Video: Apple's iPhone and Bluetooth keyboard get together, have a good ole time
By Darren Murph 
posted February 22nd 2009 7:50PM
posted February 22nd 2009 7:50PM
[Thanks, Ralf]
posted February 22nd 2009 7:50PM
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I bought a virtual keybord from Think Geek: it's as big as a cigarette lighter, and it projects a (virtual) perfectly working qwerty k-bord on any surface (tabletops,plane folding tables, books,pillows, sheets, girls, floors, anything), in the proximity of any BT equipped device. Just out of the box it connected without problems wirelessly via BT to my HTC touch HD and my Samsung Omnia , I did'nt need any drivers or software installation.
One of my collegues bought BT textile k-board in Hong Kong that can be rolled up or folded into its its box which is smaller than a pack of cigarettes or you can just use an empty pack of cigs if you prefer. However because the fabric around the batteries quickly wore out he went back to buy one more, but it had been replaced by a flexible rubber one that takes up much more space so he resolved to saw a patch on his textile k-board where the material (apparently some blend of cotton and syntetic silk) wore out and apparently it still works; my virtual k-board however , if a bit more expensive , is way , way cooler.
Obviously none of this would have been possible with an Apple phone, and that's just another one of the many reasons why Apple will never manage to sell anything to me or to anyone who pretends practicality, functionality and flexibility from his/her devices.
Longer emails will require this. Although I personally hate on screen keyboards, so I want a Nokia N97 instead. But the keyboard is still way more portable than a laptop. As I said, it's good for light computing, which is all I need for during the day (also I need Word and Excel editing capabilities.)
Re: Various iterations of "if you have a keyboard with you, obviously you have access to a computer so..." and/or "...this defeats the purpose of having an iPhone..."
The Apple Bluetooth Keyboard (I'm typing on one now) is considerably smaller and lighter than a laptop. It would save considerable space and weight in terms of what I haul around every day.
It does not defeat the purpose of having an iPhone - it extends that purpose to another level. With an application like this being available, the iPhone becomes something I can sit down in a coffee shop with and write out entire documents instead of just short emails. I could, in fact, leave my laptop at home most days. As someone who works out of the office 4-5 days a week this would be a major bonus.
I tried to do this very thing with a couple of different generations of Palm PDA's and foldable keyboards, except that the word processing products for Palm (e.g. Dataviz) always ended up having formatting issues. Given what we already see happening through the App store I doubt that will be an issue here. Oh - and what's more, back then I still had to carry around an iPod and a cell phone in addition to the PDA and, typically, a laptop because the PDA wasn't enough.
I just don't understand. I mean. I guess I understand the cool factor, but its application is lost on me. If you are in a position to have a keyboard BlueToothes to your iPhone, you probably have access to a computer. If not, you are defeating the purpose of having the iPhone. It's all about doing the things you do on a computer in a portable manner. This is in no way portable.
It would be cool if someone created a form factor for a BT keypad that clips on very nicely to the iPhone and slid out from the bottom. That would ease the gripes people have with the virtual qwerty. Personally, I've used HW keyboards and virtual, and I must say that although I am more accurate with HW, I am faster with a virtual when it is on a capacitive.
Seriously, though, does anybody actually do anything with their iPhone where this would be useful?? The virtual KB is good enough even for decent sized e-mails.
some people hate on screen keyboards with a passion. And just because you don't think it has any applications, doesn't mean others won't find it useful. I've been planning for years to use a PDA with a keyboard as a laptop replacement but I haven't gotten around to doing it lol.
Anyone else questioning the validity of the video? The VNC client logo was a red flag. This could easily be replicated by remoting into the phone and using the keyboard hooked up to mac to send the keystrokes via VNC.
It is VNC you can see it in the corner, I have done this to you just need is
1. A computer with a VNC viewer
2. Veency on your Jailbroken iPhone
3. A keyboard
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/18/veency-vnc-server-for-iphone/
While waiting on someone to shrink that down so it's "PORTABLE", one could entertain themselves with the Bubble Level "app" available at the ubiquitous "app"le"store". I've heard the Level cr"app" is a great deal of fun at parties... all the dolts I know who have the iphone pull it out every chance they get like it's their intellect. Oh the agony. Or, maybe just multi-touch oneself until ingenuity strikes.
People... why can't this amazing, god given u"phone"d work with any of the small, portable, handy keyboards intended for this exact purpose? You mean the god's didn't think any one would want to use a portable bluetooth keyboard with their touchy device?
Look... can't this work? But it's white and silver. http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/02/06/lgs-lba-c300-bluetooth-qwerty-card-is-the-best-calculator-loo/
If I get a touch only phone, like one of the slate types, then I'd probably want that paired with it.
This is a great idea! I loved using a BT keyboard on my N95, and I continue loving to use said keyboard on my Omnia.
The terrible typing experience (among other things) is why I continue to loathe using an iPhone.
I'm glad apple thinks progress like this is illegal.
I would actually have quite a bit of use for this. I'd keep one at work to write e-mails with. My office blocks gmail (oddly, not because they care about people sending personal email from work... you can do that with your work account... but because they don't want people sending sensitive files to themselves for use at home.
It would be nice to be able to quickly write emails at work or home using my iphone... afterall, if Palm thought they could sell the folio, then somebody must want this sort of thing.
Oddly enough, I can type faster on my iphone than the guy in the movie is typing on the keyboard.
Who the fuck cares? Why is this a story on Engadget? For a second I had to check my url, I thought I must've logged in to isuckappledick.com
Cmon, Engadget. Less is more.
Hahahaha... that was hilarious. isuckappledick.com ...
I'm crying over here. Thank you.
Yes, he probably does suck appledick. And yes, this keyboard is a lame idea. What dolt is going to carry around a humungous keyboard when they have the perfect virtual keyboard already built into the iPhone. It's a damn cellphone, not a word processing terminal. And if most of you can only peck out about 30 wpm with errors on a full size keyboard, what's the point.
i still dun understand the concept of a keyboard and a iphone, wld prefer to use the touchscreen on the iphone.
i wldn't want to carry a keyboard around =\
Cheers!
oOgA
http://www.thebanzaieffect.com
Not to hate on the iPhone (I have an iPod Touch) but I kinda fall in the camp of those
who are saying what is the point? I recently bought an Acer Aspire One (from the looks
of the BT keyboard, the width is similar to the AAOne) and I love the form factor and
that I can run multiple os'es on it (it came with XP Home, and I put iATKOS for Aspire
One on it so it's running Mac OS as well).
I dunno, maybe this is stretching the iPhone into the realm that other devices may be
better suited for the functionality that the linking of the BT keyboard does for it.
It's not a bad thing tho, a pretty neat feat that I do most certainly appreciate.
Kudos...
And still typing with one finger...
Can anyone verify that the guy is using the keyboard to type? Any 5-year-old could pull off video "magic" to spoof something like this. All you need is the ability to press the stop and record button while you type with the on-screen keyboard. You just need to keep the camera still to do it, and that's easy enough to do with any number of different mounts. With it quite easy to show both the keyboard and phone in the same screen by mounting the camera "above" the phone angling down, there is no excuse to film the video where you can't watch the typing in real time. If you don't want to have the video upside down, you have two options:mount the camera upside down or fixing it in editing by rotating the film. No one should take this video seriously with the likelihood and ease that it's a hoax; there really is no excuse for filming in the way the guy did if he wanted to be taken seriously.
Why the hell wouldn't Apple want people to use Bluetooth keyboards with their phone?
That would be awesome if it connected fast like 1 or 2 seconds. Just pickup any blue tooth keyboard from a computer and just type if it had enough drivers or hell even got small kilobyte ones from the 3G network.
Or you can use a netbook.
OK, but if I don't have a laptop? :D and already have BT keyboard and this will help me write faster... then why in hell I wouldn't use it? I would never buy small netbook, I prefer 17" laptops... there is no need for small and light laptop coz no one today walks long distances anyway :D
Unless they changed the bluetooth keyboard at apple this week, that is not apples keyboard. the enter button is way to small. this is clearly a fake.
It's probably a British keyboard. They have that thin enter key. However the lighting off the lamp makes it impossible to see the screen change. I think it's a fake.
I hate to be "that Guy" but I have to say this.
For all the people saying "why not just use a computer"
When I am at work, I am not allowed to have my personal computer. I AM however, allowed to carry my phone. When I want to type a person email or document to friends and family, I do not want to use the company email system as everything that I type and write is logged and is viewable and reviewable by the company should any future litigation be levied against the company.
On the same note, I don't want to spend 30-45 minutes typing out one single key at a time on the undersized portrait keyboard of this phone. A product like this and a feature like this will make my work day easier and communication with friends and family easier. Not to mention I would not have to be censored by the company that I work for.
Well, it's interesting to see this because it anticipates the future: the handheld iPhone will eventually mutate into your main computing machine. Given a Bluetooth or USB keyboard, Displayport jack, and a Toshiba SCIB battery and you've got a mac mini in your pocket. The processors will be more than fast enough. Hell, someday such a device could pack an LED projector more than Good Enough to display a screen on a wall.
Like the eBook reader, it's Apple's market to own or lose, their choice. If they don't do it, others will.
You mean it anticipates the past? Since other smartphones and PDAs have been augmentable with external displays and keyboards for years now...
Big Woop. Another reason not to buy an iPhone.
I'm just gonna say this. Landscape keyboard is available through jailbreak for SMS, MMS, and E-Mail. All the applications you would need it for. As far as mobile keyboards I've typed on em all folks. Blackberrys, iPhones, HTC's WinMo stuff, the G1, on and on and on.
Don't think of it as a reason for ANOTHER really ridiculous Apple This Apple That flamewar. This blog is getting nigh unreadable because of it. Let's weigh the facts, team.
1 - No one is forcing you to get an iPhone
2 - No one is forcing you NOT to get an iPhone
3 - No one is forcing you to use or not use this hack
4 - No one is forcing you to get any other phone.
You guys have an EFFING CHOICE ON WHAT PHONE YOU GET. Half of us will never meet each other. No one gives a shit anymore about what phone you have or why. Use your phone. Love your phone. If you think an iPhone is for you, go for it. If you think another device fits your needs better, buy it instead. These fanboy shitfits are really getting old.
Haven't read all the comments but I don't understand all the negative feedback on the idea. I worked with an attorney back in 2001 who had a palm and a collapsible keyboard from Targus which he took to depositions to take notes. Years later I found the same setup in a thrift store and bought both the Visor and the keyboard for $25. I"ve been using it for months now, writing at McDonald's every morning and B&N in the evening and love it. And what I love most is how compact the whole package is. The keyboard goes in my coat pocket and the pda goes in my breast pocket. It's convenient. And even though it's about eight years old, every day someone stops by to comment on it. Add internet and some color and it would be perfect. I would use it to update my websites and my blogs, things I don't need a full screen for.
Just some personal thoughts.
We did an external keyboard using SDK 2.0 without jailbreaking:
http://www.perceptdev.com/labs/content/iphone-keyboard-no-jailbreaking-required-using-20-sdk