I started to write these notes when I received my Gemini PDA in 2019, then I kind of stopped. Recently (fall 2021) I unearthed the notes (even though unfinished) and I am posting them just for the sake of historical interest, to have them online and searchable - though I guess the notes about the keyboard are equally valid for Cosmo and Astroslide (I have a Cosmo now).
These are just some unorganized notes about Gemini PDA. It's not a review, just a collection of my impressions and misgivings.
I am reasonably satisfied with the device. though there are some unexpected gripes.
Hardware
Removing the cover to insert sim and microSD - seriously? Having to use a separate piece of metal to open the unit? Though I could probably use a flat screwdriver.
Keyboard is nice. Size of the keys is comparable to those of Asus Eee 701 fame, though the Gemini keys feel a bit more wobbly and less "springy" - it's not better, not worse, just different. It's not really quiet, though - at least compared with my old Sony VAIO P.
Open display has only one fixed position. This kind of sucks. I expected a notebook-like adjustable hinge. Failing that, I am sometimes missing the 90° position.
There are no raised bumps on the f and j keys, for tactile feedback.
More than once I wished for keyboard backlight. Unfortunately, the keys are compressed by the screen when closed, thus I am reluctant to use fluorescent paint on them.
For the same reason I am reluctant to make bumps at the f&j keys (glueing something or marking it with a hot soldering gun)
Software
I am disappointed with Linux support - I expected a fully working device, with X11. Proper open computer would allow us to compile the kernel easily, boot from SD, etc... Even with binary blobs it would be better than using libhybris and/or one fixed precompiled kernel version. At this point, Planet could have created a (perhaps bluetooth) keyboard only with a groove or cradle to put your 6" rooted Android phone into and it would be an even better and more usable combination than the Gemini is.
Currently, Planet seems to aim towards recreating Psion experience (see Airmail. Data, App bar), which is.... OK I guess, if you are a former Psion user. And it makes sense to run the software on top of Android, you get a well known almost mature OS with a ton of applications. However, it deviates from the original expectation of an open Linux machine.
Launcher
Built in launcher is OKish. But Nova launcher, once properly configured is much, much better. With Nova launcher. though, you do not need the App bar.
Both KISS launcher and TUI launcher are quite nice and well suited for Gemini, but they are not well integrated with the keyboard - e.g. you cannot use the keyboard to cycle through application matches in the TUI launcher (one would expect to use TAB for this...)
Keyboard input
The layout copies the old Psion one. It is reasonably OK if you type predominantly English texts, though the need to use Fn combination to type the apostrophe is less than optimal.
Unfortunately, you cannot easily change the layout - though there are ways to modify the Gemini keyboard app, but this is tedious and requires some skills. Planet should have opensourced the keyboard application.
By holding a key. you can input several variants of the letter - e.g. holding s pops up a dialogue where you can select one of ßšşŝ. Nice touch having the ŝ, but OTOH long pressing h does not allow you to select ĥ. And there is no ś. You can choose the letters either by tapping it on the screen, or by typing the number displayed. So far so good, for an occasional character this is OK (but totally unsuitable for typing in your accented language).
However, this means long pressing d in vim cannot be used to quickly delete a whole region anymore. What's even worse, these long presses emit Shift, Left Arrow, the accented letter - which again, does not produce the desired effect in vim. Why not generate backspace+the accented letter?
And there is an inconsistency, e.g. š, ň, č is the second letter, but ž the first one, and there is no way to type ľ.
The order of diacritic marks should have been consistent, and a compose key would be preferable to a long press (why not reuse e.g. standalone press of right shift to be a compose? see xcape from the X11 world).
What Gemini desperately needs is an input method that would e.g. in German mode produce ä when the keys a e are entered within a (short) time span, ss would produce ß, etc. In e.g. Croatian mode, dj would produce đ, cj ć, cx č etc. In Danish mode, aa would produce å, ae would produce æ.
There are such applications for Android, but only for Korean Hangul, and of course not configurable ones. Almost all existing keyboard input methods are aimed towards touchscreens.
