Fastap appears in LG AX490 Flip Phone

After seeing Digit Wireless announce the Fastap keyboard announced a couple of years ago, I was delighted to see it recently enter the US market, as an OEM component in the featured and affordable LG AX490. The Fastap keyboard features raised buttons at the junctions of the number keys, essentially cramming a full alphanumeric keyset on the space normally reserved for the cannonical 10, hash and splat.

I currently use a Blackberry QWERTY thumboard to compose e-mail and send the occassional SMS while I'm away from my desk. In fact I find it more convenient to pen a paragraph poolside than bother retreating indoors to use a 64-bit electricity sink (with 101-key keyboard) to do the same, at a net loss of time. Still, tapping out the 7 key a full seven times to achieve a capital S is a non-starter for me, especially when I need a fully-functional Backspace key to accomplish anything marginally resembling correct spelling. (Before you ask about iTap, you should know I'm a lost cause. My fingers have known nothing but QWERTY since we had a leased rotary dial phone in the kitchen.) Even the introduction of the sleeker 7100 series, which looks like more phone than PDA, combines up to two alphas per key, gave me pause. Thank goodness the 8700 series retained a keyboard better suited for thumbs trained on rotary dialing.

That being said, a full thumboard seems synonymous with "more PDA than phone" profiles. One's arms can get tired on a long phone call. I'm anxious to get my hands on an LG AX490 and see if it works for me.

Q. Does the Fastap keyboard work for you?

Photo source: Digit Wireless