How to input text on a non-touch screen smartphone
Submitted Friday, February 23, 2007
To enter text into a text message or any field requiring text on non-touch screen smartphones, use the numeric keypad or QWERTY thumb keyboard, depending on what your device has.
Here's how to do it:
All features on non-touch screen smartphones are accessed via buttons and the keypad, and all text is entered from the keypad. Although many smartphones have 12-key number pads like a traditional cell phone, a few, like the Motorola Q, have a QWERTY thumb keypad.
The number pad on a T-Mobile SDA smartphone.
Entering text with a 12-key number pad
Smartphones with number pads use the “T9” system to enter text. This associates 3-4 letters with each number on the pad (see image). You enter text by pressing the appropriate number key one or more times, depending on the letter you want to enter. For example, to enter the letter “a” you would press the “2” key once; to enter “b” press the “2” key twice; to enter “z” press “9” four times, etc.
Entering text with a QWERTY keyboard
The Motorola Q, Samsung BlackJack, and some other non-touch screen smartphones feature a QWERTY thumb keyboard, which makes it much easier to enter text. Because of this, they are more suitable for extensive text entry (i.e., if you intend on responding to messages or entering data on the smartphone). In addition, external keyboards are available for most of these devices. The first place to look for these is in the accessories section of the device manufacturer’s Web site. MobilePlanet.com and other online vendors also carry them.