It's taken some time for accessories for the XDA II to become available, and even now they're not universally available. Nonetheless, patience and careful hunting through various online retailers can pay off. Our friends at Mr Gadget and Press Digital are an excellent start, but even they can't necessarily get stock at times, which was the case at the time I obtained the Thumb Keyboard - although I believe they do have stock of it now.

I'm very loath to order gadgets and accessories from overseas, especially for warranty purposes. Cases and screen protectors are one thing, but when it comes to anything which might need warranty, local is best. I obtained the Thumb Keyboard from Harris Technologies. They have directly imported it from the US, but I was happy to buy it since warranty would be their problem; and frankly the thumb keyboard is fairly low risk for breakage.

I also managed to obtain the XDA II Backpack at around the same time (from Mr Gadget). This will form a different review, but is referenced in this piece for a hack I made that will be mentioned later.

I have previously reviewed the Universal IR Keyboard from Press Digital. The problem with that particular keyboard is that it requires a flat surface; something that is not always available. This is where the thumb-board comes in.

While out and about, it's a pretty simple matter of plugging in the thumb-board to fire off a quick SMS or email. That was my main reason for wanting it; while I am a big fan of TenGO by Xrgomics, there are times when I would prefer to type than fiddle with my stylus.

The O2 Thumb Keyboard is manufactured by Darfon Electronics Corp. It came in an oversized plastic container with O2 emblazoned all over it, so I guess that means it's a genuine accessory; not that you'd know by looking at the manual that comes with it. The manual is sufficiently comprehensive for a 13-page booklet; there's only so much you could write about the thumb-board.

The thumb keyboard came with a CD for installation of the driver. The install was quick and easy on my i-mate Pocket PC Phone (which is the same hardware as the XDA II). I found that a conflict existed between the IR keyboard driver and the thumb keyboard driver. The main reason is that the XDA II thumb keyboard driver also has IR functionality, and the two enabled simultaneously makes for either an inoperable thumb keyboard or a very slow device. Luckily it was just a matter of disabling the IR keyboard driver to resolve the issue.

The thumb keyboard itself slots into the mini-USB connector at the base of your device. Small clips hold the keyboard firmly into place, and it is easily released at the press of a button on the back.

I found the keyboard responsive and relatively easy to use. The buttons are small but seem reasonably well spaced, and in spite of the fact that I'm not accustomed to thumb-boards, I had little trouble getting used to it. This is certainly helped by adherence to QWERTY format, although of course the thumb-board is hardly a full QWERTY keyboard.

The thumb-board features a Function (Fn) key, Shift key, Control (Ctrl) key, Windows key, and a Mail key. The Function key is used to access numbers and punctuation. I found this aspect of the thumb-board somewhat annoying, since it meant that I was forever squinting at the keys for the puctuation I needed. Presumably it will become moire natural in time, however I look forward to playing with the thumb-board for the iPAQ h6300, - which looks to feature a slightly better layout (in addition to having the Answer and Hangup buttons which are sadly missing here) – or the built-in keyboard of the Motorola MPx.

Shift naturally permits access to uppercase characters, and of course a Caps Lock function is also available by pressing Function and Shift down together; although I found that the device didn’t always register this combination.

There are a few minor keyboard shortcuts, such as Shift + Arrow Keys for marking text, Fn + Backspace for Del, Fn + Enter for Tab, CTRL-N for New, CTRL-Q for Quit Application, and of course the normal CTRL-A, CTRL-C, CTRL-V, CTRL-X, and CTRL-Z for text editing. These all seemed to work fairly well.

The Mail key is the only application shortcut as such, although the Windows key does bring up the Start menu for navigation using the arrow and enter keys. I’d found the shortcuts provided on the Universal IR Keyboard quite handy at times, and it was a little hard to do without them; I found myself using the stylus much more often than I would have liked, but I feel it’s probably a fair trade-off for not having to find a flat surface whenever I wanted to use my keyboard.

One problem with a device like the XDA II is that of accessories not working together. As previously mentioned, I obtained the XDA II Backpack, which I’ll be reviewing shortly. To my frustration, the thumb keyboard and backpack could not be used simultaneously “out of the box”, as the backplate on the thumb keyboard prevents this. Here’s where my hack comes in.

I removed the backplate from the thumb keyboard – it’s a simple matter of two tiny screws, and hey presto! I was able to use the keyboard and backpack together. The keyboard still locks in firmly and securely, although without the backplate the thumb keyboard’s connector is bound to be more vulnerable (so caution is advised). I'll show the picture of the backpack and thumb-board connected simultaneously when I publish the backpack review. The screws are pretty small, so you need to be careful not to lose them.

The reason I wanted to do this hack was so that I could have an SD memory card in my i-mate Pocket PC Phone, the backpack attached with a Compact Flash Wi-Fi card installed, and the thumb keyboard attached. Having this functionality means I can read and write emails, save attachments and downloads to SD, and generally get the most out of my device (with the benefit of a little extra battery life).

All in all, I found the Thumb Keyboard to be reasonably useful and comfortable for use. I don’t know if it’s worth the RRP of AUD$129, but our friend Mr Gadget sells it for AUD$109 (plus, of course, MTekk members get free shipping). If you’re prone to wishing for a quick entry method that doesn’t require stylus use, and you don’t want to muck around finding a flat surface, the Thumb Keyboard is most likely for you!

This review was written, for the most part, using the Thumb Keyboard

Thumb Keyboard Overall Score

Good: Small and compact Secure fit Fast and reliable input Most of the functionality of a QWERTY keyboard is replicated Quick SMS and email on the go, but longer usage isn't unfeasable

Bad: Perhaps a little pricey for what it is Doesn't fit in concert with the backpack without a minor hack You may find yourself squinting at the keys to input punctuation Minimal keyboard shortcuts, requiring more stylus use Can't charge while the keyboard is connected No access to Answer / End Call buttons, and you may find it as hassle if answering calls via the handset

Verdict: The Thumb Keyboard is a reasonably good input method; you'll love it while on the go, but for heavy duty input a larger scale keyboard may be advisable. Matt's Score : 8 / 10