Octodon mobile keyboard on Kickstarter

[trauring]

There's a new mobile keyboard on Kickstarter called Octodon:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/octodon/octodon



Reminds me vaguely of the TREWGrip (which didn't succeed in its Kickstarter but I see is now on a different site called Prelaunch – https://www.prelaunch.com/brands/trewgrip/products/mobile-qwerty – and says they're launch in the spring so I guess soon) with the back-typing, although this one isn't QWERTY.

I'm not sold on this style of keyboard. Even beyond learning the new style of typing, I think it's too big as a mobile keyboard. That said, however, I love the Star Wars theme to the campaign copy.

[livingspeedbump]

zero percent interested. 

If i simply hadto write long emails on my phone, I'd simply get a bluetooth keyboard. Normally its quite easy to wait until I'm at a computer or pull out my tablet and plug in my keyboard. The fact that it would be one more thing to lug around is another huge downside.

[Huxley2500]

I thought octodon was a prehistoric animal.   )

[Findecanor]

Yet another backtyping keyboard, like the AlphaUI, Alphagrip, TREWGrip, Grippity and others, and this time with yet another unique layout that users would have to learn ...

Even though I'm a big Star Wars fan I find the Star Wars - references on the Kickstarter page a bit too much...

[Data]

Yet another backtyping keyboard, like the AlphaUI, Alphagrip, TREWGrip, Grippity and others, and this time with yet another unique layout that users would have to learn ...

As a big Star Wars fan (wearing a convention-exclusive Star Wars T-shirt right now, btw), I find the Star Wars - references tiring...

Yeah, ouch.

[seniorivn]

This one will be my only one keyboard, i dreamed about it all my life.

[AlexOctodon]

Hi there.
I am a developer of this keyboard, and if you have any questions to ask I will be happy to answer.
The goal of the project is to create a really optimal mobile keyboard. It must be pocket-sized but easy to hold, fast to type, and not too hard to learn.
And none of current physical solutions feature this set of features.
It's good for learning back-typing when you don't need to move your fingers between several input elements, that's why there are only eight input elements on the backside. They are four-way, because more directions are hard to operate fast. By this exact QWERTY mapping is not possible for this device. Nevertheless you can set any layout you like to try to reach more familiar feel of typing. New layouts are constructed simple by modifying xml-config on the phone side.
QWERTY makes sense when you are creating a device  for those who can already touch-type on QWERTY. For those who are migrating from touch-screens it is better to create layout which is optimal for this new kind of device.

Concerning current size (it's 128x70x10mm about size of a smartphone) - we also have clip-case prototypes which add only 4mm of thickness to the phone, like this https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjo9wjcxbc8o45c/iphone5-collage.jpg?dl=1.

But we start with universal model to reach maximum early adopters.

[AlexOctodon]

I thought octodon was a prehistoric animal.   )

Then probably you'll be surprised to know that in fact octodon is the cutest small animal from Chili ))

But you're right, it sounds like a great animal, and that's exactly why we have chosen this name for our company