keyboard - page 3

Why the MacBook Pro needs an OLED touch pad

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MacBook-OLED-touch-pad
What the MacBook Pro might look like with a fancy touch pad.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is expected to deliver one of its biggest ever MacBook Pro refreshes later this year, ushering in a thinner and lighter design and amazing new features. One of them, according to a reliable analyst, will be an OLED touch pad.

Here’s why that would be a stellar addition to Apple’s best notebook.

Google’s first iOS keyboard has built-in search, GIFs, and more

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gboard_gif_regularSearch
You can get your hands on Gboard today if you live in the U.S.
Photo: Google

Google just launched its very first keyboard for iPhone and iPad — and it’s awesome.

Called Gboard, and designed to look a lot like the default iOS keyboard at first glance, it’s jam-packed with useful features, including the ability to type with glide gestures, send GIFs, and search Google from almost anywhere.

Microsoft’s one-handed iOS keyboard is here

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Word Flow iPhone
Word Flow for iPhone is no more.
Photo: Microsoft

Typing with one hand on the gigantic iPhone 6s Plus just got a whole lot easier thanks to one of Apple’s biggest rivals.

Microsoft revealed today that its new one-handed keyboard app “Word Flow” for iOS is finally ready for primetime after a week in public beta, and it does a lot more than just one-handed typing.

Microsoft wants to transform your typing with Hub Keyboard for iPhone

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Microsoft's Hub Keyboard makes it easy to send documents and more.
Photo: Microsoft

If you’re a fan of custom iOS keyboards and want to add a bit more functionality to your text messaging, check out the newly-released iOS Hub Keyboard from Microsoft.

This nifty keyboard lets you copy and paste recent items, grab and share URLs of Office 365 documents in OneDrive and SharePoint, and easily send contact details.

How to use a Bluetooth keyboard with Apple TV

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Apple TV with the wireless keyboard
With tvOS, your newer Apple TV can work with Bluetooth keyboards.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

With this week’s release of tvOS 9.2 for Apple TV, the fourth-generation set-top box now works with Bluetooth keyboards. While the splash screen specifically calls out Apple wireless keyboards, the truth is that you might be able pair pretty much any Bluetooth external keyboard with your new Apple TV.

Here’s how. (And here’s how to upgrade to tvOS 9.2 if you haven’t already.)

5 Netflix keyboard shortcuts that put you in charge

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Netflix on a MacBook
You now have to pay more for the best Netflix package.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

When you’re binge-watching a show like Walking Dead or Person of Interest on Netflix, you may at times need to get up for a snack or bathroom break (or both).

Fumbling around for the mouse to bring up the playback overlay is fine, but using the keyboard to pause your streaming media is much faster. Here are five hidden keyboard shortcuts that will put you in charge of your Netflix experience.

Microsoft’s next iPhone app will be an iOS keyboard

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Microsoft's Word Flow keyboard is coming to iOS.
Microsoft's Word Flow keyboard is coming to iOS.
Photo: Windows Central

Under new CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has been releasing all sorts of software for iOS, including Office and lesser apps like Microsoft Selfie. But the next app you install from Microsoft on your iPhone could be a replacement keyboard, ripped straight out of Windows Phone.

Triple-whammy Bluetooth keyboard connects to 3 devices flawlessly

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Logitech triple threat keyboard
The magic buttons on this Logitech keyboard make connecting to three different devices as simple as 1, 2, 3.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Best List: K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard by Logitech

Not one, not two, but three devices, all commanded by a single keyboard.

Three Bluetooth presets on one thoughtfully designed, battery operated, portable input device.

I’ve been using the Logitech K380 for a little while and I still can’t get my head around why someone would need to hook up a keyboard to three different devices at the same time. However, if you do, this keyboard is a no-brainer.

Ultra-portable keyboard turns your iPad mini into a tiny, adorable Macbook

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Portable, gorgeous, and super-useful.
Portable, gorgeous, and super-useful.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Best List: iPad mini keyboard by Brydge

We all like to carry our gadgets around with us, but there are definitely times when you’ll want to be ultra portable and just take along, say, your iPad mini on vacation. Or, perhaps you want to get some writing done on the airplane:we all know the seat-back tray is way too small for a full laptop.

This ultra-portable Brydge keyboard is a fantastic match for the iPad mini, letting you be a bit more productive than you would without an actual keyboard. It’s designed to match whichever iPad mini you own, turning the whole thing into an adorably small Macbook-like laptop-style tablet.

Pro Tip: iPad Pro uses same keyboard shortcuts as your Mac

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Use your new iPad Pro with these familiar keyboard shortcuts.
Use your new iPad Pro with these familiar keyboard shortcuts.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugIf you’re one of the lucky ones to get your hands on a big, beautiful iPad Pro, you might be surprised that many of the same OS X keyboard shortcuts, like the ones for cut, paste, find, etc., are available right on your new giant laptop replacement.

The iPad Pro keyboard has a Command key on it, as do several third-party keyboards.

If you’re already a Mac user (and you should be), you’ll feel right at home when you need to create a new document in Pages, make your text bold or italic, or even show the word count in a document. Here are several key combinations you can use right out of the box.

Unique keyboard app turns your boring messages into music

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The most melodious way to type.
Typing "LOL" and "WTF" has never been so melodious.
Photo: SoundKey

SoundKey is a clever keyboard app that plays instruments as you type to create melodies from your words.

Developed by two French students who wanted to incorporate music directly into people’s daily use of the iPhone, it’s an unusual twist on the custom iOS keyboards we’ve come to know and love.

10 insane details about Apple’s new iMacs and Magic peripherals

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Apple has some Magical new peripherals.
Apple has some Magical new peripherals.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new Magic Mouse 2 has some new tricks up its sleeve, but according to a behind-the-scenes look into Apple’s Input Design Lab, perfecting the new eco-friendly mouse with a gliding sound that was just right wasn’t as easy as a click.

The top-secret laboratory where Apple designs its Macintosh accessories opened its doors before today’s product launches, revealing all the insane details Cupertino’s hardware wizards obsessed over in the new iMac, Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2 and Magic Keyboard.

Everything from the chemicals used in the smaller iMac’s new 4K displays to the size of the keys on the new keyboard got mercilessly scrutinized.

Opposable thumbs take full advantage of this conceptual iPhone keyboard

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Rethink the thumb.
Rethink the thumb.
Photo: Frank Costa

Designer Frank Costa uses his iPhone 6 Plus for lots of things, but he noticed that when typing on it one-handed, the anatomy of his thumb use wasn’t as ergonomic as it could be.

Costa decided to design a new kind of keyboard for the thumbs, one that would only need you to tap and then move your thumb a short distance away from wherever you tapped. This would require less stretch and — perhaps — less stress on the thumb joints.

“So, being a designer,” Costa writes on Medium, “I played with the idea of a keyboard thought (out) for the thumb. A keyboard requiring only a single tap and some short swiping to construct words and sentences.”

Hidden iOS 8 trick lets you change words to ALL CAPS with a tap

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Shouting can be an important part of your internet experience. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Shouting can be an important part of your internet experience. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Sometimes you just need to emphasize something. One of the best ways to do so when you’re texting is to make the words you really need to get across in all capitals. Or maybe you just want to shout at someone, and an ALL CAPS sentence will certainly get that across for you.

Before now, I’ve always just deleted the word I was trying to emphasize and re-typed it after double-tapping the Shift key in iOS (for Caps Lock). Now, however, it looks like you can change the case of the word after you’ve typed it without deleting anything.

Here’s how.

BlackBerry sues Ryan Seacrest’s Typo iPhone keyboard case again

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Want to turn your iPhone into a BlackBerry. No? Then this case probably isn't for you.
Photo: Typo
Photo: Typo

You’d think one patent-infringement lawsuit would be enough, but Ryan Seacrest’s iPhone case startup clearly didn’t get the message after its last courtroom tangle with BlackBerry.

The new Typo Keyboard for the iPhone 6 was supposed to have fixed any infringement issues committed by its predecessor, but that is apparently not the case. This week BlackBerry filed another lawsuit against Typo, claiming the case maker “slavishly copied” its keyboard design “down to the smallest detail.”

This iOS 8 keyboard translates your texts into other languages as you type

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Yup, it's basically a universal translator. Photo: Slated

From Klingon to GIF-based keyboards, we’re seeing some really interesting examples of new third-party keyboards with iOS 8.

Here’s a particularly exciting one, though: a keyboard which translates messages into other languages as you type. It does the opposite, too, which means that if you receive a text message in say, French, it can instantly translate it into English, or your choice of language. Neat, right?

A definitive guide to third-party keyboards in iOS 8

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Minuum is one of the many third-party keyboards for iOS 8. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Minuum is one of the many third-party keyboards for iOS 8. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

With iOS 8, iPhone and iPad owners for the first time ever can replace Apple’s default virtual keyboard with a third-party alternative.

Doing so — with keyboards made by SwiftKey, Swype, Fleksy and others — could vastly improve your touchscreen typing experience. Not only do some of these keyboards make typing easier, but they also boast innovative features, like the ability to type words using simple swipes instead of taps. Many of these keyboards are completely customizable, so you can set their size and color scheme to suit you.

If you haven’t already installed a third-party keyboard, you’re missing out on one of iOS 8’s best features. In this guide, first we’ll tell you about the best keyboards available from the App Store right now. We’ll also run through the features that make them unique, show you how you can customize them and make them work for you, and explain some important concepts, such as “Full Access.”

Logitech’s new keyboard with built-in iPad stand lets you dial between devices

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Screen Shot 2014-09-04 at 8.41.51 AM

Many of us use a Bluetooth keyboard with our Mac or our iPad, but using the same keyboard with multiple devices can be a real pain in the neck, since Bluetooth doesn’t elegantly let you pair one accessory with multiple devices.

For a little while now, Logitech has been trying to massage away that pain with a series of keyboards that can switch between being paired with a Mac and iOS device, but Logitech’s new Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480 makes it easier than ever. And it has a built-in stand for your iPad or iPhone to boot.

Smile’s custom TextExpander keyboard for iOS 8 will save you time typing

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Of all the apps that will benefit from custom keyboards in iOS 8, TextExpander by Smile Software is one of the more obvious. In case you’re unfamiliar, TextExpander allows you to create snippets of text and media that can be inserted anywhere with a quick keyboard shortcut.

“We’ve been hard at work since Apple announced the new and exciting extensions and custom keyboards available in iOS 8,” said Smilie in a preview of their new keyboard layout. “TextExpander touch 3, coming on the heels of iOS 8 this fall, includes a TextExpander keyboard which can expand snippets in any app on the iPhone or iPad, including built-in apps such as Mail and Safari.”

The Typo keyboard that turns your iPhone into a BlackBerry is back

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The original Typo keyboard for the iPhone racked up quite a few column inches (or whatever the blogosphere equivalent might be) after it was revealed that none other than Ryan Seacrest had invested $1 million in it, shortly followed by BlackBerry filing a lawsuit against it, claiming that it was stealing the company’s trademark keyboard.

Well, the Typo is back — and apparently better than ever — thanks to the new Typo 2 keyboard, which is currently available for pre-order. Costing $99, the iPhone case essentially adds the functionality of a BlackBerry keyboard to your existing iPhone, although hopefully without looking so much like a BlackBerry that it provokes further legal action.

Future Mac keyboards may feature in-key displays for pictograms, symbols and glyphs

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keyboard

With so much focus on its iOS devices, it’s easy to forget that Apple is constantly innovating for its Mac product line as well.

On Thursday, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals the company’s investigations into possible future Mac Keyboards which support gesture controls, as well as in-key pictograms, symbols, and glyphs.