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I both love this and am horrified. It looks like it'd turn a Pro Max into a 9 inch tall phone. Since it's a case, you'd need a new one each phone upgrade. (I us
by skygazer 3y ago
I both love this and am horrified. It looks like it'd turn a Pro Max into a 9 inch tall phone. Since it's a case, you'd need a new one each phone upgrade. (I used to do this with the Apple battery cases, until I came to my senses and/or magsafe.) Although, I still occasionally long for the blind accuracy of the old Blackberry keyboard.
I think I'd prefer an adjustable magsafe attached keyboard that can do either landscape or portrait, though. Sadly, I don't see ctrl, alt or arrow keys. SSH won't benefit as much.
All that said, if this were $50, I'd already have ordered it.
- iancmceachern 3y agoI hate that's its needed, but love that it exists
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jayd16 3y agoI wonder if a magsafe secured, size agnostic version could be made. Less locked in but easier to split across pockets and possibly works for more than one model.
- pedalpete 3y agoThis was my initial reaction, why have an entire case when it could be attached via magsafe. I wonder if it could be made to swivel/slide out of the way when not in use. Membrane keyboard could be super thin. But also.... no, I don't think I need/want this. But a cool design exercise.
- Caddickbrown 3y agoIn theory all it would need to be is a tiny Bluetooth keyboard with a MagSafe attachment and it would be functionally the same!
- cowsup 3y agoBluetooth would require separate charging and a heavier design for an onboard battery. Not to mention needing to turn it off and on, or making it "smart" and only turn on when pressed, which slows down typing itself when you really need it.
- cush 3y ago> magsafe secured This certainly must have been an option they explored. Without a case secured to the body of the phone, pushing the keyboard buttons would probably pop off the magsafe connection. There's a lot of leverage on those clicks.
- silisili 3y agoIt'd be nice if the keyboard could flip backwards or slide away seamlessly.
- JadeNB 3y agoThat sounds like re-inventing the Sidekick (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop)!
- loloquwowndueo 3y agoAnd giving iPhone a physical keyboard is reinventing the blackberry. Never mind that the iPhone’s mantra from the beginning has been away from the inadaptability of physical keyboards. (Watch the 2007 keynote for reference).
- schiffern 3y ago> Never mind that the iPhone’s official marketing line from the beginning has been... Fixed. It's an age-old sales tactic. "It's not a bug, it's a feature!"
- ceejayoz 3y agoGiven everyone else fairly rapidly followed along, and still are nearly 15 years later, “feature” seems accurate.
- xp84 3y agoRIP, I miss the Sidekick so much. Probably every millennial would have given anything to have one of these in 2001, but a data plan, the hardware cost itself, and exclusivity to T-Mobile placed it firmly outside the reach of everyone I knew including myself.
- mattl 3y agoI had one much later in 2008, it cost $1 a day for unlimited data/service on a prepaid account IIRC.
- dumpHero2 3y agoIf it gains any traction, you'd be able to get a fairly decent Temu version in about 6 months from now for $30.
- stonegray 3y agoThere were cases available with a slide out keyboard for the iPhone 6, it looks like they cost ~$14
- girvo 3y agoThose used Bluetooth and were horribly thick and you had to charge their battery and so on
- obilgic 3y agoWhats the verdict on temu vs aliExpress. I still find things %30 cheaper on AE while most of my orders are delivered within 6 days.
- kshahkshah 3y agoOut of curiosity, what types of goods do you get from those websites?
- theflyingelvis 3y agoChinese knockoffs and other junk products
- cobbaut 3y ago> Chinese knockoffs and other junk products As if most of the originals aren't made in the very same factory in China.
- theflyingelvis 3y agoFor real
- FullyFunctional 3y agoI've been on a physical iPhone keyboard quest since I got my first (4S). I have a pile of BT keyboards and one keyboard case. Still looking for something I would actually use. Indeed, my primary use case is for SSH (via Terminus).
- jbm 3y agoI still have my iPhone 4S keyboard that I used stubbornly for months (along with the 4s itself). Every now and then I charge it and connect it to my PC via bluetooth, but even in landscape mode it was just too small for my sausage fingers. I don't understand how a portrait mode keyboard will be any better, but I hope to be wrong.
- mbirth 3y agoI’d have very much preferred something like this, too: https://www.frontgate.com/bluetooth-slide-out-keyboard-for-iphone/571734 https://www.frontgate.com/bluetooth-slide-out-keyboard-for-i...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mgh2 3y agoVideo intro is too long, without much substance.
- slowhadoken 3y agoSame. I haven’t been filled with this much mixed emotion since slanket.
- andjmp 3y agoThe picture of the back of it made me think it was a keyboard separate from the case that plugs into the usb-c port with a long case that goes around it and has the buttons poke through. I could be wrong, but to do it that way makes more sense to me. The keyboard can’t be the full width of the Pro Max if it is a separate piece that works with any model so maybe not.
- wannacboatmovie 3y agoThis will fail not because it's not a good idea, but because the implementation is flawed. Ryan Seacrest (yes the Ryan Seacrest) bankrolled a startup 10 years ago with an almost identical product. (They were sued out of existence by an already dying BlackBerry.) I remember listening to an interview where he explained they restricted the product to smaller iPhone models because user testing showed the product didn't work well in larger models - the increased weight of the larger phones caused too much of a bending moment whilst holding the phone by the extended bottom, making it extremely uncomfortable to handle and not conducive to typing. It was therefore restricted to the iPhones 5 & 6 only. Recall QWERTY phones of yore were literally half the size or even smaller than the models this is targeting. I recently found an old BlackBerry cleaning out a junk drawer and was shocked by how small it was. It would fit inside my current phone and remember these phones had removable, user-replaceable batteries. Not to mention this looks much cheaper quality than Seacrest's forgotten startup produced. Perhaps it's the children's toy-inspired design asthetic. This will fail.
- colordrops 3y agoI wonder if you could make the key board overlap the lower portion of the screen, and when not in use, flip it down and around to the back of the phone. Would require some software and a clever physical mechanism that may not be easy or even possible though.
- dalemhurley 3y agoThank you. As soon as I read their website claiming to be “the first creator keyboard for iPhone”, I was thinking “nope, there was one blackberry sued”. Hopefully they will update their website and remove the false claim.
- wannacboatmovie 3y agoTheir website and marketing materials have a bit of a "Simpsons already did it" charm to them. Not to mention you will need specially designed pants to hold this roofing shingle-sized monstrosity. Maybe they can bring wearing overalls to the office into style.
- brianjking 3y agoIf this somehow incorporated the RIM Trackball as well somehow I'd already have ordered it. I have some real life nostalgia for Blackberry keyboards.
- steve_adams_86 3y agoI used one a few years back and it felt like magic in my hands. It was surreal to think how functional and efficient old tech was, yet we totally left it behind for something objectively worse. I get why we did, but wow, those were so much nicer to type on than a cold, flat, non-tactile surface. Despite that, modern screens have become remarkably accurate and responsive. Autocorrect is pretty good and makes up for a lot of the slop. I can often type without looking at the onscreen keyboard, and that’s impressive in and of itself (not because of me, but because of the technology). The trade off still makes sense. Things were so much worse when we first left physical keyboards behind. But like you I do love the idea of a phone with a good physical keyboard, still.
- flkiwi 3y agoEveryone is different. I can type 10x faster on a touchscreen keyboard (on a phone). I remember being issued a Blackberry at work after iPhones had firmly established themselves and being horrified about how slowly I had to type. Keep in mind I'd had numerous Blackberries before and was generally happy with them, but coming back to having to depress a physical chiclet combined with less reliable autocorrect = endless frustration. I don't begrudge pro-keyboard people their position, of course. It's a perfectly sensible preference (to the extent it's even my place to judge)!
- Cyclenerd 3y agoSounds like you're going to love this one: https://www.tindie.com/products/arturo182/bb-q20-keyboard-with-trackpad-usbi2cpmod/ https://www.tindie.com/products/arturo182/bb-q20-keyboard-wi...
- eddywebs 3y agoNow that the cat is out of the bag, it wouldn't be surprising to see quality knock offs of this on Aliexpress or sites like such for <=$50.