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Hands-On With the Collapsible Magnetic 'TextBlade' Keyboard for iOS Devices

dugbug said:
Two questions.
1 can it pair to multiple devices like the Logitech bt one that you just press the button for the device you want to type on.

2 Can I work with a Mac, Xbox, or Apple TV as well? That's a bad ass looking keyboard. I could keep it next to tv for those things
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Multiple device support is going to come out in one of the first over the air updates to the keyboard, as stated in the article.

It can work with anything that supports BT 4.0 or better, so not the current ATV, but it should work with Xbox One and all Macs that support BT 4.0.

Kariya said:
It's not a scrabble tray.
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Nope, it is just another unfortunate and unimaginative take on a traditional 'mobile' keyboard, offering a lackluster and compromising typing experience, with the gimmick of folding in half.
 
Cut the price in half and they may have a winner, otherwise the Chinese will clone it and sell for much less.
 
Interesting post

Nicely designed. No doubt it will take practice to improve speed. But, frankly, my typing speed and accuracy on the iPad and iPhone is embarrassingly atrocious.

For a bit of important history, the recently passed Douglas Englebart and his colleagues and grad students, who invented the mouse, also invented the KeySet, which never made it out of the lab. Go to http://dougengelbart.org to watch archive footage and learn about the mouse and keyset.

Review this genius' innovations and inventions, then come back to this little keyboard with a little more appreciation of what creative minds can accomplish.
 
Much like the BlackBerry Pearl Keyboard

Thinking about this more, it reminds me of the BlackBerry Pearl. I used one for a few years (back when 3G service was considered FAST!) and really got to like it.

If you remember they had multiple letters for each key and an intelligent software package the figured out what you were typing. It was always a disaster if you watched the screen and tried to second guess the process but seemed to work well when you got the the end of the word. (I used to compare it to flying. You just have to believe that the plane will take off and land and you just had to believe that the word will be right at the end!)

I actually miss my Pearl. It was probably the best form factor for a small e-mail delivery phone and really did work. Of course BB is dead - yada, yada but there was some cool tech in the "olden days"...

FWIW
DLM
 
Looks great! The price is reasonable. Will definetly be looking for more reviews on this.
 
ctdonath said:
May not have been intended as an ad, but did sound like one - enough that I quit reading. Just fyi.
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some of you people are pathetic. this is a PREVIEW. have you ever read a gaming mag? press preview stuff all the time. and doing so doesn't mean they can't review it however they wish when it's released.

if you're too young and immature to grasp the concept of a tech preview it's probably best you stop reading. ever.

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HobeSoundDarryl said:
Thanks for a good, detailed review (great mix of description, pictures and video). It looks pretty cool and I'll be interested to give it a try. It looks like this group tried to think of every little detail, which is nice to see.
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"preview", not a "review"
 
CFreymarc said:
The three-piece design has concern. What if one is lost?

I'd like to see this done as a mechanical fold-out or flip-out style of design. A good industrial design team could handle this. Overall, a good first shot product while keeping tactile feel of mechanical keys.
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Yes, exactly. I hope they do come out with a future version where the pieces are interconnected.
 
Some very clever engineering to respond to what - I imagine - was a very challenging design brief.

I'd really like to know what specific use cases it's meant to address, because to me (a "travels-with-laptop-ipad-and-iPhone" sort of guy) it just looks like too much to fiddle around with.

Is it stable on your lap, for example?
 
H2SO4 said:
I have to ask myself why it would be such a big deal if some were. We come to this site and read/post on it at no cost. So what if there is the odd ad?
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Because then it would come to a point where members are not sure if the next "rumor" they are reading is really a rumor or just an Ad faking as rumor. Giving the membership Macrumors has, I won't be surprised companies like Samsung would throw money at them to fake some stories.

While your no cost statement is true, people would also stop coming if they become annoyed.
 
No TrackPad?

Very interesting, while I imagine myself using this, and I do not mind paying $100 for a good startup innovation but I am not sure if this has track pad for Tablet or Touch Laptop....? I kind of like Surface Pro Keyboard with Trackpad or many other Bluetooth Keyboards with Trackpads, of course none of them can be folded like this one for sure!
 
Looks cool. Nice and cheap as well. $100 bucks isn't a gabmble at all for something like this.
 
brownpaw said:
Curious about how solid it is when snapped together. Would it be possible to hypothetically use this at all in your lap or something (e.g. not on a flat surface)? Or would a lack of a flat surface just cause it to fall apart when you apply typing pressure?
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I was wondering the same. Also, does the case material provide enough friction to keep the keyboard from sliding around as you type for us less-than-graceful typists?
 
mkeeley said:
So it's for a tablet yet you can't use it on your lap like a normal keyboard. Quite neat but quite pointless for most, a niche product.
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Is there a tablet keyboard that you can actually use in your lap? I've always hated the top-heavy weight distribution of tablet-keyboard combos, which is the number one reason I prefer laptops for any extended typing.
 
jclo said:
... I said it's worthwhile if you're looking for something portable and if you're willing to try a new experience. I think this holds true.
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It's smaller than the Apple wireless keyboard I sometimes schlep around for use with my iPad. I've been wondering how to 'unbend' one of those keyboards in the likely event that one gets 'assaulted' in a carry-on or bag. (And how many keys would be left after such an injury)

It will be interesting to actually see one. I'm not a fan of the 'butterfly' setup though. Will it work linearly?
 
H2SO4 said:
I have to ask myself why it would be such a big deal if some were. We come to this site and read/post on it at no cost. So what if there is the odd ad?
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You might trust unlabelled advertorials, but most readers would agree that they undermine the integrity of the content. They would throw the authority and credibility into question of not just those particular articles, but every other article published by that website or publication.

I don't happen to think that Juli's article was quid pro quo, but I would agree that much of the prose reads like a press release. She had greater than average access to the company, so it follows that some of their marketing would manifest itself in her writing.

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Jessica Lares said:
I use my Clamcase on my lap...
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Is the weight distribution any better than most cases? That is, is the keyboard heavier than the tablet?
 
Thanks for the great review - appreciate it! Really nice seeing a useful product that's truly innovative. An enormous amount of thought went into its use, design, and making it small enough so it can slip easily into a t-shirt pocket with room to spare.

Sadly, it's a shame many are not able to appreciate what excellent design and innovation are about.
 
waldobushman said:
Nicely designed. No doubt it will take practice to improve speed. But, frankly, my typing speed and accuracy on the iPad and iPhone is embarrassingly atrocious.

For a bit of important history, the recently passed Douglas Englebart and his colleagues and grad students, who invented the mouse, also invented the KeySet, which never made it out of the lab. Go to http://dougengelbart.org to watch archive footage and learn about the mouse and keyset.

Review this genius' innovations and inventions, then come back to this little keyboard with a little more appreciation of what creative minds can accomplish.
Click to expand...

Yes because this small company is comparing themselves to the work of a National Medal of Technology wining, former Stanford professor, and obvious genius, whom presaged many of the technologies we have come to use and take for granted. That's clearly what this companies small, portable keyboard was advertised as doing :roll eyes:

Your statement is a kin to saying it's not genius and prophetic so it's crap.
 
FuNGi said:
Ordered one. 30 day return policy gives me plenty of time to decide how easy it is to move between layouts.
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Definitely let me know...between San Diego and Gothenburg, I was hoping to get the åöä layout on the keyboard itself, not just as a remapping in software. But if you think it works well, I think I'll jump for this too.
 
mw360 said:
I think you've overestimated the wits of the readers here by suddenly introducing in-depth product reviews like this. Pretty much every one of them has been met by the same confusion about why the article is so long or why it's in a different voice or why it exists at all. If you prefaced each review with 'MacRumors is now a news and product reviews site, and here's today's review...' maybe everyone would be able to keep up. Or maybe put reviews in a new Reviews sidebar so that it's obvious what's going on and that a range of products are getting good and bad reviews.
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Despite your somewhat condescending tone, your idea about putting articles like this in a separate tab is a good one. If MacRumors wants its product reviews to be respected and accepted as unbiased, it's important to distinguish them from news, product announcements, and rumors, whether it's by labelling them as such or putting them in a separate area on the site.

I would not call the piece about the TextBlade as a review — it's a product preview. As the author acknowledges, she had insufficient time to put the device through its paces. The fact that the hands-on experience was under the watchful eyes of the vendor also makes the assessment appear less objective, despite the author's best intentions. (I didn't feel that it was a ghost-written ad, however.)

As for the TextBlade itself, I think it has promise. I look forward to reading about the experience of reviewers who have sufficient independent time with the product to reach a steady state in speed and accuracy, whether here on MacRumors or elsewhere.
 
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