iPhone 5 Sliding Bluetooth Keyboard with Tilt and Backlight functionality

[mortenandersen]

This would be very good news for soon to be iPhone 5 users like me who also really would like to have the optional accessory of having a hardware keyboard that not only can have a sliding functionality but also a TILTING possibility, so that the angle between the screen (the really thin iPhone 5) and the hardware keyboard can be natural and good, like a tiny computer, and that the combined unit for instance can be placed just in front of you on a table, used for writing now with a 4 inches screen that with such an accessory now in fact can USE THE WHOLE SCREEN'S REAL ESTATE for seeing the text. No on-screen keyboard will occupy an essential part of the screen!

Amazon in Canada has had such a solution for the iPhone 4/4S model, so I really hope that a similar model will be made for the iPhone 5:

http://www.amazon.ca/Sliding-Bluetooth-Keyboard-Backlight-functionality/dp/B008934OO8


With the 4 inches screen and the new footprint, there is now even more to gain from such a solution, for now both the screen and the keyboard will be larger (even still thin), which will make the iPhone with such an attached accessory a really handy working tool also for writing longer texts with the device placed on the lap or on a table. I also hope that such an accessory will be made in such a way that for instance also the Scandinavian special letters or characters can be written.

Anyone who knows about a company that can make this product/accessory? Maybe even Apple itself can do it?!

 

[mortenandersen]

Please accept a sigh....

This would be very good news for soon to be iPhone 5 users like me who also really would like to have the optional accessory of having a hardware keyboard that not only can have a sliding functionality but also a TILTING possibility, so that the angle between the screen (the really thin iPhone 5) and the hardware keyboard can be natural and good, like a tiny computer, and that the combined unit for instance can be placed just in front of you on a table, used for writing now with a 4 inches screen that with such an accessory now in fact can USE THE WHOLE SCREEN'S REAL ESTATE for seeing the text. No on-screen keyboard will occupy an essential part of the screen!

Amazon in Canada has had such a solution for the iPhone 4/4S model, so I really hope that a similar model will be made for the iPhone 5:

http://www.amazon.ca/Sliding-Bluetooth-Keyboard-Backlight-functionality/dp/B008934OO8


With the 4 inches screen and the new footprint, there is now even more to gain from such a solution, for now both the screen and the keyboard will be larger (even still thin), which will make the iPhone with such an attached accessory a really handy working tool also for writing longer texts with the device placed on the lap or on a table. I also hope that such an accessory will be made in such a way that for instance also the Scandinavian special letters or characters can be written.

Anyone who knows about a company that can make this product/accessory? Maybe even Apple itself can do it?!

Nobody has responded to my post, which - I think - may be reflecting the possible lack of interest. So please allow me to express that I am sorry for this state of affairs: It seems like what I want [a tilting angle between the screen and a hardware keyboard] is a vanishing breed, but I know for certain that several professional persons/users will be interested in having the option of being able to use such an accesessory.

Anyone who knows about such a product or plans for making it?

 

[Love Juice]

there's this ...

http://www.cultofmac.com/193677/app...l-want-a-hardware-keyboard-on-their-iphone-5/

 

[mortenandersen]

A TILTING mechanism is lacking, unfortunately.

there's this ...

http://www.cultofmac.com/193677/app...l-want-a-hardware-keyboard-on-their-iphone-5/

Thanks so much for responding to my post and pointing at the website of cultofmac.com and the product presented there.

The only feature this hardware keyboard is lacking, is the important ability to be TILTED. I sure hope that they (or another company) can make one that also makes that possible, not only sliding.

 

[Cougarcat]

Apple will never in a million years make a hardware keyboard for the iPhone, so please don't expect that.

Why not just contact the company that makes that 4S tilt keyboard and ask them?

http://www.nextsuccess.com/contact.htm

 

[mortenandersen]

Thanks so much for this bright idea!

Apple will never in a million years make a hardware keyboard for the iPhone, so please don't expect that.

Why not just contact the company that makes that 4S tilt keyboard and ask them?

http://www.nextsuccess.com/contact.htm

I will for sure contact the company that you so generously have given me the address to, and I hope they will make such an accessory.

Making my lack of knowledge and understanding for all the world to see, I wonder, however, why on earth will such an idea or such an accessory be so totally out of the question for Apple, taken for granted that you are right in your strong opinion? (I ask, because I really don't understand what can be the reason.) Perhaps you can elaborate a bit on why you are so certain about this - it would be interesting to know more of Apple's thinking regarding this matter.

 

[Cougarcat]

It is outside Apple's design philosophy, and would send a message -- incorrect or not -- that the onscreen keyboard is not good enough. (This might be why Apple discontinued the keyboard dock for the iPad.)

It is also an *extremely* niche market. Apple chooses very carefully what accessories to make, and they seem to be scaling back now - no bumpers or even a dock for the iPhone.

 

[mortenandersen]

An interesting and probably completely correct hypothesis

It is outside Apple's design philosophy, and would send a message -- incorrect or not -- that the onscreen keyboard is not good enough. (This might be why Apple discontinued the keyboard dock for the iPad.)

It is also an *extremely* niche market. Apple chooses very carefully what accessories to make, and they seem to be scaling back now - no bumpers or even a dock for the iPhone.

Thanks a lot for the informative post/answer, which I agree with and understand.

But for me (and I think this also is the case for many others) it goes without saying that IN MANY/SOME SITUATIONS and FOR AT LEAST SPECIFIC PURPOSES a hardware keyboard will be far more convenient, and furthermore: it gives the user much more free space of the screen, when the virtual or touchscreen keyboard doesn't take away that precious room - and this is a very important "man-machine" factor in situations where the iPhone user is writing longer texts, draws or even reads.

So IMO it will be silly to pretend or argue that a touchscreen keyboard is ALWAYS the best solution, especially now when the phones are in fact small computers that can be used for so many dailly and productive activities.

And in addition, as an accessory, it is optional. It can be removed when that is most convenient, and added to the iPhone when it is needed or wanted.

Upon further reflection about such an attitude from Apple's side as suggested by the poster, I cannot see anything but weakly founded, but strongly ideological (and surely economical?) reasons for still keeping this attitude in the future. Technologically it would be more than possible - and practically, it would be a feature that many professional users (for instance lawyers) would highly appreciate.

I hope that the right people in Apple read this and will reconsider. And, further, such an accessory can be made to look extremely elegant and perhaps be a trendsetter, IMO.

And finally: I also think there are many good ways to make such an accessory (tiltable keyboard) "to go hand-in-hand" with a case, so that both the need for the hardware keyboard and the need for an elegant case (for protection) can be fulfilled at the same time.

 

[lejaco]

There is slide-out wireless bluetooth qwerty keyboard with hard case
http://www.martwill.com/slide-out-wireless-bluetooth-qwerty-keyboard-with-hard-case-for-iphone-5.html

 

[harnadem]

MiniSuit produces a slide and tilt, bluetooth keyboard for the iPhone5. It isn't something that I would want to have, but may be of value to others. You can find it Amazon's site: MiniSuit-Bluetooth-Keyboard

 

[mikeydeezy]

I tried a sliding keyboard for the 4S once. The bulk was just too much for me to deal with. I really did try.


Also, OP, you are by far the most polite poster on any forum I've ever visited.

 

[Giuly]

First of all, if you looks closely at the keyboard, tilting is a bad idea. To hold the iPhone at an angle where the display is comfortable to read, you have to bend it downwards, which is pretty uncomfortable. Ergo you want a flat keyboard, not a curved one. The only scenario where you'd want a tiltable keyboard is when you lay the iPhone flat on a table, but even then the tilt doesn't come in handy, as the keyboard is way too small to touch-type. It does however come in handy as a stand, i.e. to watch a movie, abandoning the keyboard at all.


That said, either live with the on-screen keyboard (which is pretty good, but you know that already) and get a case with a build-in kickstand, or get a flat keyboard and put something under it when you want to watch a video.

Or you want to touch-type seriously, in that case you'd need a serious keyboard.