Moxi Tip #14: Easy Remote Text Entry?

(2 minute read)

I have read the manual. I have played with Moxi. I obviously overlooked it, but it just hit me that there’s a very easy way to enter search words in Moxi’s Find screens! Read on to learn how…

Moxi’s very powerful and useful "Search by Title" and "Search by Keyword" screens provide an easy to navigate on-screen keyboard to enter search keywords. It’s pretty obvious that when you want to enter a character in the on-screen keyboards, you just move the cursor around with the arrow keys and press the [ OK ] button to select the letter. Pretty simple.

But, if you are familiar with text messaging on a cellular phone, then you will be right at home! Take a look at the keypad on your remote. Above the numbers are printed alpha characters just like on a phone keypad. When the on-screen keyboard is displayed on the Search screens, pressing the number key on the keypad cycles you through the corresponding letters on the screen. As you press the keys, the on-screen cursor moves to the selected key. For example, if you want to enter the text "the", just press the [ 8 ] key once, the [ 4 ] key twice, and the [ 3 ] key twice.

If you pause after entering a key, then the current character "locks in" and you move to the next letter. If you keep pressing the same key, it will just cycle through the available letters until you stop pressing. For example, if you want to spell "monk", press the [ 6 ] key once, pause, press the [ 6 ] key three times, pause, press the [ 6 ] key twice, and then press the [ 5 ] key twice. All text is case insensitive.

To clear an entire entry, press the [CLEAR] button. To add a space, press [ 0 ] twice. To backspace one letter, press [ 1 ] twice to highlight backspace, and then press [ OK ].

I personally do absolutely no text messaging, but have found that this is certainly an easy way to enter text!