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IMO, this demonstrates Apple's lack of ideas now. Bigger/faster iPhones, smaller iPads, different colors, and now keyboards.

No more "Wow! I never even thought of that before" ideas, which is kind of sad.

So 3 years without a completely new product means gloom and doom for apple? You clearly don't remember 1985-1997
 
A lot to cover... a keyboard cover!:D

Smart find!! And it makes a lot of sense..

Apple's invitations have almost always hinted at some of the announced material (we've got a little more to show you -> iPad mini, this should brighten everyone's day -> iPhone 5c, there's something in the air -> MacBook Air). And so far this one didn't make sense at all.

This makes this rumour a lot more credible. I for one would really love to see a decent non-gimmicky keyboard cover, it's the one thing I really liked about Surface (and the side-by-side app feature which I hope Apple will include in a later iOS).
 
That's not my impression. I read a lot of people here saying MS got some things right with the Surface; a keyboard cover being one of those things.

Except that it's not a full size keyboard, and it doesn't have real keys, which means that the benefit over an on screen keyboard isn't that big.
 
I have been saying that the message key is "Cover" we will be getting new covers tomorrow. What they have, I have no clue, one thing I know, they will be great, expensive, and a must have accessory for your new iPad. :eek:
 
how is it going to connect to ipad? via bluetooth?

Apple will be releasing this adaptor at the same time for just $25
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Lol, where are all the "COPYERZZZZZZ" post?

Apple is clearly copying The Surface, but I'm sure the fanboyz will find a way to justify it.

But we all know when another phone with a finger scanner comes out everyone's going to be like "THESE PPL ALWAYS COPY APPLE!?!"
If Apple was just copying, they would have release it very soon after Microsoft like copycats do.

Copycats implement the same thing as competitors only because the competitor did it. And they will release it (or annonce it) very soon after. However, you will never see Apple doing this. Apple don't care if competors have or haven't something. They release things simply because they identified a need/problem for which they have satifactory solution.

For exemple the FingerID. Does Apple now add this because Motorola did this a few year ago? No, they add this because this was the proper solution to a sesurity problem (most people don't use passcode). Why others are now adding this functionnality? Can we say that, contrarary to others, Apple is not copying?

Regarding the Keyborad case rumor, if Apple was simply copying, they would have release it a long time ago, no? But why now? Because Microsoft have this or simply because it would make sense for a larger iPad (the other rumor) that could be used for more work releated tasks?

Hopefully, you will understand what I mean. :)
 
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"But if Apple did this I'd bet it would be better than Microsoft's implementation."

So typical - pooh-poohed when Microsoft puts it out BUT deemed brilliant when Apple takes it market.

The fanboyz rhetoric is tiresome, ain't it.

Have you actually USED the Surface touch cover? It sucks in the implementation and has been updated for the Surface 2 with more sensors to make up for that. Which still doesn't change the fact that you can't feel where the keys are. I dropped $129 for the "type cover" which is an absurd price, by the way. I bet Apple will do it better because even Dell could do this better.

Anyway, isn't the hater rhetoric tiresome?
 
Dear apple,

PLEASE NO! There are so many other things to be doing. Like innovating. Stop copying other people's ideas. I know you already came out with a great keyboard stand and you may not have sold as many as you wanted. There is a reason though. TABLET has a touch screen!!! The keyboard on it works. Why fix whats not broken?
 
New hardware...new interface?

You never know, I think they would have to license MS patents anyway as lets be honest, the Surface keyboards are a perfect fit for an iPad, but unless they make the iPad wider it may not be as good because the Surface is a 10" tablet with a bezel and the keyboards width is designed to match.

But the Surface Pro is a good device, Sony has also copied the idea, Apple's response currently could be argued as the MacBook Air, so will they threaten it's sales by following the others and making a more powerful 'Pro' iPad with attachable keyboard?

FYI I think the iPad is also a great device.
 
Microsoft just built a Smart Cover and slapped a keyboard on it. If apple takes it a step further and adds a new great feature, it's not copying. It's just friendly competition, and without competition, there's no innovation.

What would be the great new feature?
 
Huge and unwarranted. Also, it's important to distinguish between Surface and Surface Pro. Other than battery life, Surface Pro hit its mark and is doing well. But it's not an iPad competitor; it's up against the 11" MBA and various ultrabooks.

That's true. The Surface Pro looks like a great product. The problem is that the entry level Surface is inferior to iPads and many flagship-type (and similarly-priced) Android tablets and the Surface Pro is perceived as a competitor to the iPad (and thus, grossly overpriced). Microsoft has not done a good job marketing the Surface (Pro), which is unfortunate because the Pro at least is a quality product.
 
It's just how this works in most cases. If Apple does something, it's done right. Microsoft takes the opposite approach (Windows 8 UI, Xbox One technical aspecs, Office on Mac, and the list can go on and on).

You speak like Apple has never had any tech blunders. You must have a very short and selective memory.
 
Apple has always played the follower. In fact, Apple was at its best when it simply let others innovate and then it improved and perfect others' innovations.

By perfecting others "innovations" they are coming up with innovations of their own. I think the word you should use there is "inventions" instead.
 
Don't worry, if Apple launch a keyboard cover, plenty of idiots, I mean posters, on here will proclaim Apple invented the concept entirely and everyone has copied them :rolleyes:

Still nice to see an actual rumour on here as opposed to some front page news story about an advert in a magazine!

That strawman ******** is getting old very quick. :rolleyes:

On the contrary, alone in this thread you have plenty of idiots, I mean posters, that make it sound as if there were no keyboard covers for the ipad available before Microsoft released their surface.
 
IMO, this demonstrates Apple's lack of ideas now. Bigger/faster iPhones, smaller iPads, different colors, and now keyboards.

No more "Wow! I never even thought of that before" ideas, which is kind of sad.

I really don't think that Apple was ever about that.

What Apple is good at is looking at an existing product and making it more accessible to the average user. Or taking some technology that is, at the time, experimental, or not deemed "serious", but making widespread use of it.
In doing so they may simplify things or make design decisions that are, at the time, surprising, but they have a knack for determining what users REALLY want (even if they aren't asking for it at the time).

Examples:
- personal computers existed before the Apple I/II. Steve's goal was to make one simpler and cheaper and profitable to him by opening up the market to ordinary people. People soon realized that you didn't need to be a hacker with a soldering iron or a scientist/engineer to play with a home computer.
- windowing interfaces existed before the Macintosh. Apple went "all in" with this interface baked right into the core of the computer instead of making it an option sitting on top of a command-line layer, like most others at the time (even until 1995, Windows was an optional UI layer that sat on top of DOS.) People soon realized that a mouse was not a toy and an all-GUI interface could work.
- MP3 players (both flash based and HD based) existed before the iPod. Apple packaged its solution up in a nicer UI, engineered it for compact size and best-in-class battery life, and integrated it with friendly software. MP3s went from being a thing that hackers and geeks (and music pirates) played with to something for the every day music listener.
- Apple also opened up a market to buy digital music, removing the stigma that people listening to digital music were all thieves and pirates who traded songs illegally.
- smartphones existed before the iPhone. They were experimenting with touch interfaces but most thought you still needed the legacy keyboard to be useful. Some PDAs were already using all-touch interfaces (Palm). Apple went "all in" on the touch-only interface and people eventually realized that the keyboard was not in fact necessary. Smartphones became viable for the every day user rather than just for business executives.
- tablets existed before the iPad, but most thought you needed a full desktop OS and were trying to shove in an entire Windows laptop into a portable form factor. Apple went "all in" with the mobile interface and people soon realized that it was possible to get by without a full desktop OS, and buy a tablet for surfing instead of a netbook or full PC.
- Apple didn't invent the digital assistant, but they took Siri and made it available to millions of people, long before most of us thought the state of AI was ready for that sort of thing.

And so on...
 
I don't see the need for Apple to produce a keyboard cover, given there are already [good] examples on the market from 3rd party producers. Apple's thing is generally to get involved if they can make something better than what is out there or simply play in a category because it's so big, it's worth doing.

Keyboard covers, or what is out there already for the iPad, don't seem to fit into either category. Plus, as others have noted, creating a hybrid tablet / laptop is not and has not been the goal Apple has pursued with the iPad.
 
That strawman ******** is getting old very quick. :rolleyes:

On the contrary, alone in this thread you have plenty of idiots, I mean posters, that make it sound as if there were no keyboard covers for the ipad available before Microsoft released their surface.

And likewise those same people that appear to think ONLY Apple is capable of making a keyboard/ cover they want or is cool :rolleyes:

Strawman in your eye's, fact in mine.
 
Just a reminder on here, so far every single iPad keyboard has connected via bluetooth only, I do not know of one that even plugged into an iPad's dock connector? The Microsoft Surface Keyboard connects and interfaces to the tablet through the magnetic connection. Totally different.

And as for the Surface Tablet patents, oh and I am also very 100% certain that keyboards for tablets existed before 2011!

Surface Keyboard Patents:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...13_design_patents_for_Surface_keyboard_covers
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-scores-three-patents-for-surface-touch-cover-7000013194/
http://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...icrosoft-s-surface-tablet-touch-cover-1085941
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-5...ds-design-patents-for-surface-cover-keyboard/


And so on and on, so it looks like if Apple wants to use the same tech, because it seems MS have a patent for the magnetic connector, it will need to license it from Microsoft so in effect 'copying' what Microsoft has done and patented.

Thought that an important point to make considering how much you lot just love to throw patent stealing and bashing around on these threads.

So, you still think it's worse to like Apple than to hate other people. K.
 
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