MakeUseOf Directory » virtual keyboard

Google Input Tools: Easily Get & Enable Keyboard Layouts For Different Languages [Chrome]

Umar — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:01:06 +0000

People who are used to keyboard layouts of their own native languages find it extremely problematic to use keyboards of other layouts. While this problem can be easily resolved by accessing your Control Panel settings, not all users have those setting adjustment privileges. For them, an extension called “Google Input Tools” will be an excellent solution.

Google Input Tools is a free to use tool that comes in the form of a browser extension for Google Chrome. After installation the extension lets you use virtual keyboard layouts of numerous languages. You start by installing the extension and adding to it the languages of the layouts you want appeared. You will then be able to view the virtual keyboard floating on the webpage. You can click on the buttons to type them or simply use your physical keyboard as its layout will now have been changed.

Features:

A user-friendly browser extension.
Compatible with Google Chrome.
Lets you change layout of keyboard.
Supports many layouts of many languages.
Similar tools: I2type, Keitor, TypeIt, LifeType, MagicTyper and Gate2Home.

Check out Google Input Tools @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mclkkofklkfljcocdinagocijmpgbhab/reviews (By Umar from AllthatIsApple)

i2speak: Easily Type Text In Phonetic Alphabets

MOin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:01:36 +0000

Using phonetic alphabets to type words is not an easy task. Finding the right alphabets to copy and then paste in your text editor can be a very time-consuming thing to do. Thankfully there is a web service, i2speak, that makes this job much easier.

i2speak is a free to use web service that lets you quickly type words in phonetic alphabets. The site provides you with a virtual keyboard that can be changed to match different types of phonetic alphabets depending on the tab you click.

You need not click on the keys on the virtual keyboard; you may use the keys on your own keyboard and then select a phonetic alphabet from the list that appears. Your completed work can be saved anytime in a Word file and stored to your computer.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Lets you type in phonetic alphabets.
Offers different virtual keyboard layouts.
Exports your work to a Word file.
Similar tools: CallbyText and 8pen.
Also read related article: The 5 Coolest Voice Apps For Your Android Phone.

Check out i2speak @ www.i2speak.com (by MOin from Thumb Press)

I2type: Online Keyboard To Easily Type In Other Languages

Umar — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:01:49 +0000

Is your keyboard not working? Are you using a public computer and not want a keylogger to store your keystrokes? In either case, you want to be able to type without actually using the keyboard. This is something that can be easily done using i2type.

i2type is a product by SciWeavers. This free to use web app lets you type in a variety of languages, all by using your mouse. Keyboards are supported too, just in case you want to use them in conjunction. You can change the font style and size appearing above the keys. You can copy the text to clipboard or change its language using the menu on the far-right. Buttons located on top let you conveniently search the text through Google, Bing, YouTube, Wikipedia, and other websites. You can also post the text on Facebook and Twitter as your status update.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Lets you type without a keyboard.
Supports many languages.
Lets you copy text to clipboard.
Lets you pass text through search engines.
Lets update status to Facebook and Twitter.
Similar tools: Keitor, TypeIt, LifeType, MagicTyper and Gate2Home.

Check out i2type @ www.sciweavers.org/i2type (By Umar from TechCityInc)

Remapkey: Easily Rearrange Keyboard Keys

MOin — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:01:11 +0000

There are a number of non-Microsoft tools out there that will help you rearrange keyboard keys. Mostly these apps come in handy when you are bugged by the Caps Lock key and want to disable it somehow. However these apps accomplish their purpose by making changes to the Windows registry ““ you do not want a 3rd party application to be doing that. Instead, you should go for Microsoft’s very own app for the purpose – Remapkey.

Remapkey is a program that is included in the installation of Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools. While the official compatibility of these tools is with Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, they seem to work fine with Windows versions up to 7.

After you have installed the Resource Kit Tools, you can find the Remapkey application in “C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools.” Find the app and open it. You will encounter two virtual keyboards. Drag keys from the top keyboard to the bottom one, to replace keys. Click on the “Save and Exit” button to makes changes to the registry.

Reboot your computer and you will be all set. Changes can be reversed anytime by clicking on the keys you changed.

Features:

A user friendly program.
Compatible with Windows versions up to Windows 7.
Easily rearrange keyboard layout.
Made by Microsoft.
Changes can be easily reversed.
Also read related article: Remap Keyboard Keys with These 3 Free Apps [Windows].

Get Remapkey by installing Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools @ www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9D467A69-57FF-4AE7-96EE-B18C4790CFFD&displaylang=en (by MOin from ThumbPress)

8pen: Discover A New Way To Type On Your Android Device

MOin — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:01:20 +0000

Many people find it problematic to type on their touchscreen smartphones. Despite features like auto-completion, error corrections, and predictions, phone owners still spend considerable time typing. 8pen is an app that brings a highly creative solution to Android phone owners.

Instead of creating a virtual keyboard that is identical in shape to a physical keyboard, 8pen provides users with a new typing interface. The lower part of the touchscreen is separated into four sections as you can see from the image above. Letters are placed along each section’s partition lines. Letters are selected through a unique gesture of the finger: you first enter the section of the letter and then turn your finger clockwise or counterclockwise until you reach the desired letter.

For instance if you wanted to select the letter “˜g’ you would first move your finger UP and then three sectors to the right ““ clockwise. By familiarizing yourself with the gestures for each letter you will no longer need to look at the letters to type. This will remarkably reduce the typing errors since you will not press any wrong keys.

For more info watch demo video:

Features:

A user friendly app.
Provides a new way to typing.
Reduces typing errors.
When mastered, it helps you type without looking at the letters.
Similar tool: ShareKeyboard.
Also read related article: The 5 Coolest Voice Apps For Your Android Phone.

Use qr code below to download the app:

Check out 8pen @ www.the8pen.com/index.html (by MOin from ThumbPress)

ShareKeyboard: Connect Your PC Keyboard To Android via Wi-Fi

TehseenBaweja — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:01:50 +0000

The Android keyboard is usually pretty efficient but if you have to type a large chunk of text then it can be tiresome. ShareKeyboard is a free app that connects your computer keyboard to your Android device via Wi-Fi. Once the app is installed on your Android phone, you will receive a web path that you can type into your computer browser’s address bar.

After that, whatever you type on your browser pane will appear on your Android phone. It also works if you need to copy-paste large chunks of text. Whatever you type on your computer can now be typed on your Android device using ShareKeyboard. Excellent for quickly typing special characters or symbols.

Features:

Connect your computer keyboard to your Android device.
Works via Wi-Fi.
Good for copy-pasting large text.
Use any web browser to type on your Android phone.

Download ShareKeyboard at AppBrain [Via Lifehacker]

RemoteDroid: Use Your Android Phone As A Wireless Mouse

TehseenBaweja — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 21:01:47 +0000

RemoteDroid is a cool app that turns your Android phone into a wireless mouse and keyboard that can be used with any computer running Windows, Mac or Linux. The app lets you use your Android screen as a mouse with a touchpad and displays two buttons that can be used as left-click and right-click mouse buttons.

In order for RemoteDroid to work, the client side of the app is installed on your Android phone and the server side is installed on the computer you want to control. The app even supports multi-touch scrolling and click-and-drag support for the latest Android version. It can be used in the portrait as well as landscape mode.

RemoteDroid uses your Wi-Fi connection so no tethering bluetooth or struggling with an adapter is needed.

This video demonstrates how RemoteDroid works.

Features:

Turn your Android phone into a mouse.
Click, scroll and type on your phone’s screen.
Works with Windows, Mac and Linux.
Allows multi-touch gestures.
Works on your Wi-Fi connection.

Download RemoteDroid from RemoteDroid.net [Via Lifehacker]

MouseFIGHTER: Control The Mouse Pointer With Keyboard Keys

MOin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:01:28 +0000

If your desktop mouse or laptop touchpad stops working, you are unable to move the mouse pointer on screen. You could control the mouse pointer through your keyboard by enabling the Windows native MouseKeys feature. However MouseKeys makes use of the numeric pad, something usually missing from laptops.

Instead of MouseKeys, Windows users should opt for MouseFIGHTER, a program that offers a greater deal of convenience and customization.

MouseFIGHTER is a freeware program compatible with Windows operating systems running .NET framework 2.0 or higher. Sized at only 2MB, the app can be downloaded and installed fast. Through the program you can set custom hotkeys for particular mouse movements. You can even specify mouse sensitivity and brake length. You use a hotkey to shift from regular typing to MouseFIGHTER and back.

Any Windows user who wants to use the keyboard to control the mouse pointer will find MouseFIGHTER to be greatly helpful.

Features:

Control mouse pointer using keyboard.
Offers a better level of control when compared to MouseKeys.
Compatible with all Windows versions.
Has a user friendly interface.
Lets you setup custom hotkeys for mouse actions.
Lets you adjust mouse acceleration, brake length, and jump size.
Has hotkeys for shifting from regular typing to mouse control and vice versa.
Also read related articles:

Check out MouseFIGHTER @ www.mousefighter.com (via LifeHacker) (by MOin from ThumbPress)

Keitor: Lets You Type & Search Google In Your Language

abhijeet — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:01:57 +0000

Keitor is an interesting site that offers a useful way to type and search Google in your native language. The homepage of the site lets you activate virtual keyboards for different languages around the world. The list is big and includes languages like Mongolian, Slovenian, Greek etc apart from the other widely spoken languages. Click on a tab and a virtual keyboard of that language pops up on the screen. Drag it anywhere on the page and use it to enter a query. Hit search and you get results from Google in the same language. Plus there are video, news, blog and image results on the right.

The screenshot above shows that I used the Hindi keyboard to search for ‘à¤®à¤¾à¤¨à¤µ’ meaning human and it delivered the corresponding results quickly. It also offers a translation drop down menu to translate your results to a different language.

Features

Search Google in different languages using virtual keyboards.
Easy to use and delivers results quickly.
Different types of results like images, videos, news, blogs shown on the right.
Translate query directly using the drop down menu.
Similar tools: TypeIt, LifeType, MagicTyper and Gate2Home.

Check out Keitor @ www.keitor.com (By Abhijeet from Jeet Blog)

TypeIt: Virtual Multi Language Keyboard

azim — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:45:07 +0000

If you’re living in one of European states or often communicate with people in languages other than English, chances are you often need to send someone text using foreign language characters (accents, umlauts etc). Often you need to install a language pack in order to be able to type messages in other languages. TypeIt can help you avoid that.

TypeIt.org hosts multi language keyboard for 18 European languages (Danish, Dutch, Russian, Romanian, German etc), as well as foreign currency and type symbols.

Simply select a language from the left to load the relevant set of characters. You can change the font and size of the text to your liking. Hover your mouse over a character to see its corresponding keyboard shortcut.

Features:

Online foreign language keyboard.
Languages included Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Phonetic English.
Symbols of foreign currencies and type symbols.
Supported browsers Firefox 3, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 6/7/8 and Safari 3/4.
Similar tools: LifeType and Gate2Home.

Check out TypeIt @ www.typeit.org