keyboard - page 7

SAN FRANICSCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — Before the 2012 edition of the expo wrapped yesterday, I had the opportunity to take one last pass on the exhibit hall floor to check out what the Saturday crowd was showing interest in. There was one product that grabbed my interest as a writer, especially considering how much I use my iPad for creating articles.

I’m not the best typist — not by a long shot — and I’ve used a keyboard for my iPad for longer posts over the past year. Whether it was a keyboard that was part of a case or my trusty Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, I had one with me at all times. That’s where the iKeyboard comes in.

One of the biggest criticisms of virtual keyboards on a touchscreen display is that they offers users no feedback, making them more difficult to type on than a traditional keyboard. Designers have attempted to provide solutions to this problem with third-party accessories that clip onto your display, but Apple may be working on its own solution using coded magnets and ferrofluids that could be built into future iPads.

The Magic Feet from Mobee looks set to become the perfect accompaniment to Apple’s wireless peripherals, by introducing an inductive charging system that wirelessly charges the batteries in your Bluetooth keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad, without you having to remove them.

It charges three accessories simultaneously, with just 6 hours required for a full charge. It also introduces four more USB ports to your Mac.

Apple changed many things on the Finder sidebar with the release of Mac OS X Lion. Probably one of the better changes was how Apple locked down the sidebar. It is now harder to accidentally remove an item from the Favorite section on the sidebar.

If you work in AppleCare or any other kind of support organization you probably want to hug someone for this change, because it probably generated a lot of calls for support in earlier versions of Mac OS X.

1,000 workers at a Jingmo Electronics factory in Shenzhen, China, staged a strike earlier this week over long hours and poor working conditions. The factory supplies keyboards to companies like IBM, LG, and Apple, and China Labor Watch is now calling for these companies to improve the working conditions for the employees at the factory, focusing specifically on Apple.

It’s about time! Apple finally made accessing emoticons via the Emoji keyboard a part of iOS. Prior to iOS 5 you had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get them. They’ve been a part of iOS for longer than I can remember, but initially they were only accessible by jailbreak and later by applications that were able to activate them. You used the app, discarded it and were on your way to emoticon heaven.

Now Apple has included an easy way to activate them and use them as much as you want.

The biggest shopping day of the year is fast approaching. This Friday, countless retailers all over the U.S. will be slashing prices for Black Friday, causing a frenzy amongst shoppers who cannot wait to spend some of their hard-earned cash on discounted goods.

Apple famously recognizes the event by discounting some of its hottest products in the Apple online store for one day only, with savings to be made on new Macs, iOS devices, iPods, and even the latest accessories for your beloved Apple gadgets. This year will be no different, so based on the past few years’ reductions, here’s what to expect at the Apple online store on Black Friday.

Multitouch is so 2011. The future of computer interaction is gestures. Instead of swiping a finger, say analysts, we’ll be waving our hand. And in one of those ‘back to the future moments,’ Microsoft, which Apple passed in a blur, could be leading the ‘gestures’ movement thanks to its gaming interface Kinect.

It seems that panoramic camera feature isn’t the only thing Apple is hiding inside its latest iOS 5 software. There’s also an autocorrect keyboard feature just like that found on Android devices, which suggests words as you type making it quicker and easier than ever to type on an iOS device.

This is the Incase Origami Workstation ($30), a case for your Apple Wireless keyboard.

Yes, you read that right: this is not an iPad case. It’s a keyboard case. But it’s awesome. Here’s why.

When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, people either loved or hated the virtual keyboard. I still have mixed feelings about it, but I definitely prefer the one on the iPad over the one on the iPhone. It accommodates my big hands and fingers by being a lot more responsive, and with buttons so big I’m less likely to make mistakes.

Although the iPad keyboard is good enough for most people, users with smaller hands or people who like to use their thumbs for data entry will be happy to know the iPad virtual keyboard in iOS 5 can be split into two pieces that can easily be accessed using your thumbs.

A research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology claims to have discovered a keyboard keylogger attack that is performed using an iPhone’s accelerometer. However, the situation has to be so precise — and is so unlikely — that if you’re a victim of this attack you really are one of the unluckiest people on the planet.

Seems like a formula for success: Take a fine, Napa leather iPad 2 case (like Sena’s Folio for iPad 2), add a compact Bluetooth keyboard and an executive touch or two, and the result is the  Sena Keyboard Folio for iPad 2 ($150) — an executive-grade miniature office.

We had high expectations for the Keyboard Folio. Sena just upgraded the keyboard, ditching an error-prone, rubber keyboard for a hard-shell Hippih Expression keyboard — and we were the first publication to receive one for review.

I love iPad 2 accessories that follow the guiding principles of the gadget they were built for. I mean, c’mon — d’you really want to lug around a case the size of a large waffle skillet just to have some keys to type on? Of course not.

The Logitech Keyboard Case by ZAGG for iPad 2 ($100) follows those principles to the letter: It’s light, super-functional and ultra-portable, just like the gadget it was made for.

Note: Although this iCapsule only fits the original iPad, we thought we’d include it anyway; why should iPad 2 users have all the fun?

The Rocketfish iCapsule Keyboard ($49) is a big bulky blob of a hardshell case. But it’s probably the best case on the market for turning your iPad into a laptop.

Adonit’s humble origins as a Kickstarter project hasn’t stopped the outfit from taking the iPad-accessory world by storm. Adonit’s Jot styli were radical standouts in our stylus shootout a few weeks back, and their version of an iPad 2 keyboard case, the Adonit Writer for iPad 2 ($100), sparked similar “whoa”s as I marveled at its design.

Last year everyone was pretty excited about the Clamcase for the iPad. Excited enough it seems that the company has revised the product to work with the iPad 2. Previously I felt that the MacBook Air would make a better replacement for an iPad stuffed into a keyboard case yet people still wanted to convert their iPad to a laptop. It appears that the desire to do this continues into 2011. There are a plethora of keyboard cases to wrap your iPad 2 in and in this review we’ll take a look at the Clamcase for the iPad 2 – The Trooper Limited edition ($149).

Apple hit a home run with its wireless Bluetooth keyboard. The keyboard is compact, good-looking and functional. It even works great in conjunction with devices like the iPad, thanks to its easy setup over Bluetooth.

Being only 12.5mm thick, the Levitatr Bluetooth keyboard features a design that Apple would be proud of. With a LED backlit set of keys that magically lifts off of a flat slab when you’re ready to type, this Kickstarter project has us already wanting to buy.

In iOS 5, Apple introduced a slew of new features and updates to the most advanced mobile operating system on the planet. While users had to rely on third party hacks or jailbreak workarounds to enable an Emoji keyboard before, Emoji has been added as a standard keyboard in iOS 5.

The WINGStand has to be one of the nicest accessories for an iOS device I’ve seen for some time. It takes your iPad or your iPhone and marries it to your Apple wireless keyboard with two simple plastic clamps to provide you with the most comfortable typing experience.

Love Apple’s wireless Bluetooth keyboard but fed up of buying new batteries? Logitech’s new K75o keyboard could be the answer: a wireless keyboard — complete with a numeric keypad — powered entirely by the sun, which is sure to save you a small fortune and help the environment.

Belkin today released its Keyboard Folio for iPad 2, a $100 Bluetooth keyboard case. Like Adonit’s Writer 2 (review coming soon), Belkin’s take on the iPad keyboard/case is a faux suede folio with attached BT keyboard and placeholder to carry the iPad 2 around in.

The new full-screen support in OS X Lion is a dream come true for lifehackers looking to squeeze more productivity out of their apps, but one problem for keyboard users is that there’s just no standardized shortcut.

That seems like something of an oversight on Apple’s part, but luckily, there’s an easy to way assign your own universal full-screen shortcut for every app on your machine, even if the devs didn’t provide their own easy keyboard combination for triggering full-screen on your Mac.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to play piano, to be a chain-smoking, Jelly Roll Morton style jazz tinkler… but I’ve never really had the equipment to get it done. I’m sort of excited, then, by the Piano Apprentice accessory: just slap an iPad into the small keyboard accessory, and you should be on your road to ragtime in, well, no time at all.

The latest patent to surface from the Cupertino camp shows Apple has been working on a physical keyboard that does away with physical keys. That’s right — a keyboard, much like the one you might have in front of you now, but without keys. Instead, you’ll use piezoelectrics, haptic feedback and acoustic pulse recognition to type.