Add-on hardware keyboard for the Apple iPhone does not make much sense / 01.10.2009 07:17

A couple of years ago, when the Apple iPod MP3 player was the hottest product on Earth, hundreds of accessories were made available for the device. You could get headphones, loudspeakers, cases, FM radios, docking stations, and other accessories. Now, the Apple iPhone is the hottest product on Earth, but add-on accessories can be primarily be found in the App Store. Applications are the new accessories for smartphones. Except for one product; hardware keyboards for the iPhone.

The thing is that an add-on hardware keyboard for the Apple iPhone is a stupid idea. If you feel you need a physical qwerty keyboard for your iPhone, you have purchased a wrong smartphone. A touch screen phone without a real keyboard has been designed to be used via its touch screen. No matter what kind of tricks accessory manufacturers invent in order to attach a keyboard to a touch screen phone, it can't be as good as a smartphone designed with a qwerty keyboard from the beginning.

iPhone owners who realize they really need a qwerty keyboard should get rid of their iPhones and get something like the HTC Touch Pro2, LG GW620, Nokia N900, Samsung Corby Pro, or the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2. There is plenty of choice available. All the mentioned smartphones have both touch screen and slide-out keyboard. There is so much choice that it is possible to choose a smartphone based on the operating system. The best choices are products running on Android, Symbian, or Windows Mobile because there are plenty of smartphone models and thousands of applications available.

In any case, if you absolutely want, it is possible to attach a hardware keyboard to an iPhone. We have discovered two products. The iTwinge is a half-size case where the iPhone is inserted. When you push the buttons on the case, the virtual keyboard buttons on the iPhone display are activated. Another product comes from PerceptDev. It is a full-size foldable keyboard that is attached to the iPhone via a cable. Check out the video below and admire the additional hardware needed for the keyboard.