Windows mobile phone for business application - or design way out of scrolling problem

Question

We have a business application written for Windows mobile. It has people doing inventories. The fastest way to do this is to keep one hand on the product being counted and the other on the phone. The five-way lets you hit enter to accept the current correct inventory (the norm) or to move one left to remove one.

This is very fast. If I am two low, I have a quick glance at the phone- move my eyes back to count the next row - and with my right hand hit the five way "left left enter". Very fast.

Our problem is that with I-Mate out of business, we cannot find a modern cell phone that has a decent size screen and a five way. Everyone is going to candy bar and flicks. That works great if it is two hands and you are looking at the phone, but not efficient for us.

Other than the $1,500 ruggadized units, is there anybody who makes a business style Windows Mobile with a five way?

If not, any ideas on how to design the phone to make it easier without a five way to quickly enter data like this?

Answer 1

You should be able to build a reasonable touch screen interface that doesn't require two hands or looking at the phone. You either use gestures (left/right/tap anywhere on the screen) or buttons that use most of the screen. The key to being able to use it reliably in this way is the sesitivity of the touchscreen - as long as the screen doesn't require too much pressure and therefore miss gestures, usage shouldn't be too different from using the physical button.

Answer 2

We use Socket Mobile PDA's. It isn't a cell phone but has wifi and bluetooth. Plus side buttons you can program and make input and selection easier. It's not cheap but it is also not $1500. Plus it a skit for plugging in different scanners, etc. Or implement gestures as suggested. http://blog.opennetcf.com/ayakhnin/PermaLink,guid,63a34779-cf6e-41e8-972f-4ad3cbe77688.aspx http://expression.microsoft.com/en-us/dd279543.aspx