360 TID officially dubbed the Chatpad

by Richard Mitchell { May 10th 2007 at 5:05PM }

Formerly known as the TID (text input device), the thumb board, and "that thingy," the Xbox 360 controller keyboard has received an official name. In the Spring Update help document (found by clicking the "Learn More" ad block on the Marketplace blade) the device is referred to as the Chatpad. Now all we need is a price and a release date.

We think it's a good name, though we were really warming up to calling it the TID. It's got that cool acronym flavor. Everyone likes three letter acronyms. Like X3F, right? Right? Guys ...?

Tags: qwerty, spring update, spring update 07, SpringUpdate, SpringUpdate07, text input device, TextInputDevice, tid

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Knuckles Dawson @ May 10th 2007 5:10PM

You didn't even link to the appropriate Wikipedia article, Richard. I'm disappointed. Even though the article link is in fact a TLI.

Haqq @ May 10th 2007 5:12PM

How much they going to retail?

Mark D @ May 10th 2007 5:13PM

I would have called it a "Joyboard" myself.

Bryan T @ May 10th 2007 5:16PM

Doesn't matter for me, I can't access the Messenger to use this for.

However, I did used to have a sidekick, and the chatpad seems fairly similar in terms of use. All I can say is that you can get used to it, very fast, and it becomes very easy to type with. If its $40 or less, I think I will have no problem picking one up.

DA360 @ May 10th 2007 9:07PM

Well, it would save the hassle of rather using the on-screen keyboard or grabbing a USB keyboard (which if you ARE using one, to get to the little on-screen messenger instead of the one in the guide blade, press Window Key + M), but it depends on how much it costs. Especially since this will really only have one purpose, for Live Messenger.

OBM @ May 10th 2007 5:41PM

why don't they just call it a thumb board? anyway, whens this thing coming out, bit silly having msn now and using the onscreen keyboard (which isn't qwerty for some reason ggrrr!)

Hey Apples @ May 10th 2007 6:07PM

I'm not optimistic about this thing, I think everyone's going to have a severe case of sticker shock when it retails at 30-50$.

I would have held out some hope if it fell into the more reasonable 20-25$ range. But with the proprietary headset, bundled headset, general tendancy to overprice accessories, I'm not holding out hope to see this at a reasonable price.

Keep in mind that this thing has to compete with USB keyboards, and a fairly advanced one can be had for under $20.

moore @ May 10th 2007 6:18PM

show me a $20 wifi keyboard please, mistar apples.

AgentESPIO7 @ May 10th 2007 6:26PM

I'm getting it when it comes out, no matter to price. When i'm on the computer (which I am most of the time) i use WLM. And although it sucked, i had to move my buddy list to the other windows live id, and now it rules chating while playing 360. ^_^

DeadPlasmaCell @ May 10th 2007 6:57PM

I'm thinking $40-$50 tops.. I would HOPE for $30, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that. Either way I'll probably pick one up.. you get the chatpad deal (Which is pretty cool looking and has some nice features) and the new headset, which you could probably use on your Cell or Cordless phone as well.

zack @ May 11th 2007 7:07AM

so you cant plug a headset into the controller with this thing plugged in??

ZeroCorpse @ May 11th 2007 12:24AM

I see no point to it, unless we're getting some text adventures in XBLA. Why would you text-chat when there's a fricking HEADSET on the 360?

It's like you people have email and telephones, but would rather send a telegram via pony express or carrier pigeon.