This hack isn't for the faint of heart. In fact, it's more a demonstration of Dr. Ralf Ackermann's technical badassery than anything practical. But its as good as it gets until Apple achieves a state of sanity and flips the switch on its Bluetooth stack to finally allow us the option of pairing a Bluetooth keyboard to the iPhone. The setup starts with a cobbled together Xbox 360 Chatpad and XBee wireless module. The good doctor then takes a Jailbroken phone (naturally) and attaches another wireless XBee module to the iPhone's jury-rigged serial port housed in an Akku enclosure. A work in progress, it will ultimately rely upon a VNC server running on the iPhone to feed keyboard input to any application of your choosing. See Apple, this is the corner of desperation that you've backed us into.

Update: Video added after the break.

Some dedicated hackers have finally managed to get the PSP and Microsoft's Xbox 360 Chatpad typing. There are still a few kinks to smooth out, but the hard part seems over, with l0rdnic0 managing a tiny bit of soldiering using a PSP remote cable and some software from the Open Keyboard Project. It's all still pretty nerdy at the moment, and we're still miffed at that Logic 3 getting cancelled way back when, but we suppose this will have to do.

So we snagged ourselves an Xbox 360 Messenger Kit (aka Chatpad + Chatpad headset), unboxed the hell out of it, and here's what we think:

• Blister packs suck. Microsoft, we're sick of 'em.
• The Chatpad is a little difficult to get on and off, but once engaged it fits perfectly on the controller (duh), and feels like a seamless extension. Unfortunately there are two awkwardly placed screw holes on the underside, but you'll learn to ignore 'em.
• Players with longer fingers may be annoyed, this thing kind of prevents finger-wraparound.
• The keys are nice and tactile. And with the keyboard sounds the 360 makes in text entry you can be sure your typing is getting through. Still, thumb touch-typing on this is going to be almost out of the question for most, the thing is basically a straight up button grid.
  
• The shift / caps / alt green and amber buttons were kind of wonky and took some getting used to. No big deal though.
• It feels light at first, but after not too long it really starts to affect the balance of the controller, and could weigh you down a little. We suggest removing it when you don't need it.
• The headset now has an inline mute / volume switch (with clip), so now you have move your hand off the controller mid-play to adjust the audio. Super lame.
• The Chatpad headset can be used on the controller without the Chatpad, but why would you want to? The old style headset is more efficient (see above) and sounds just as good.
• In fact, while we're on the topic, the original headset doesn't use those two data paddles either -- so we have no idea why the Chatpad didn't just skip bundling a second headset and instead include a port that could accept the original kind. We suspect this was to raise the consumer price of the package without raising Microsoft's cost much more. Either way, it's sucky.
  

Should you buy one? Well, $30 isn't really too crazy of a price for this thing, but we'd say if Microsoft releases a $20 version that doesn't come bundled with the new headset (and can use the old headset kind), yeah, plunk down. Otherwise, we have a feeling only completionists and heavy message senders will really need this thing.

Amidst all the price slashing that's been going on of late, it's easy to forget about the minutiae, but those still keeping an ear to the ground for word on the Xbox 360's QWERTY thumboard can finally rejoice. Microsoft's Chatpad (as it's officially dubbed) will be part of the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit, which will also include a separate Xbox 360 headset. The two-piece bundle will run users a modest $29.99, which isn't appalling, but it is a tad unfair that a standalone unit (apparently) won't be offered at a lower price point for those who wish to sidestep the headset. Nevertheless, interested parties can mark September 4th down as the date to remember.

[Via Xbox360Fanboy]

Not that this is life-changing news or anything (except maybe for Major Nelson), but it looks like Microsoft has snapped out of its DOS flashback and given the upcoming Xbox 360 QWERTY thumb keyboard a less technical-sounding moniker than "Text Input Device": meet the Chatpad. The real name of the peripheral-formerly-known-as-TID was discovered by a Joystiq reader poking around the Marketplace after Tuesday's Spring update, where its identity is revealed in a page about Windows Live Messenger integration. Expect lawsuits from the makers of ChatBuddy and PepperPad any day now.