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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...

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...
 

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Strato

This is the kind of news that keeps me coming back to TUAW daily! I hope this thing fits in my fanny pack!

September 18 2009 at 9:27 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tim

I don't mind the iPhone screen keyboard too much, but the amount of passionate hatred for the concept of a physical keyboard is hilarious! People, step back from the Shrine O' Steve. Just because the iPhone has an onscreen keyboard doesn't mean the entire concept of a physical keyboard is an obsolete anachronism. Sure it's possible to learn to type on a touchscreen, but to argue the entire science of tactile feedback is a sham and does nothing for people is not rational.

September 17 2009 at 3:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

Uhhhhhhh maybe Apple could put bluetooth keyboard support into the iPhone/touch...... yea, I know it's crazy talk!

September 17 2009 at 3:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
detwiljp

Seriously???? This is retarded. It's hideous. Completely destroys the essence of what an iPhone should be. Plus who knows what kind of damage the little nubs that touch the letters will do to your phone.

September 17 2009 at 2:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mr.

PLEASE SOMEBODY - come up with a real EXTERNAL KEYBOARD for the iPhone!!!

A folding bluetooth keyboard would be best as Palm and Blackberry have had these for years, but Apple is not allowing bluetooth accessories other than headsets.

This is particularly stupid because Apple ALREADY has a great bluetooth keyboard for sale!!! It just doesn't work with the iPhone!!

BUT SOMEBODY could EASILY make a WIRED EXTERNAL KEYBOARD - please please PLEASE!

Why not?

I will buy the first one!!

September 17 2009 at 2:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
matt

This product listing is terribly unprofessional. Why is there background music? And don't get me started on the product name, iTwinge? Really?

* Provides the feel & tactile feedback of a “real” keyboard - Is it not really real? Is this just scam which is why you put it in quotes?
* Imagine an email or SMS with no typos - not terribly difficult to imagine.
* Price $29.99 USA Funds - Lucky! My employer pays me in USA Funds too!

September 17 2009 at 11:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rob E.

I'm not sure I understand this. Does it actually transmit keystrokes to the iPod via the dock? Because that might speed up typing time a little, but what it looks like to me is that it just sits on top of the existing, touch keyboard and interacts with the screen, i.e. You push the front of a button, the back of the button hits the screen. If that's the case, it seems like it'd be no faster than the touch screen, plus it would require an extra step of putting on the keyboard. A full-size keyboard would be great, but I'm not sure I see the need for something that simply touches the screen for me.

September 17 2009 at 8:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
iMaverick

What's with all the negativity? This is awesome. I almost didn't buy the iPhone because of the touch keyboard, which I still think sucks for anything but very short emails/texting. It takes 2 to 3 times longer to type stuff on the touch keyboard than on a device with a QWERTY keyboard. I for one, welcome this product and look forward to its release.

I would also love a full-size keyboard and hopefully will see these in the near future.

September 17 2009 at 2:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Karl

This is NOT a "real keyboard" -- just more trash.

Utility of iPhone thumb-keyboard: ZERO.

Utility of Bluetooth Keyboard support on an iPhone: MASSIVE.

The iPhone is more-powerful (but a bit smaller) than the Mac I took to college … add a (folding) bluetooth keyboard and you immediately have a portable option for note-taking, blogging, email, writing, etc.

I paid $129 for ThinkOutside’s portable keyboard years ago, and it outlasted all 3 of the WinMo phones I used it with. I’d gladly pay the same for that functionality on the iPhone.

September 17 2009 at 1:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ijohnjones

I actually feel that I type better on an iPhone than on a Blackberry or similiar phone. Tactile or not, those hardware buttons are too close for me.

September 17 2009 at 12:31 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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