Just did this fix and my keyboard is working again! I really don't see how this would void the warranty tho, I don't see any warranty stickers or anything. This is my 3rd TP and I'm sick of going back and try to argue with the people at the sprint store.
As for the SMS word count lag fix here's the threat I found:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=73005