Heads up Android keyboard aficionados — if your handset runs Android 4.0 or later and you’re just not thrilled with the keyboard you already have, you can now download Google’s stock keyboard app from the Google Play store.
According to a post on the official Android Google+ page, the app has launched in certain English-speaking markets with a wider rollout to follow shortly. That’s not to say… → Read More
Keyboard cases for iPad are many and multiplying, but at this point it’s a question of refining the best concepts, not creating dramatically different devices. The Belkin Ultimate Keyboard Case for iPad is a great example, taking a lot of cues from the massively popular Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad and folio style designs to create a solution that might be as near as perfect as… → Read More
Toronto-based startup Whirlscape believes that taking a keyboard originally designed for a typewriter, turning it digital and calling it a day is the wrong way to go about making the best possible smartphone text entry experience. That’s why the young company from a team of University of Toronto faculty and researchers created Minuum, a new kind of virtual keyboard that it’s now looking to fund… → Read More
Fleksy, the keyboard app that doesn’t even require you to look at the screen or hit any actual keys to type, is busy at SXSW this week. The startup is showing off its software working with the Leap Motion Controller to provide gesture-based typing input that works just like its iPhone and Android app, but for typing in mid-air. The company is also debuting its iOS SDK this week, which will allow… → Read More
For better or worse, the advent of smartphones and tablets mean that we’re rapidly moving away from the more tactile user experiences that were the hallmark of a bygone era in computing. As it turns out, the folks at Fujitsu are eager to close the book on the days of the physical keyboard if what they were showing off here at MWC was any indication.
Tucked away in a corner of Fujitsu’s… → Read More
Keyboard software maker SwiftKey’s answer to Swype has now been added to the latest version of its software, SwiftKey 4, launching today on Google Play for Android smartphones and tablet users. The finger-gliding input method, which SwiftKey calls Flow, brings the software up to speed with rival keyboard software maker Swype, now owned by Nuance. → Read More
Logitech had a definite winner on its hands with the Ultrathin Keyboard Case for iPad, a Bluetooth keyboard that attaches via magnets built into the iPad, protecting the screen and adding only minimal thickness. Now, there’s a successor designed for the iPad mini that comes in an appropriately shrunken down package. Of course, making a keyboard smaller doesn’t always produce the best results, but… → Read More
Fleksy, the new mobile keyboard that debuted on iOS back in August, was showing its stuff at CES this year. The trick of automatically predicting what you’re typing without requiring much more than your relative tap position and word length is no less impressive than it has been in the past, but Fleksy now has a new trick up its sleeve, too: an Android version that can actually replace your stock… → Read More
It’s a tale of two increasingly similar touchscreen keyboards: SwiftKey’s latest move to counter Nuance-owned rival Swype is to adopt a Swype-style input method — allowing users to drag their fingers over the screen to form words, rather than needing to tap out individual letters. SwiftKey is calling its new feature SwiftKey Flow and talks about fingers “gliding” over the screen. → Read More
Short Version: Want the Microsoft Surface without the Microsoft? Archos may have the device for you. This unique tablet/keyboard combo turns itself from traditional slate into an Android-powered ultralight in a few simple steps. Best of all, it’s going to get Jelly Bean in Q4 2012 so your investment, at least for a few months, will be sound.
The cons? It’s a little chintzy, a little… → Read More
As we were wandering through the Atlanta meet-up last week we stumbled upon a charming young man wearing a glove studded with circuit boards and embroidered with what looked like silver thread. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was a wild homegrown glove made by a pair of former design students. → Read More
Way back in the old days I bought a keyboard for my Palm V, thinking that I would be able to type into it and become a proto-ultraportable ninja. That never worked, and I worry that Logitech is bringing us more of the same with this dump of tablet accessories including a $70 keyboard, Bluetooth mouse (for Android tablets only), and wireless speakers. The keyboard and speakers work with both iPads… → Read More
This odd keyboard features a prominent iPhone dock on the right side in place of a numeric keypad. It has a set of special iPhone-specific hotkeys that allow you to enter data into the iPhone and control music playback and you can use the keyboard on a Mac or PC as well as use it to type directly onto your iPhone. Finally, this weird chimera lets you use the iPhone’s screen as a touchpad for… → Read More
Ah, the 80s, an era of unparalleled aesthetics and design savvy. Take this Atari 400 keyboard, for example. What kid wouldn’t want a keyboard in orange, brown, and tan complete with oddly shaped chiclet keys and no concern for ergonomics. This homage costs $149 and is made by Japanese company Niyari. → Read More
I’m not sure how many HTPCs are out there with the rise of streaming Netflix boxes and the like, but if you’re still attaching a slimline case to your TV then this may be the control device for you. Priced at about $150, this keypad/controller/thinger includes a full keyboard, two joysticks, and an “accelerometer capable of interpreting tilts as up, down.” → Read More
Ah, mother sun: you give us maize, you give us warmth, and in the summer you give us just a little color, not too much, just maybe a little around the shoulders so we look like we went outside. Now you can charge our keyboards! The $80 Logitech K750 is the first solar keyboard built of fully recyclable plastic. The device has a set of solar panels along the top edge and even includes a luxmeter to… → Read More
Want to control your devices from afar with something that looks like a mini-Blackberry? Want it to have a crazy name like iPazzPort? Man, today is lucky Friday because that’s what this thing is. Ready to have your mind blown? This thing also has a laser pointer! Want to pay only $43? Click on, McDuff! → Read More
Have you ever wanted to control your iMac with a laptop keyboard and trackpad? Sure you have. Thanks to BulletTrain, you can! Basically this company selling a big hunk of aluminum shaped like a laptop keyboard without the keyboard or trackpad. Your Apple Bluetooth keyboard fits into a slot at the top and the Magic Trackpad fits into a hole underneath. Once everything is connected, you basically… → Read More
Check out this new folding keyboard from Brando. It uses Bluetooth to connect to your favorite devices – even iPad and iPhone 4. → Read More
Well know that’s an abonination. This Chinese crazy pad runs Windows and has a 10-inch screen running an Antom N450 processor. There’s no telling if this thing actually runs or not – the screen looks pretty janky – and there are no prices. → Read More
SteelSeries announced two products today, a headset and rather interesting looking keyboard. Both products are very much gamer-centric, with specialized features to make them of particular interest for the hard core LAN party player. → Read More
Short version: A competent, but unremarkable keyboard. If you like Microsoft keyboards, spend the extra cash for the fancier and cooler X6. → Read More
I’m a big fan of Logitech. I’ve used the MX mouse for nigh on most of a year and now I’m typing on a DiNovo Edge. That said, I think I’ll just pitch my old input devices and get me one of these. This is a large, full keyboard and mouse set with a mini-LCD display along the top and a cushioned palm rest. The batteries, if you can believe it, last 3 years per change. → Read More
Every so often, some company comes along and tries to get us to change how we type, or what kind of keyboard we use. The MiniGuru is the latest example of this phenomena. → Read More
The crocodile keyboard is coming to an Android phone near you on December 7! Instead of refreshing MobileCrunch every five minutes, on Monday you can instead refresh android.com every five minutes until the app is released! That’s the Christmas spirit! → Read More
If the Logitech blog post about the new Logitech Wireless Desktop MK 700 is to be believed, the company has come up with a new type of key design. The Logitech Incurve keys apparently “cradle your fingers for greater comfort.” I’m all for keyboard innovation, but I think my standard white, full-size Apple keyboard also has concave keys. → Read More
This is a wacky little project. Basically you train a webcam to follow a spot on a piece of paper. Then you set “hotspots” on the image and assign commands to each hotspot. When you aim at the spot you basically “press” a button.
Why would this be useful? You could potentially create a presentation system with this or help a handicapped person type with it. It’s also really cool. The whole… → Read More
Tokyo-based crap gadget maker and USB specialist Thanko has a weakness for PC mice. In the last weeks, they gave you the “mid-air” mouse, a mouse with insects in it, a heated and a cooling mouse. The last one, a “silent” mouse that makes almost no sound when using it, seems to be a perfect fit for Thanko’s newest invention: a silent keyboard [JP]. → Read More
Our own beardy Devin Coldewey had quite a tech boner for the Asus Eee Keyboard back at CES. At that time, a company representative made a “confidential estimate” that the device would be released in August. Then someone at Asus apparently got all giddy or something and it was announced that the Eee Keyboard would launch in June. Well, June’s almost over and there’s no Asus Eee Keyboard. → Read More
The more time I spend using computers, the more I realize that the ways in which we interact with them suck. Typing is a pain, and I’m very inefficient using a physical keyboard. When using an on-screen keyboard, I’m even less efficient. Until someone invents a really superb way to interact with computers, I guess the best I can hope for is the crocodile keyboard layout for on-screen text entry. → Read More
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