Native Development

[MauriceRice]

This is a heads up that the case for the official PlayBook mini keyboard has a humongous magnet in it that interfreres with magnetometer operation causing it to freeze.

In my mind, this is a very serious design issue worthy of a product recall. But I don't suppose my lonely complaint to RIM will have any impact. Does anyone know the best way to bring this problem to RIM's attention at least to the point that consumers are aware of the design flaw?

[rcmaniac25]

Interesting. I might recommend asking MSohm or someone similar in a PM.

[MauriceRice]

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rcmaniac25 wrote:
Interesting. I might recommend asking MSohm or someone similar in a PM.

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Good idea. I have taken your advice.

[f2]

I will be interested in how they address this issue.  It does seem like a design flaw if the case interferes with a sensor in the playbook.

[guru2000at]

hi,

do you have a mini keyboard to test this issue?

we got some support emails regarding such an issue. but we are not sure, if it is the equipment or an error in the magnetic sensors (which some playbooks have!). if you have such a keyboard, can you contact me to exchange some information about it?

[MauriceRice]

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guru2000at wrote:

hi,

do you have a mini keyboard to test this issue?

we got some support emails regarding such an issue. but we are not sure, if it is the equipment or an error in the magnetic sensors (which some playbooks have!). if you have such a keyboard, can you contact me to exchange some information about it?

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Yes, I do have the keyboard in question. There is a concealed magnet in the flap  that supports the device in an upright position. There's not much else to say except that I am quite surprised that the case was designed with such a magnet in the flap but not for the cover.. The case's cover is secured by a an long elastic closure (which makes perfect sense on a device that has a magnetometer on-board). 

Mark Sohm has informed me that he will be replying in this thread when he has further information on the reasons for this peculiar design decision.

By the way, one person in on Crackberry reported that at least one non OEM cases have a magnetic closure on the cover.

EDIT: I forgot that I have your app installed on my device - I have performed a quick test.. It desplays the colibration screen permanently when it is in the case (but works as expected as soon as it's removed).

[guru2000at]

Thanks for the quick test of our application.

I'm not happy with this behavior  ... but we have to live with it and think about a workaround ... :-(

[MSohm]

I reported this to our accessories engineering team who did a very detailed analysis of this case and how it affects applications.  The case does contain a magnet, but it was designed to keep this magnet as far away from the internal magnetometer as possible.  For most use cases it was found that the case did not interfere with magnetometer or compass use.

The issue with the What's Up app that was the cause of the original report on this thread is the fact that users are holding the device at an angle above their head.  This causes the case to "flop" downwards and its magnet can cause some interference.  The only solution here is to remove the device form the case when holding it above your head.

No issues were found when the device was sitting on a desk, lap or being held in front of the user.