an additional option for you to control your keyboard if you're not the slide to word kind of person.

Numerics and Arrow keys 
What are the other keys which you wish that it's always there but it's not in the standard keyboard ? The numeric keys of course ! You can now customize the numeric keys as well as the directional keys for easy access as and when you need it.

Shortcuts
Every encounter times when you are stopped at a traffic light with an incoming SMS but you wish to quickly reach for your smartphone and type simple text like brbdrv ? (Be Right Back, Driving). The shortcut features allows you to quickly type some text and it will automatically convert it into a whole word/phrase for you. Of course you can also customize your own dictionary (like some odd English or Malay jargons to go along with it)

Alien Text
This perhaps is more on the fun department. I have a friend who likes to type in alternative case (mix of upper and lower case characters) - for many years already, it's like her trademark. With Kii keyboard, I discovered that I can also do the same, but with more finesse. This feature is called "Alien Text" whereby it will convert each word you type into similar alphabet characters. You can choose the different sets of Alien Text to go along with your preference - How cool is that ! For fun I mean :)

Emoji Support

Emoji is getting to be very useful in use of the different chat and social applications in our device. Having a standard sets of emoji on hand kinda standardize the sets of icons you ought to use across these different apps and services. Kii keyboard supports emoji (download separately) and can be triggered off from the standard keyboard easily.

Crazy input styles which you may/may not use

There are alter native input styles which is made available in the keyboard which you may or may not use in your everyday life. To start off with, it's basically there, it's just up to when or where do we use it. Holding on the ABC key at the bottom left of the keyboard brings out the different options which you can pick and choose. 

Pressing the ABC button activates the alternative input selection

Google Voice Input

Extended Smileys

Navigation Input

Extended Characters

Extended Characters (WingDings ?)

Numerics

Changing layout

I own a smartphone as well as an Android tablet. At times, it may be frustrated to have different keyboards when switching from one device onto another. While some keyboards developers had created different keyboard for both smartphone and tablet use, Kii had managed to provide you options in which you can switch between different layout so that it can be used between small or large device (depending on your requirements)

Conclusion

"A man's meat is another man's poison" is the conclusion I have for you today. While I may like all the features which I had portrayed here, it may not had been worth for some others to explore as we are so attached into the keyboard which we had chosen since we picked up our device. For me, Kii Keyboard today remains one of the most rich in feature and is my preferred choice of keyboard. I may change to another keyboard as and when I see some new features which is unique and excites me

After reading this review, what would be your choice ?

Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) first look and use

Do you write a lot of stuff ? Or better still, do you feel that there are better ways to interact with your tablet besides the standard on screen keyboard? I had just purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) recently and here I am writing a "first look and use" review for the curious ones.

Why a large Galaxy Note ?
If you're a Galaxy Note (Note 1, 2 or 3) user and had been using the stylus as it was meant to be, you ought to realize that the stylus remains one of the most important feature of the device itself. I had heard of people using it to sign documents, crop and edit pictures, annotate documents, draw pictures, play games and so forth but then again, isn't the standard 5 inch Galaxy Note which is pocket-able is large enough?

Let's check with the basic paper and pencil; most of us were brought up with these tools and I can bet that most of us would always be more happy if we are greeted with a large enough paper to continuous writing without having to go back to the next line (Just compare a small notebook against a larger one). More still if you're doing a sketch or drawing, the size of the canvas is more important as you can draw in more creativity on it.

Fast forward and look what what we have today - the stylus. The real estate of the canvas which you can interact with would now be one of the important aspects for your text scribbling as well as multimedia editing. Can you imagine the hardships of writing on a device when you need to wait for the handwriting recognition to kick in and recognize your handwriting after 2 or 3 words due to lack of canvas to write? Here are some other means of using the stylus which I had found difficulty in the Galaxy Note 2:

• Trying to read a scanned document and sign the big lovely handwriting
• Having to zoom and read the fine prints at Arial size 6 when the whole bloody document is all size 12 with 10,000 words in total 
• Trying to explain a diagram to your peers or customer while trying to annotate on the same canvas together

I had blogged about this before in my past writings over at this link
http://androidss.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html

Weight, dimensions and "feel"

While the size of the canvas which you can interact with remains important but there are also other aspects to consider - the bezel. So what the heck is a bezel ?

The bezel of the tablet is the additional space between the side of the device from the screen. The larger the bezel, the larger the overall size of the device. Samsung had made it so that the previous Galaxy Note 10.1 bezel had been shrunk a bit yet still offering the same 10.1 inch canvas size for interaction. In other words, you're still holding a 10.1 inch device but with an overall smaller dimension in size. This upgrade is very welcome because many of us would be using a case and with it would had added a few more inches to the device itself rendering it to be bulky and hard to handle.

Leathery Feel

Grip Lines

Weighing about 550g, while it may not be the lightest tablet in the market but the reduced weight is very welcome in terms of long usage for browsing and annotating without a hard surface to put the device on. The back of the device is now like the Galaxy Note 3 - which offers a "leathery" feel while the side of the device is also engraved with grip lines which saves your device from chance of slipping and making it one of the "drop test" videos in YouTube.

615gm of the original Note 10.1

548gm of the Note 10.1 (2014 edition)

 

                    VS





RAM and processing power
Galaxy Note 10.1 is packed with 3GB of RAM and powered by Quad core Krait 400 processor  running at 2.3GHz (For Malaysian market). While these specifications looks impressive on papers but the test of performance is more than meets the eye until you throw in tons of software running in the background. Some sites had been testing it out with some heavy duty and graphics intensive games but I think the best test of it all is when it works along your everyday life.

Display
Just when I pop in my old MicroSD card and use the in-built Gallery app to view all my past photographs on the device (which was taken by my Galaxy Note 2 at 8 megapixels), it totally blown me away ! I had never seen so much details over the device which I took and preview the photographs! The 2560 x 1600 Super LCD screen was like you're watching HD movies compared with the non-HD version ! Every single detail in the photo had been shown in it's most awesomeness ! Perhaps the next logical step is to buy a larger MicroSD card and store more HD movies :)

Picture taken from my Note2 camera directly from the device screen. Some may see it as a normal picture but with a HD display, it's totally different

Other welcome upgrades (Nitty gritty but still useful)
The stereo speakers are still available as with it's predecessor, it's now facing sideways on both side of the device giving you loud and crisp sound to go with the awesome display. The sync and charge port is now based on the standard micro USB - which means you can jack in your Galaxy Note 2, Nexus, Sony Experia, LG, Nokia charger on to it - just make sure you provide it with sufficient electricity/current for charging (No lightning connectors please, *ahem).

Micro USB port is most welcome !

And finally, the stylus is symmetrical - which means you can insert the stylus back to the slot in any orientation you want, this is useful when you wish to pack and go immediately when you had hijacked someone's meeting room and that party is here to claim it from you - shooing you away IMMEDIATELY

Now we can slot in the stylus anyway we want ! (Comparing with the old Note 10.1 stylus in white)

Not so welcome upgrades

Fingers on the back button, look where's the back button !

The software buttons are now removed altogether. You're provided with 1 hardware button (HOME button) and 2 touch sensitive area (for Menu and Back button) like many standard android device. These buttons are located in the middle of the device when positioned in landscape mode. While it seems right when using the device in landscape orientation but when you're using it in portrait position, the buttons is awkward to reach upon. You may end up having one hands on the left hand side trying to reach the back button from time to time...



In-Built Software and functionality
Admittedly, this is a section which I can write a 10k words essay and I can still go yada-yada like a grandpa. Samsung had made this device internal software so integrated with the use of the stylus which makes you a dummy if you just buy it for mere PDF reading or web-browsing. Let's detail some features which comes with the device

Air-Command (Also available in Note3)
This is the main feature of the device (which had made me upgrade as well). Pulling off the stylus from the device (or hovering the stylus near the device and click on the stylus button) and you will be greeted with a small (almost full) circle of feature. Divided into sections, this air-command menu allows you to perform one of the following:-

Translate your scribbles into content via Action Memo

Action Memo -  Action Memo is like a popup note which you can quickly jot down some small pieces of information (like phone number, email address, street address and such). After which, you can use the software to recognize what you had written and translate it into content (like add to Contacts for a phone number which you had jot down or activate email on the email address which you had written earlier). Moreover, you can also save these pieces of information, publish it as a Widget memo and work on it later

Capture contents and store in your collections

Scrap Booker - We usually read a lot when using a large screen device like this (at least I do). There are times when we see something of interest in the contents we read (like magazine, websites or news article) and we wish to clip a section of it to work on later. This Scrap Booker feature allows you to immediately capture any part of the screen which you're interacting with (any app) and lets you categorize it in your device called ... "ScrapBook" (No surprises there). Some contents would automatically be OCR (Optical Character Recognition) after the clipping and the translated into text. You also can tag these clippings for easy reference and search over in the next feature called "S-Finder"

Highlight sections of the screen and share !

Screen Write - More often when you're using the device and you wish to share some screen shot or take a snapshot of the screen and immediately share it to other applications (like posting it in Facebook or Whatsapp). The Screen Write feature allows you to capture a snapshot of the current screen, crop a section out from it, annotate and immediately share onto the next application. If you're an existing Note2 user, you would realize that you can perform the same but with more iterations compared with this.

A very necessary search utility

S Finder - S Finder is basically a universal search functionality for contents (video, music, images), calendars and tags in your device. If you had been creating a lot of contents in your device, this feature would had been very useful in locating all related contents under a single interface

Actually you can't launch 5 YouTubes here...

Pen Window - With 3GB of RAM, it is all ready for those who are crazy enough to launch 5 YouTube videos and run all of them together. The Pen Window allows you to draw a rectangle area in the screen which you can launch the app of your choice (like YouTube). The app would only be encompassing the area which you had drawn the rectangle. While you can only launch a selection of predefined app but those apps remains one of the more important usage for your everyday life (like Calculator, Phone, YouTube, Internet Browser, Google Hangout, Contacts... etc)

MultiWindow enchancement

MultiWindow is a multi-tasking feature by Samsung. In a nutshell, it simply means you can launch 2 apps side by side to each other. But if you had been using the other Samsung Galaxy multi-window feature, it is now enhanced with drag and drop feature. You can drag contents from one window and drop it over onto another. For example, you can browse the internet on the right hand side while doing whatsapp chat on the left side. Of which you can drag and drop contents from the browser onto your whatsapp window to share URL, Images and text also.

Drag and drop files from one Window to another

While the cascade window feature (in previous Note10.1) had been removed  (We have Pen Window now !), you can also launch multiple applications at the background of each section of the MultiWindow. The new MultiWindow allows you to move active apps at the background whenever you do not need it.

Other in-Built feature: 

Hovering your stylus on a text entry would bring out a small icon which you can tap on. Upon tapping on it, a handwriting recognition box will appear and you can write over it (which will translate into text for you). This saves you the time to interact with then standard keyboard which is at the bottom of the screen

1. Hover the stylus over the entry box and tap on the appeared icon

2. Handwriting recognition entry appears

Summary

In a nutshell, I am quite excited with all these new features and functions which comes with the new upgrade. The ROI would be priceless if it is able to fulfill all my work related tasks - which I think it would. If you're asking me if it's worth YOUR upgrade ? I can't be sure about that, you need to know if this big brother of Galaxy Note would be of useful to you and your daily life with that price tag.

Wait, did I forget to mention that it's also a phone with LTE capabilities ? :)

Note taking at it's best - Evernote

Introduction

Are you taking a lot of notes in your daily work and personal life routine ? Do you have a smart device and wish to maximize its useability ?

Evernote is a free note taking cloud service where you can store notes (or contents) and sync them across multiple devices and platforms. I started using Evernote back in 2009, it was then I realised that I needed a note taking platform whereby when I log on to another machine, I can still access all my notes and links.Just when I was using Evernote quite frequently, Google launched the Google Keep.

While the aim is similar, Google Keep was a different animal, it was good at the beginning to keep simple notes but there are lack of features and functions which renders it useful when it comes to multiple platforms and advanced content capturing. Given that it is a yet to mature application, I have my reservations when using it to my own needs and likings.

Fast forward a bit and here am I again, back to Evernote. Admittedly I had given up on Evernote a while ago because they had a breach of accounts by hackers but alas, I guess I can't omit that they are still one of the best note taking platform which is available in today's world. It had turned from a cloud based note taking service into a cross platform note taking service - used on desktop, web browsers and mobile devices.

How to start ?

So how would you maximize the use of Evernote ? Now if you browse to their official website, there are many applications which you can download and use. Even Google Play would have a few apps to go with. Step 1 is to register for your free account in the main website (www.evernote.com)

Web Interface for all

Once registered, you can now start creating your notes and organize your folders. The web interface makes sense especially if you're in a platform like Linux or Unix.

Evernote main page - It's Free !

Offline while using Windows platform

While the web interface is sufficient, what about times when you do not have internet access ? How can you access your notes offline ? Evernote also comes with a Windows desktop client where you can download and use. It will sync with your Evernote account periodically and also allow you to manage your notebooks, tags and such. Download and installation is at the link below http://evernote.com/download/

Evernote Main Application for Windows 7

Smart Devices

If you're reading my blog, chances that you have a smart mobile device like a smartphone or tablet. Fred not because Evernote also exist in those platforms, moreover because your smart device would have more capabilities like camera, GPS and such - and you would likely be using it for many other purposes (like jotting down a cooking recipe, planning groceries, taking pictures during travel and such), there are a lot more apps in the mobile platform to cater for different aspects of your life. Here's a Google Play link: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=evernote on all the related apps (There are also some in App Store which you can browse through using your i-device)

Evernote apps for mobile Android devices

WebClipping ?

In my line of work, I use the internet a lot - for research and such. Many of a times, I can only capture the link of a webpage for notes and sharing purposes. Like the prior example, if I'm not connected to the internet, I'm caught without having the capability to access these links which I had captured earlier. Evernote noticed that drawbacks hence they created a WebClipping function. WebClipping is basically a feature in your web browser (I'm using Firefox) which allows you to capture a fragment of the webpage as a note. There are many ads or contents in a webpage which does not makes sense in a clipping but the WebClipping feature allows you to filter out and clip subsections of it - omitting portions which is not important or useable. WebClipping for firefox can be obtained from their Add-On page

WebClipping an article

Sticky Notes = Evernote ?

Remember StickyNotes for Windows 7 ? That little sticky note icon near your Start button ? Apparently there is also a 3rd party app which replaces that. While you can open your Evernote main application in your Windows session but sometimes, the lesser applications running on your desktop, the better it is. This app is also very useful for productivity, creating/editing new or existing sticky notes will automatically sync to your Evernote account - imagine having to plan your grocery list on your desktop and automatically sync onto your smartphone, how cool is that ! Download and install from here: http://hosting.edo-soft.com/stickynotes

Evernote Stickies with Synchronization features

Sticky Notes Widgets on Android ?

Okay, this is an Android blog, not an application blog, what about Widgets on your android device ? Can all the notes you store appears there ? Well, yes of course ! Download and install the Evernote widget app into your device from Google Play via this link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote.widget and start customizing your homescreen

Android Widgets ! Yeah !!

To sum it all

Here's a thought and a real use case...

Case 1
1) I spotted a hotel promotion in the web when browsing through a website using the desktop
2) I want to send the link to my wife but it would be via email from desktop (which I think it's inefficient)
3) I copy and pasted the link (or webclip it) and save to my evernote (main application, webclip or sticky notes)
4) Open my smart device and I sync my evernote (well, it will eventually sync up as well)
5) Send the note link to my wife via share through Whatsapp

Case 2
1) I plan my grocery list on my desktop using sticky notes
2) It syncs onto my mobile device !

As you can see, many of a times we still rely on the main desktop for some copy, paste, research and note keeping process while we use the smart device to enrich contents before sending it to others. Having a single platform does help in terms of switching between "workstations"...

Android: Do You Know ?

DO YOU KNOW...

1. You can install 3rd party apps without "jailbreaking", "rooting" or use "custom ROM" your device ?
2. You can install apps into your device remotely from http://play.google.com ?

   

   Install from http://play.google.com

3. Android is a platform that runs on many devices (created by many companies) and not a single device like iPhone ?
4. Hackers hacking your smart device is of better value than hacking your PC?
5. Android versions are based on dessert name ?

   

   Android versions and Code Name

6. Android is an Open Platform which is free to license ? That's why many cheap devices are released with Android within ?
7. A bad Android experience (laggy, inresponsive) are usually due to what device we bought and how we handle the device ?
8. "Rooting" and "Custom ROM" are 2 different things altogether ?
9. The moment you prepare your device to enable "Custom ROM" loading, your device would risk losing it's warranty ?
10. It is not easy to "brick" your device nowadays

... More to be added

Side loading Android Apps

Unlike Apple products, you do not need to jailbreak your Android device in order to load 3rd party games onto the device itself. There are various ways where you can actually "side load" apps into your device without the need to root at all ! But be warned though, there are consequences when doing so and if you wish to know more, read on...

Pros and Cons...
Side loading apps is one way to install applications without going through the official Google Play store. You may think it's a way to pirate apps (which is actually true) but because android is an open source systems, not all Android device (like OUYA) would actually have access to Google Play, therefore the only way to install APKs is to side load them.

While installing 3rd party apps (or pirating them) seems to be a way to save you a few bucks but always remember, 3rd party apps are prone to trojans and viruses. If you side load an app which contains malicious codes within, you're on your own - and need me to explain more that your smart device posses more information about you than your PC ?

How to do it ?
Accepting the risks ? Okay, so there are various different ways to side load apps, be it by using the cloud (i.e. DropBox), SDCard or even 3rd party market apps (i.e. BlackMart Alpha or Aptoide). But in all these different ways, one thing is common - you would need to enable an option in your device to start the side loading process.

Firstly, you would need to go into your smart device settings and look into the security section. Scroll down and locate an option called "Unknown Sources" and check it. This would allow any 3rd party APKs from anywhere in your device to be installed.

Now that your device is "vulnerable", you can start installing APKs into it. Below are some different easy methods to side load.

1) Using DropBox (Works with OUYA)
a) Install DropBox into your device and log on to your account
b) From your desktop, locate and save the APK into your DropBox account.
c) Open DropBox in your device, locate and access the APK

2) Directly, using cable or SDCard
a) Copy or save the APK into your device (using cable, device browser or via SDCard)
b) Access the APK in your device via a file manager (i.e. ES File Manager)

3) Using Aptoide or BlackMart Alpha
a) Just find these 2 apps using your device browser and install it
b) Follow the app instructions


Remember, irregardless which method you use, side loading is risky and prone to malicious attack. Moreover, the side loaded apps cannot be updated via the official Google Play store (as far as I know). Good luck !

Logitect Bluetooth Keyboard for Tablet (Android 3.0++)

Ever since I sold off my ASUS Transformer TF101 and bought the Galaxy Note 10.1, I'd figured that I had gained the ability to precision input (like write, draw or crop) but lost the ability to perform fast and course inputs like typing.

Feeling the missing piece as I like to express and write documentations, my hunt for a keyboard enseus. Something that is supposed to be practical, reliable, trustable and most importantly - does not burden in terms of battery life and erganomics. I had browsed through quite a bit of different keyboards (China unbranded, branded ones, official from Samsung ones) but ultimately I had come to rest onto this selection of Keyboard for my tablet - Logitech Tablet Keyboard for Android 3.0+

Not all bluetooth keyboards are the same
Why Logitech named it "for Android" ? It's basically there are some buttons on the keyboard which would only makes sense when it's being used on the Android operating system (For example: The HOME and BACK button). Given on an iOS or Windows Mobile device, these buttons may had been deemed useless and would need to be remap to something else as not to waste it being there on the layout

A case and a stand
The keyboard case is meant to stow the keyboard away when not being used but it can also double up as a stand for the tablet. This smart design works for those who does not have a proper standing case which allows their smart device to be rested on a landscape or portrait orientation. Moreover, if you ever have a device with a large thick case, the bottom hinge can be also be adjusted to support it. SMART !

Keyboard weight and size
The keyboard weight is very important for owners as it need to be light enough for owners to carry around yet heavy enough as to stay firm on the table for typing purpose. For me, it leans towards the heavy side of the story. It's almost 400grams (with the case) and if lug along with your tablet, it would had been more than 1kg in total weight. Luckily we wont be using this keyboard without a base supporting at the bottom of it (or would you ?)

Battery life
The keyboard runs on 4 Standard AAA batteries - comes installed within. I heard that these 4 little guys would last you 5 to 6 months on an average use but I can't really vouch for that at the moment. Then again, I have another Logitech keyboard at home which uses the wireless techology and the battery life seems like forever - based on my use

Price
I got mine at RM165, If you go to the shops in Low Yat, you'll probably set back to around RM190 or more. My advise, go lelong.com.my and check it out but be warned about the warranty though

Cons
What I don't like about this keyboard is that it needs to work along with your default Android keyboard. If you're like me using a Samsung Tablet, your default keyboard would be the Samsung one, some of the key mappings aren't accurate when it's maps back to Samsung soft keyboard. Furthermore, if Logitech would be so kind as to release one keyboard software to remap the keys - I believe this would make this keyboard perfect (At least in my context)

Conclusion
Now for a price tag of RM165 (for me), I would say this is worth the investment, moreover, this keyboard is not necessary being used for tablets - you can even use it for your smartphones. Admittedly I am never a virtual keyboard guy and swyping through the large 10 inch screen had not been futile for me, therefore this keyboard would had helped quite a lot. Oh and one final thing, since I'm using it on my Galaxy Note 10.1, it means that it works for Android 4.1.2 !

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/tablet-keyboard-android-win8-rt?crid=1242

Tablet, Accessories, Keyboard,