Of all the interesting iPad accessories we've seen over the years, this one has to be towards the top of the list. It's a real, working typewriter keyboard, that's compatible with your Apple-branded tablet.
The invention comes courtesy of industrial designer Austin Yang of Edinburgh, Scotland. And it's essentially a typewriter with capacitive touch hammers that press the keys on your iPad keyboard. Watch:
SwipeType is a new note-taking application that offers up a slew of keyboard shortcuts that enable you to transcribe quicker. Functions like cut, copy, and paste, are all just a swipe away.
If this sounds familiar, that's because it is — it's extremely similar to the jailbreak tweak KBShortcuts. Except, unlike KBShortcuts, SwipeType is actually an app in the App Store...
There's no denying that Microsoft's Hardware division makes some compelling and nice-looking peripherals which sport high build quality (usually something you don't associate with Microsoft) and just work, well, as advertised. Too bad Microsoft's latest lineup of mice and keyboards focuses on Windows tablets as these new peripherals look really, really solid, almost too good to be true.
Take, for example, the Wedge Touch Mouse, a futuristic-looking pointing device that responds to touch and features four-way navigation. As you could imagine it's optimized for tablets, of course specifically to slates running Windows 8, such as Microsoft's own Surface tablet due to land on October 26.
Or how about the Wedge Mobile Keyboard, a really sleek and pro-looking Bluetooth keyboard which also quickly converts into a tablet stand and lets you just snap the cover back on the keyboard to quickly power it down.
Can we have these for our iPads, please?
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GCxr6NowXs[/tube]
Octopus Keyboard — the highly anticipated BlackBerry 10 keyboard tweak for jailbroken iOS devices — has finally touched down on the default BigBoss Cydia repo.
Prior to its landing on the BigBoss repo, the developer released the tweak on his own personal repo. You can check out our further analysis of Octopus Keyboard both here, and here.
Although the download is free of charge, be aware of the fact that you must purchase a $4.99 license via PayPal in order to use the tweak. Have you been waiting for Octopus Keyboard to finally appear on the default Cydia repos? If so, are you going to try it?
We've brought you plenty of Kickstarter projects over the years. Some iPhone related, some iPad related, and a few of them have been keyboards, too. This particular keyboard though has something of a party trick, with the Spike iPhone case and keyboard combination allowing owners to fold the buttons around to the back for when they are not in use.
Costing around $50 for the premium model, the case and keyboard combo needs to reach $75,000 in order to be fully funded, and is expected to begin shipping around October time.
Don't worry though, you've still got 34 days in order to get your pledge in...
Ladies and gentlemen, it's here. After much anticipation, Octopus Keyboard is now available on Cydia.
As we first previewed a couple of months ago, Octopus Keyboard imitates the BlackBerry 10 keyboard on iOS. Be sure to check out our video walkthrough for a high level synopsis of how it works.
Once you've done that, head over to Cydia, and add the necessary repo to download Octopus Keyboard now. Or you can wait a while for it to appear on Cydia's default BigBoss repo.
Check inside for our hands-on video walkthrough of the final version of Octopus Keyboard...
SlideWriter has landed on the iPad with a souped up virtual keyboard that takes cues from a concept video gone viral.
It's a note taking app which makes it easier to edit text by simply sliding your finger above the keyboard to quickly move the cursor.
But hold your horses, it's not exactly what you've been hoping for...
Here's another small but useful tweak in iOS 6 which went under our radar: the virtual keyboard is now clever enough to capitalize after quotes and emoji.
Previously, when you started or ended a quote or ended your sentence with emoji followed by a period, the keyboard wouldn't switch to capitals.
iOS 6 tweaks its virtual keyboard's behavior, now capitalizing after quotes and emojis, just as you'd expect...
Although I've entertained the idea of using my iPad as a laptop replacement on and off during my tenure with the device, I always end up reneging on the thought. One of the primary reasons for this is the utter lack of keyboard shortcut customization within iOS.
Sure, some apps have minor Bluetooth keyboard interactivity, but those are few and far between. What about the ability to customize a keyboard's shortcut settings for all apps, and for those that do support a measure of keyboard support, how about even deeper customization?
That's where BeeKeyboard comes into the picture. It's an upcoming jailbreak tweak that will allow you to create custom shortcuts and add-ons for specific apps. Finally, the external keyboard just got a lot more powerful on iOS.
Those of you that are really into Emoji will be happy to learn that iOS 6 is bringing a multitude of new icons to the mix.
The ones displayed in the image above are just a few examples of what's to come in Apple's latest mobile operating system, which is still in beta, and should be released to the public in the Fall...
Not too long ago we told you about a new Kickstarter project that caught our eye. Called the Touchtype, the project offered up a new type of iPad case that really piqued our interest.
More than just an iPad case, the Touchtype promised to offer a safe home for not just your tablet, but also an accompanying Apple wireless keyboard. If you've ever wanted to leave your hefty MacBook Pro at home when popping down to the coffee shop to do a little work, then the Touchtype aimed to make using your iPad for work a real possibility.
The thing is, and as we have all witnessed before, Kickstarter projects all look great when asking for money, but what about the finished article? We have been lucky enough to spend some time with a shipping version of the Touchtype, and we don't think you'll be disappointed...
I may be in the minority, but I think RIM seems to be on the right track with their recently unveiled BlackBerry 10 operating system. There's nothing in it exactly groundbreaking, but at least RIM appears to be building on a solid foundation for the future.
Whether or not BlackBerry 10 is enough to save the reeling company still remains to be seen, but at the very least it's a good attempt by the Waterloo, Ontario based smartphone maker.
As a testament to how much better BlackBerry 10 is when compared to previous BlackBerry software, a jailbreak tweak has been created that actually emulates the functionality of a BlackBerry. Has that ever been done before?
Octopus Keyboard is an upcoming jailbreak tweak that seeks to bring RIM's new gesture based predictive typing to iPhone users. The tweak is still in the early stages of development, but developer, Mario Hros, was kind enough to give me sneak peak of what he's been concocting.
Take a look inside for a full video walkthrough of Octopus Keyboard in action...