iTwinge: the perfectly named iPhone keyboard

Um, where to begin? How about a definition:

twinge n. A brief experience of emotion, typically an unpleasant one.

Funny, that's the reaction we had when first laying eyes on Mobile Mechatronics' iTwinge iPhone keyboard. At the moment, we're unclear if the iTwinge electronically docks to the base of the iPhone or if it's just a $30 (plus shipping) sleeve with Pogo-like coating for capacitive touchscreens. According to the FAQ, the ultra-low power iTwinge "uses the phones power" but doesn't require any software to work with Apple's iPhone 3G or 3GS handsets. Regardless, after 4 hours of usage an "average user" will increase typing speed by 30% to 40% with 70% to 80% fewer typing errors. Golly! If you pre-order now you can expect shipment in November. So go ahead, we dare ya. Another pic after the break.

[Via ChipChick]

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 7:57AM]

Add a trackball and you got yourself a blackberry!

[commonman Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:03AM]

What is the big deal with people and these hard keyboards. Took me a little while but now I can type on my iPhone one handed with my thumb (and I have big fingers), my daughter thought OMG how will I ever get adjust to this iPhone keyboard, now it's like a hard keyboard never existed. It really doesn't take that long to adapt, why are people so afraid? I don't get it.

[Slarity Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:14AM]

It increases typing by 30-40%, too bad if I turn it sideways I increase my typing by 70-80%.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:31AM]

Hi... I'm with Mobile Mech and wanted to give you an overview of what we tried to do with the iTwinge.

We set out to originally develop a product to help new iPhone users transition to the touch screen keyboard.

Thru the development we saw significant improvement in typing speed and accuracy, in addition some find it more comfortable to type with both thumbs resting on the iTwinge ready to type.

This product is not for everybody, as there are many people that can type very fast and accurate on the iPhone Virtual keyboard, however we do believe we can help a few iPhone users out.

We'll be launching some video demonstrations (one tomorrow) and several others over the next few weeks.

We'll reach out to Thomas and see if he would like the actual product to review the first week of October.

Thanks for making it interesting... Mike

[Professor Kaos Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:21AM]

How many idiotic "i" words can teenager engadget readers make up? @.@ *head is spinning*

[brolin Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:24AM]

commercial .... What do you get when you combine the funcntionality of a IPHONE and the east of used of a palm/Black berry .....

the new TRIPHONE ...now you dont have to try to type on it

[htd Posted Sep 16th 2009 10:14AM]

I'd rather have a flip over jacket kind of enclosure with keyboard + gamepad for iphone

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 10:32AM]

The only reason it is designed this way is because Apple won't allow them to use the dockconnector in anything but a 3rd party app...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 12:14PM]

they went all wrong with this design... they should have made a dock like device that reveals a landscape keyboard. the dock should connect to the port on the iphone, and have a port on the other side so you can still charge and do other things. being connected would allow you to power the keyboard and let the phone know that when the keyboard is out, that it should not display the soft keys (also needed to be plugged in to know). The design of this thing is not very well done.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 12:39PM]

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/bluetooth-iphone-keyboard_1.jpg


increases typing by up to 200%

;)

What happens when you use CAPS? Or numerical keypad? Or the other keypad? Or landscape? Or when you're not typing? Or calculator?


Useless.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 12:53PM]

What. . .all I want is a foldable keyboard not a physical keyboard that mimics a blackberry's. Make it foldable and something I can really type on, and I would pay $100 for that :-)

[HardTimesGuy Posted Sep 16th 2009 5:25PM]

Upon reviewing this further, wouldn't it make more sense to use whatever material they have on the keys as fingertips on a glove (since the screen does not support stylus input) so that it the iPhone would be usable during winter perhaps?

[yrag Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:07PM]

I've been waiting for something like this!

. . . but not this . . .

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:46PM]

What would be really neat is an iPhone/Touch version of the Stowaway keyboards of yore (http://danbricklin.com/log/stowaway.htm), of which I have three (for Palm III, Handspring, Tungsten). Baring that, I hope someone with superior skills to mine posts a design to Hackaday.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 19th 2009 2:14AM]

My question to the inventor of iTwinge & everyone at Mobile Mech:

Did you guys ever use an iPhone for more than a few days?

[Pies Posted Sep 20th 2009 2:44PM]

Why not transparent?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 31st 2009 1:10PM]

For all of you set for Halloween "tricks", here is a treat... One of my clients is finalizing an add-on physical keyboard that looks like it was designed by Apple. Only 3 mm thick; leaves power/docking connection free; and has all the keys like the virtual keyboard (nobody has pointed out that there are a different number of keys on the middle row in non-alpha mode!) Can't say anything more yet but look for it at Macworld ;)

[Bullonie Posted Nov 27th 2009 8:57PM]

So.. how do you see the bottom of the screen? Did they think people would buy this?

[jay007 Posted Dec 10th 2009 2:15PM]

I love the iTwinge idea.

I have been using this really neat new AP called "lightning Remarks" that allows within 2-3 keystrokes to create or reply to email or texts where there are 1000's of predefined remarks, based on over 100 categories that are intuitive to find. It allows you to have a typical 2-3 sentence remark in 2-3 keystrokes. This has sped me up 5-10X on keyboard use.

The combination could be huge..