in one aspect , the present invention comprises an apparatus for character entry on an electronic device , comprising : a keyboard with one row of keys ; and an electronic display device in communication with the keyboard ; wherein one or more keys on the keyboard has a correspondence with a plurality of characters , and wherein the correspondence enables qwerty - based typing . in another aspect , the invention comprises an apparatus for character entry on an electronic device , comprising : a keyboard with a plurality of keys ; and an electronic display device in communication with the keyboard ; wherein one or more keys on the keyboard has a correspondence with a plurality of characters , and wherein , for each of the one or more keys , the plurality of characters comprises : a home row character associated with a particular finger when touch typing ; and a non - home - row character associated with the particular finger when touch typing .