In my case, the BB was brand new from Sprint on the first day of release so I would doubt it had ever been activated before. For whatever reason, however, there is just no selection for Allow under keystroke injection. Tom at mailstreet is out of town until Monday..he will tear back into it when he gets back. Btw..Chris or Paul if you happen to check the boards...if I can get a number for Paul I will call him back...I may have gotten it from his vm and misplaced it.

I'm blushing now!! Thank you so much! We'll be back on your case on Monday when Tom at Mailstreet is back.
Don't worry, we will call you on the Internet phone on Monday.
Have a great weekend.

Success!!

Paul from Freedom had called me yesterday to check in on our progress...he had spoken to Tom at MailStreet and felt pretty sure they had things worked out. He had me delete the current keyboard drivers and wait for Tom to let me know things were redone before reinstalling the drivers. Tom at MailStreet emailed me later in the day to let me know he had redone my BES policy (I think that is what phrase he used. I finally managed to get back to my laptop tonight to reinstall the drives and presto everything is working now!

I can't thank Paul and Chris at Freedom and Tom at MailStreet enough for all of the follow up. Paul was literally calling me daily from U.K. to make sure we didn't need anything else from him..and Chris was following up to let me know Paul was on the case...unbelievable support guys. I only wish I could get this same level of help for the $2000 tv I have..let alone for an $80 product or a $20 a month BES service.

You have a lifelong customer guys!

As a side note, typing on the keyboard is VERY nice. I haven't done a typing test yet but I am betting I am at at least 70%+ speed wise compared to my Thinkpad...and that is right out of the box with no tweaking and no "getting used to it" period. The keyboard is rock solid and being able to use the keyboard to navigate through Viigo and other apps will save a ton of wear on tear on my trackball as well.

Highly recommended.

Also, thanks for the help from the boards here..as usual top notch!

I have had the same experience from Freedom when setting up my keyboard. They did the same thing with my BES admin folks. Product and support are top-notch.

You are very very kind - thank you.

Paul and I are SO glad you got your keyboard up and running orbitz!

Patience is a virtue!

Glad you like the keyboard and don't hesitate to get in touch if you need us again.

I just received this keyboard, and cannot seem to get any tech support from Freedom. First it thought I had a BES set up (I did not); now it won't connect at all, and the folks at Freedom refuse to respond; to top it off, the hyperlink in the canned acknowledgement didn't work. I have to return it inside my 14-day return window (fast approaching). Who do you talk to at Freedom?

I would PM Chrismacsween (she posted right above yours.) They are very helpful. I'm actually surprised you have had difficulty getting through to them. They will call you on the phone (from the UK, I might add) to help you and/or your BES admin.

What is the problem you are having? Maybe we can help. I do know I got batteries in the package that weren't very good. First thing is to put some good batteries in the device. I was having problems pairing the keyboard until I replaced the batteries. Also, has your BB ever been on a BES? Did you purchase it new? If you purchased it used it's possible that it has been on a BES in the past and you will have real difficulties using any BT keyboard with the BB.

John Clarks suggestions are definitely the place to start. When I first was trying to pair them I also had some issues which were solved right away by new batteries.

Remember also, Freedom is a UK company and therefor on different hours from us. I dealt with Paul in the UK and Chrismacsween is here on the board regularly...here is Paul's email address:



I am sure you will hear from one or both them...their support is superb.

just received this keyboard, and cannot seem to get any tech support from Freedom. First it thought I had a BES set up (I did not); now it won't connect at all, and the folks at Freedom refuse to respond; to top it off, the hyperlink in the canned acknowledgement didn't work. I have to return it inside my 14-day return window (fast approaching). Who do you talk to at Freedom?

Hi,

Sorry you are having trouble getting through to us.

The Company that handles our external server has been doing a major overhaul and this has resulted in the temporary loss of service on our support suite. This will be back to normal as quickly as we can.
In the meantime, we are still very much here to help you. Can you PM me your phone number or email it to me at so that Paul in our IT department can phone you tomorrow and sort out your difficulties for you?

Sorry again for any inconvenience but this has been very much beyond our control.

We are working on the fix for the Freedom Input helpdesk issue and it will be done soon. We are sorry for the delays and inconvenience.

Please contact Chris Macsween meanwhile and she will surely assist you the best.

Regards,

Raghav Arora

Hi,

As explained we unfortunately had some issues with our server where our support suite is hosted which means it was reinstalled over Monday and Tuesday.

I have tried to call you and left a message and also sent you a PM with instructions on how to resolve the most common connecting problems. If you have any further problems please email me directly at

It may be worthwhile to print serial numbers directly onto the keyboards themselves, and limit the reuse of the serial number to, say, 10 uses without intervention of Freedom Input.

Or add wireless activation code (just to BlackBerry platform) - that requires the user to submit their serial number along with other registration info. That way, you can use a database to determine if someone's been abusing a serial number (i.e. a manufacturer is cloning 1000 copies of the serial number). You wouldn't need to do it for other platforms, but the BlackBerry platform since that's the platform where you're trying to protect your drivers -- so only need to program for 1 device rather than 300 devices.

This would make things more convenient for everybody and last through many BlackBerry models, while discouraging competitors from using the same drivers with the same serial number. I realize that the keyboard is probably a modification of some kind of OEM design also also used by other manufacturers such as iGo/ThinkOutside -- the Shasta has nearly the same design (albiet no dual SPP/HID support.)

(P.S. The company I work for, bitHeads, also works with BlackBerry and other mobile devices. You could even hire consulting services through the company I work for!)

It's funny you should say that as we are actually working on a system very similar to that. While we still need to protect the drivers we do want it to be as invisible as possible to the end user.

The new system will allow a user to install completely from the handheld without the need to register via a PC. They will still have to enter a Unique code on to the handheld the first time the drivers are run but that is all (cutting the process down to around 10seconds). The will no longer have to worry about having multiple Unique codes or about getting their device code and unlock code.

The Unique code will no longer be a "use once then get reset" affair either which will make it easier for people who use the keyboard with multiple devices or people that change their phone/PDA on a regular basis.

I posted a support case on Freedom Inputs support site, but have not heard back from them yet. It's only been a couple of days, but I really need to get this worked out. Here's my situation:

I run a Blackberry Enterprise Server v4.1 and am trying to load the Freedom input drivers on a Blackberry 8320. I set up a wireless push install point on a server for the Freedom Input software. The app never seemed to be pushed (which I am not that concerned about as I had a similar problem with another wireless app before). I then tried to install it through the desktop manager. When I browse to the share point on the BES, and try to load the application btkbd42.alx. I receive the following error: "No additional applications designed for your device were found".

I think the install point is OK. I loaded the software on my Pearl 8100 from the install point and the Freedom Universal worked with out a problem.

I then tried to install the software OTA, which installed the software and paired with the Freedom Universal, however I receive the keyboard injection error due to my BES policies.

I think what would be the best fix would be to be able to install from the Desktop Manager off of my installation point. Does anyone have any ideas, or know of anyone at Freedom Input that I can contact?

Thanks,

Dan

Yes. This BBF forum member (and Freedom Tech) will fix you up. They are in the UK so bear with the timezone issues.

Paul Bowles

Hi Dan,

If you want to PM me the Ticket number I can take a look for you. I thought I would respond directly here as well as there are a couple of things in the reply that might be useful for others as well.

The problem with the software not pushing to the handheld is due to the BES not having the hardware ID for the newer BlackBerry's (it was a lot of fun discovering this with a company that had just bought a bunch of keyboards for their employees Curves.....).

Take a look at the BlackBerry KB article linked below for more information on this:
BlackBerry Search Results

With the OTA install it is possible that the version you have on the handheld from the OTA site is a different version to the one that is set up on the BES. This means that in effect the BES see's it as different software so the software configuration you made would not apply to it.

I'm not sure why it wouldn't let you install it from the desktop manager though. The only thing I can think of is that it either didn't see the .ALX file or that it thinks the keyboard drivers are already installed (could be possible given the above bug with wireless pushes from the BES to new handhelds).

Two things to try are fixing the hardware ID issue on the BES, removing the OTA drivers and then having the software pushed from the BES

Also on a lot of 4.2 devices you can just change the settings on the handheld regardless of how it is set on the BES (does depend on exactly how everything is set up). Have a look at the link below for more info:
Keystroke Injection Settings "Trackball" - Powered By Kayako SupportSuite

PM or email me the ticket number and I can respond directly if you are having any more problems.

First of all I have to say I LOVE YOU GUYS! I just recently purchased my Blackberry, and the support of this site is outstanding.

In my browsing I found that the Freedom Keyboard I had purchased for my Samsung Q1 would also work on my Blackberry. There is a new 'unlock' process that I couldn't get to work. I emailed customer support, and within 20 minutes they had resolved my issue. I was so impressed with their customer service, that I had to add this comment to the review to fully endorse the Freedom Keyboard mfg!

[quote=Paul Bowles;725463]

Also on a lot of 4.2 devices you can just change the settings on the handheld regardless of how it is set on the BES (does depend on exactly how everything is set up). Have a look at the link below for more info:
Keystroke Injection Settings "Trackball" - Powered By Kayako SupportSuite

QUOTE]

This worked for me!

Hi there,

A user of mine had this keyboard bought for her as a Christmas present but I am wondering if there is another way to set Keystroke Injection to allow on the BES, without installing the software on the server itself. I am the local BES administrator, however the multi-national company I work for will not allow third party applications to be installed/pushed via the BES so I am at a loss as to how to make this work. Can a custom IT Policy rule be created on the server to allow this to work instead? If so, how would I go about doing it? I am running BES for Exchange, 4.1.4.12 (4.1, SP4 with no maintainance releases installed) and my user is connected to the BES via a BB 8300.

Thanks!!

Welcome to the forums,

Yes, you can set this up without pushing the application. You still have to set an application control policy, though. Freedom has a good set of instructions located here:

BES Security changes - Powered By Kayako SupportSuite

Once you set the application control policy just install the exact same driver version on the BB using a PC.

With the 8300 she will most likely be able to make the changes straight on the BlackBerry without having to do anything on the BES (unless it is seriously locked down). Have a look at the link below which explains how to change the settings on the handheld.

Keystroke Injection Settings "Trackball" - Powered By Kayako SupportSuite

Forgive the newbie question, but in the review you mentioned that your 7100t did not fit easily in the stand. My understanding is a Bluetooth keyboard such as this requires the Human Interface Driver profile, and that the HID profile requires OS 4.2.1, and that 4.2.1 is not compatible with the 7100x models.

In short, can the 7100t be paired with a Bluetooth keyboard at all?

The BB uses the SPP profile, not the HID profile. The bottom of the 7100t is rounded so it tips easily. Beyond that, the keyboard should work great with the 7100t as long as there is no IT policy on the device.

Yes, thanks, I know about the rounded bottom, that's what I have (a 7100t, not a rounded bottom).

I have been trying to pair my device with the iGo Ultra-Slim Stowaway KB and have not been successful. Commentators at other sites indicate that the problem is that the 7100t lacks the BT HID profile. I don't use BES so there shouldn't be a problem with permissions. Basically, the 7100t recognizes (and seems to pair successfully with) the keyboard, but the keyboard application (downloadable from iGo) thinks the device is not paired and won't communicate with the keyboard. Does anyone else have experience with the Ultra-Slim and the 7100 series? Thanks.

Correct. There is no HID profile on the BB. It uses SPP. The Freedom keyboard in this review supports both HID and SPP. That's one of the main features of this keyboard. It will work with multiple (thus the "Universal" name) devices.

Your keyboard with only the HID profile will NOT work with a Blackberry.

Seems like this product incorporates two things I must have (great hardware and phenomenal service/support).

Off to find me one for my Curve.

Thanks for the review, JC.

Just a small update for BlackBerry users there is now a new quickstart guide just for people connecting the keyboard to a BlackBerry. It can be downloaded from the link below:
Universal Keyboard - BlackBerry Installation guide - Powered By Kayako SupportSuite

I need to purchase one of these in the next few days as I am going away on business. Does anyone know if they available through brick & mortar in the NYC area?

I just registered to confirm that yes, the Freedom Keyboard II does work with PS3. In fact, it works excellently, just set it to HID and it's instantly visible in the PS3's "Manage Bluetooth devices" menu.

Be sure to get the new model of Freedom Keyboard, sometimes referred to as Freedom Keyboard II or 2. The older model only supports SPP, which is fine for Blackberrys, but useless for PS3s (I tried). You can recognize the new model by its yellow packaging and black exterior -- the older one has a silverish finish.

Freedom guys, love the keyboard, it's pure class!

Forgot to mention that this post was written on a Freedom Keyboard and PS3, naturally.

I was just wondering if, for the BlackBerry, the keyboard recognizes the Shift key on its own, or if it waits for Shift to be pressed with a character before sending it to the phone?

In other words, if you held down the Shift key in MemoPad, does the "CAP" logo appear in the top right corner of the phone. This is important for my purpose.

Thanks!

No, it does not appear to do so.

Alright, thanks!

cool

Since this got bumped...

There is a new update to this keyboard. They've added "Easy Setup." I will post more on this when I get my new one but the unique codes and unlock codes are a thing of the past. Stay tuned for an update.

Ok folks! I just got my updated Freedom Universal Keyboard 2 delivered today. The updated version is very similar to the original but with the new "Easy Setup." No more unique codes needed to get unlock codes, etc. Drivers are simple OTA (with Desktop Manager install if necessary) and a new Removable Easle. The new Removable Easle is the best part of this upgrade and makes the keyboard much more versatile. Check out the new pictures:











Freedom Input Ltd - Home will be running a special on this keyboard very shortly. Stay tuned!

That is nice; I've been using a desktop charging stand in a comparable fashion. For travel purposes a detachable version would be preferred.

** PROBLEM FIXED. **
CONNECT
1) Run the "Bluetooth Keyboard" software.
2) Switch the keyboard on to SPP (switch to the left). Tick the "Activate Keyboard" check box. The "keyboard status" should change to "Connecting" and then say "Connected".
3) Test the keyboard
4) Press back on the blackberry and use the keyboard.

DISCONNECT
Once you have finished using the keyboard….
5) Go back into the Keyboards software.
6) Remove the tick from Activate keyboard check box the keyboard status should change from connected to disconnected. Switch the keyboard off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello,

This is the second keyboard I've tried with my Curve 8330. This one is better than the last -- WHEN IT CONNECTS. No matter what I try -- resetting the Bluetooth, etc. -- I just can't get this product to reliably connect to my BB, so I cannot recommend it at this point.

If anyone has troubleshooting tips that I may not have tried -- please send them!

Cheers,

~Lance Simon

Using this keyboard, how do I simply type a number for the phone to call?!@

Typing this on my new freedom!

Good thing I read this thread again as I wasn't disconnecting properly.

Actually, what the instructions say to do is to turn on the keyboard and then open the driver and check the "connect" box and then check the "reconnection" box. Then subsequently you need only turn on and off the keyboard and it will connect automatically.

However, this method seems to run the battery down faster since the driver runs all the time and tries to connect to the keyboard when it's not there.