Tag: keyboard

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Input

Ultra-slim Wekey Pocket folding keyboard may be thin on experience

Just because a keyboard folds up doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s easy to drag around with us while traveling. If it can’t fit in a pocket, one can make a case that a keyboard still isn’t much more portable than a traditional keyboard that doesn’t fold up.

Wekey Pocket is a wireless, foldable keyboard with a QWERTY keyboard and a thickness of just under .24 inches, allowing it to easily slip inside a pocket. Its makers claim Wekey is the world’s thinnest and lightest keyboard, pointing out that existing foldable keyboards are more than .39 inches thick when folded.

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Input

FlyShark 2 folding keyboard offers big returns (and backspaces and tabs)

There are tons of Bluetooth keyboards, a few folding Bluetooth keyboards, and even a crowdfunded folding Bluetooth keyboard. But almost none of them fit in a pocket just like a smartphone does.

However, the original FlyShark keyboard (also known as the iLepo) broke that barrier with a minimalist, affordable four-line keyboard that offered a quality typing experience. After dabbling in smartwatches, the company has come back to Kickstarter with a new FlyShark keyboard that makes addresses a few issues with the original. The company has made the device a bit thinner, strengthened the hinge and given it a bit more traction to stay put on surfaces. The company also promises a more responsive typing experience.

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Input

Sensel Morph force-sensitive input pad pushes past keyboards and trackpads

The keyboard and trackpad are cornerstones of mobile productivity, but they take up a lot of room. We’ve already seen one crowdfunding approach to combining them but the combination isn’t necessarily greater than the sum of their parts.

The Sensel Morph is a Bluetooth touch input device that’s sensitive to pressure — so sensitive, in fact, that it can pick up the bristles of a paintbrush with its 20,000 embedded sensors. The company is taking advantage of its versatile surface by making available a series of magnetic overlays that have raised surfaces. Some of the first are a DJ control pad, a typing keyboard, a music keyboard, a drum pad and game controller.

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Input Reviews

Jorno keyboard review

Review Score: 4 out of 5

The Jorno folding keyboard had a colorful history even before showing up on Kickstarter in late 2012. The most promising folding keyboard since the days of the Stowaway, it had been one of the more impressive startup products at CES, but was then cancelled before being raising over $100,000. Then Jorno missed its expected shipping date by about two years as other folding options came into the market. In light of production problems along the way that required design changes, backers received a different item than the one they signed up for, but most were probably delighted to receive anything at all given the long delay in which many had given up hope.

Unlike other keyboards that fold in half with a single centered hinge, the Jorno has two hinges. The left one falls just to the left of the R, D and C keys while he right one lies just to the right of the P, ; and > keys. The keyboard tuns on automatically when opened and turns off when folded. Between the sturdy hinges and underneath the keyboard is an unsightly bulge that likely houses the battery and contains the microUSB charging connector.

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Music Tablet Accessories

The One is for the two hands playing an iPad-enabled piano

The history of interfaces and gadgets aimed at helping people learn to play piano stretches back at least 25 years to the release of The Miracle piano that worked with the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

Carrying on The Miracle’s tradition of educational digital pianos with names that include an article, The ONE digital keyboards can connect directly to an iPad or Android tablet. The pianos feature light-up keys that have been popular on low-end learning pianos for years. However, when paired with a tablet, apps — such as the one the company is creating — can do a more engaging job of teaching piano.. The ONE has been sold in other countries for some time so the campaign really marks more of its entrance into North America than a whole new concept.

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Input

Glide your fingers over the Moky keyboard to use a virtual trackpad

The keyboard is a popular accessory for mobile devices because it’s often much easier to type with than the tiny one featured on a smartphone or tablet. But they take up a fair amount of space, and their footprints are made even larger by the trackpads that they sometimes bring along with them.

patent-claimedMoky is a twist on the typical mobile keyboard, featuring a large, invisible touchpad that’s controlled by the user’s gestures. An infrared laser sensor module provides a thin optical surface on the keyboard. The device communicates wirelessly with whatever mobile device is used with it via Bluetooth Low Energy 4.0 technology. The keyboard cover, meanwhile, doubles as a portable device stand. Moky costs $149 and will ship in October. Its maker is hoping to raise $30,000 by July 9.

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Input

ErgoDox EZ keyboard blends ergonomics, mechanical switches

Two criticisms are sometimes made about today’s standard computer keyboards. One is that they don’t offer much comfort while typing. The other knock is that the lack of an audible clicking noise when a key is struck can sometimes lead to less accurate typing.

The ErgoDox EZ keyboard addresses both of these issues. The keyboard itself is split in half, allowing each side to be placed at a slight distance from each other or angled to provide greater comfort to the user. The design, its maker says, can therefore help prevent issues such as carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive stress caused from typing. Because the product is a mechanical keyboard, it has individual switches under each key which promises to make for a more accurate and faster typing experience.

The keyboard follows the existing ErgoDox, which has only been available as part of a kit that buyers have to assemble on their own. The EZ version will cost $250 and is slated to ship in December. Its maker is hoping to raise $50,000 by April 25.

The ErgoDox EZ keyboard holds promise for fans of mechanical keyboards. The split design is a nice feature already available in rival products such as the Kinesis Freestyle 2. Another appealing feature is the programmable functionality of the key layout, but it’s not clear from the product’s Indiegogo campaign just how simple that will be for users.

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Podcasts

Backerjack Podcast #13: More USBs, Sliding Keyboard Discs, and Robots for Kids

In Episode 13 of the Backerjack Podcast, Steve and Ross check out some of the latest products seeking funds and preorders.

  • SnapPower, a replacement outlet cover that adds a USB port in seconds
  • Octodon, a wild smartphone input device that uses magnetic disks mounted to an unfolding smartphone extension
  • Codie, a little robot loaded with treads and loaded with sensors that teaches kids to code

Many thanks to SnapPower for sponsoring this episode! Please support its campaign.

Download  the episode or listen below, subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and follow Backerjack on Twitter and Facebook.

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Cell Phone Accessories Input

Octodon seeks a come-from-behind victory in smartphone typing

The iPhone pioneered the idea that  a bigger screen was worth giving up the tiny thumb keyboard that had been the hallmark of the BlackBerry. That idea won in the marketplace. However, it hasn’t stopped people from giving up the idea that a portable device could restore the tactile response of a phycial keyboard.

Octodon may be the most unusual handheld keyboard ever created. After being unfolded from its pocket-friendly flat form factor and placed behind the smartphone magnetically, it appears ti give the smartphone a pair of wings. The user’s fingers cradle the Occtodon, which includes a number of discs to navigate among letters in its keyboard app. Once someone masters the controls needed to input certain keys, the custom keyboard can be hidden for full-screen typing.  The developers seek $150,000 in their Kickstarter campaign by May 15. The device, which costs $145 (with a $20 early bird discount aavailable) is due to ship in October.

The Octodon isn’t the first project that facilitates text input while standing with a rear-facing keyboard. In late 2013, the TrewGrip failed to meet its funding goal but nonetheless made it to market. The Octodon is far smaller than that device, but seems to have an even steeper learning curve. That and its price will loom large as barriers to adoption.

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Input

BeeRaider keyboard alternative stirs up buzz with efficiency improvements

In banging away on a daily keyboard, it’s easy to forget that the QWERTY keyboard isn’t the most ergonomic or efficient keyboard layout.

patent-claimedThis is the core message the folks behind the BeeRaider keyboard are championing. The QWERTY keyboard, believe it or not, was designed to slow typing down as a means to prevent typewriter jams. Consequently, BeeRaider claims that the QWERTY keyboard layout simply isn’t cut out for the modern demands of heavy data entry. BeeRaider’s alternative wireless keyboard is radially shaped, a design chosen because it lessens the distance between keys. As a result, the company claims that the shape of its keyboard and the more logical arrangement of the most used letters in the English language results results in a keyboard that can be comfortably used with either one or two hands.

What’s more, BeeRaider claims that its keyboard layout can be memorized in just 10-20 minutes. This type of keyboard design philosophy was first demonstrated on Android smartphones and tablets. BeeRaider’s first physical product will be English only and is set to be delivered in either Q1 or Q2 of 2015. A BeeRaider can be had in either a changeable QWERTY or Optimized model for $104.99 or $112.49.

Even though the QWERTY design is without mainstream rival today, that hasn’t stopped a smattering of companies from coming up with intriguing challenges. If its clai ms regarding increased memorization, speed, and accuracy are to be believed, its learning curve may be worth it, but inertia will likely keep the traditional layout as the dominant one for the foreseeable future.