We've taken an
in-depth and thorough look at the iPad, but we wanted to spend a little time with some of Apple's
official accessories the company handed out with review units. There's nothing crazy here, but we did make some interesting observations about add-ons for the iPad, so join us for a phantasmagorical peek inside the world of fantabulous tablet accessamifyin'.
iPad Dock
Okay, we'll level with you. It's a dock. For your iPad. It charges, let's you easily slip things into slideshow mode, and also has an audio out jack, for, you know... audio outing. Standard fare if you've ever seen an Apple dock.
iPad Keyboard Dock
Now this one is kind of interesting. You seat your iPad (unfortunately portrait only) and immediately have what feels like a traditional laptop. You get some added perks with the keyboard, such as controls for brightness, volume, a dedicated home key, lock key, iPod controls, and ironically... a button to bring up the keyboard. There's also a slideshow key, search key, and lock key, making the utility of the dock much clearer. Oh, and then there's the little matter of being able to type on a physical Apple keyboard, which are typically pretty darn good. If you're planning to really try and make an iPad your getting-things-done machine, you'll definitely want this. Our one complaint? It's not that easy to interact with the touchscreen from this angle. Maybe we just need an official Apple
Fing-Longer.
iPad Case
Hey, we know what you're thinking. "C'mon Engadget, that's just a case -- stop jerking my chain!" But wait, there's more. It's not just a case fellas, it's also a stand for when you want to go into slideshow mode, a prop for keeping the iPad on an angle for easier typing in landscape mode, and you know... it's a case. We're not really big fans of the styling (it's a little Matrix-y for us), but the idea is sound. Still, we're a little more psyched on something like
this M-Edge Moleskine-styled case. But hey, to each his own.
Bluetooth keyboard pairing
As you may know, you can actually pair your Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad, thus giving you a chance to type out angry resignation letters from anywhere within 60 feet of your device. Nilay Patel learned this the hard way when he decided to pen his resignation letter on his new toy. Of course, we can't let him out of his contract...
since he signed it in blood and owes us his soul. Hear the man moments before we broke the news to him in the video above, as he pairs his iPad and keyboard in blissful ignorance of his pact with the devil. An interesting sidenote -- once you pair your devices, you can no longer bring up the on-screen keyboard, potentially leaving you high and dry if you walk away without unpairing your junk.
posted April 3rd 2010 1:55PM
Uh... has anyone confirmed this actually works with a iPhone 3G?
Where is the USB mouse? Not buying.
That keyboard dock is serious FAIL.
It's not portable. You have to throw another gadget in your bag and you have the dock portion jutting out and begging to dig into the thing. The bluetooth is a better option but but then you need the case as well in order to stand it up and you're still left with two.
What they SHOULD have done was to have made the dock HINGE so it would act as a protective covering in your bag. Essentially changing the form to minic that of a laptop but with a detachable display. Just like the Lenovo prototype displayed.
I consider that a major letdown for the device
@Bengal34
Keyboard dock isn't portable. That said, it is incredibly sturdy, comfortable to type on, makes a wonderful photo frame, and is a great charging station to have at home. The keyboard dock isn't confused about it's job and does it quite well. If portable typing is essential for you, I heard there are these great products called Laptops available.
OMG. SOmeone PLEASE tell me where i can get that background.
PWEEZ
I look forward to your balanced coverage of other Tablet computers coming out this summer. If we don't see at least 3 stories about the power connector on the Joo Joo we know you guys are bought and paid for by Apple. ;)
@McPOW
Haha I love when people get confused by the coincidence of when tech sites write about the best products on the market and when they write about Apple products. I'm not going to complain if my english teacher keeps quoting Shakespeare. Dude was a revolutionary.
Before we went and picked up all those iPad-specific accessories, we thought we would look around and see what could double as a stand, case, etc...
The surprising thing was our 4-year old Stowaway Folding keyboard for our Blackberry (which we never used) worked great!
Here are some pics of some other things which worked:
http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2010/Home/April/Week2/RDMHomeApr0610.htm#iPadAccessories
I would think that the box the IPad came in would make a nice case and bolster for typing. I'd like to see someone do something with that. Yes, I am being tongue in cheek, but in the spirit of Apple stuff. But, hey, if we can do Moleskin cases, why not recycled packaging? Apple shopping bag as al- purpose carry bag. I'd also love to see some retro efforts. Hell, even a couple of bricks to prop stuff up with. Maybe a clothes hangar contraption. Inventors get going!
I've been reading the web regarding criticisms over the Apple case for the iPad being - the edges. Some people have no idea why the case was designed this way. In lay mans terms the external edge is there to act like a barrier / bumper bar so that I'd the device hits something the protruding edge absorbs the a hock instead of the iPad. If this edge was not present the shock would hit the frame directly.
Now why couldn't others pick up this?