BlackberryThumb
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What will they think of next? A real keyboard for the iPhone
If there's one gripe I hear about the iPhone, it's that it doesn't have a "real keyboard." Sure, you can tap with one or two fingers (or thumbs) pretty quickly on the virtual keyboard, but it just doesn't have that nice tactile feedback that you get with, say, a BlackBerry keyboard. Mobile Mechatronics, the same people who are bringing you the Blur Tripod mentioned on TUAW earlier today, will be officially announcing their iTwinge snap-on keyboard for the iPhone tomorrow. This is a cool little unit, at a price of US$29.99, that is likely to be very popular with the BlackBerry set. The iTwinge snaps onto the bottom of the iPhone, then allows you to use the keyboard for thumb or finger typing into any iPhone app that would normally use the virtual keyboard. While you wouldn't want to keep the keyboard attached to your iPhone all the time -- it covers up almost half of the screen -- it would be perfect for those situations where you aren't near a laptop or desktop computer but still want to be productive. I'd love to have one of these to use with our blogging system so I could blog and edit from anywhere. Mobile Mechatronics has begun taking pre-orders for the iTwinge, with shipping expected to begin on November 19th. I just wonder if the name has something to do with carpal tunnel syndrome or "BlackBerry Thumb" that you can get from overusing thumb keyboards...
Texter's thumb strikes again
Alternately known as texting tenosynovitis, BlackBerry thumb, text messager's thumb, or simply "ow ow ow ow" as you bang out your next SMS, texter's thumb is no laughing matter for afflicted individuals. A 20 year old Kiwi is the latest to be diagnosed with the painful ailment, brought about in no small part by her 100 message per day texting habit. Though there have apparently been only three cases officially diagnosed worldwide, the authors of the case report believe it's likely that many cases go undiagnosed given the overwhelming popularity of SMS worldwide. No bother; it's nothing a little BlackBerry Balm couldn't smooth right over, we imagine.[Via textually.org]
RIM CEO says BlackBerry shutdown "won't happen again"; BlackBerry addicts yell "it better not!"
We know, we know, you're still shaking from the "BlackBerry blackout" the other month: fortunately, the co-CEO of RIM Jim Balsillie feels your shakes. In an interview with eWeek, Jim let the company's customers know that a blackout on a similar scale as April's outage will not happen again. As we know, the cause of the outage was insufficient testing, and Jim now admits that it was "completely avoidable," which probably isn't the best way to boost confidence. As RIM goes about learning from its big mistake, Jim stated that when the service did go down, vital public safety areas were the first to be pushed back online. Only later on did the consumer section go back up (with a flurry of "omg wut hapened?" emails, no doubt.) Hopefully, now you'll be able to go back to your completely technology reliant life in peace, although we doubt that customers will be fully convinced by Jim's reassurances. Hey, it could be worse: at least he didn't try to rebrand the outage as an international day of "thumb rest."
"Blackberry thumb" now medically recognized
"Blackberry thumb" is hardly a new development in the world of gadget-related injuries, as many of our readers can no doubt attest, but it looks like the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has finally caught on to our collective woes, recognizing the pesky problem as a bona-fide medical condition. The've also issues a set of recommendations to prevent it, including some reasonable stretching exercises, as well as some less-than-practical measures, like taking breaks from using your BlackBerry or PDA, writing shorter messages -- and, most sacrilegiously of all, using your fingers to type instead of your thumbs. We'll stick with our trusty BlackBerry Balm Hand Massage, thankyouverymuch.
