keyboards

Why We Still Use QWERTY Keyboards (Even Though They’re Awful)

How intuitive are modern keyboards? It can take a beginner ages to really get up to speed with a QWERTY keyboard, and without some form of formal training, most people wind up becoming one-finger typists. Just look at it. Or this one, beautiful though it may be. Or even these. Notice something common about them?…

The iPhone 6 Plus Is Still Awkward to Balance With a One-Handed Keyboard

Meet One-Handed Keyboard, the first (obviously) one-handed keyboard for the iPhone 6 Plus. It will help you type a little bit easier, but the only thing is, it won’t make your big-ass phone any easier to balance in just one smallish hand. The concept is simple: The One-Handed Keyboard is a replacement keyboard that’s smaller…

5 iOS 8 Keyboards That Are Better Than What Apple Gives You

With the arrival of iOS 8, the iPhone finally—finally!—gets access to custom keyboards, liberating your thumbs from the tyranny of Apple’s tepid offering. Here’s a guide to some of the best keyboards coming your way today or in the near future. How to add a new keyboard To add a new keyboard, you need to…

Microsoft’s New Universal Mobile Keyboard Has Android and iOS in Mind

Microsoft’s got a new mobile keyboard, but you won’t find a Windows key anywhere on it. You will find a “Command” key though, and a little switch that toggles between Windows mode, Android mode, and iOS mode. It’s a keyboard that aims to turn any tablet into a Surface. The new Universal Mobile Keyboard isn’t…

A Custom, All-GIF Keyboard Is Coming to iOS Because Of Course It Is

Now that iOS 8 is opening its arms to the various third-party keyboards of the world, we’re finally starting to see the fruits of many a developer’s labor. But PopKey has gone above and beyond the call of duty with a fully customizable keyboard that’s all GIFs all the time. Just like god intended. From…

Logitech’s New Bluetooth Keyboard Docks Tablet and Phone at Once

Bluetooth wireless keyboards are so prolific that it’s hard to tell one from the other. But Logitech’s new K480 has a surprisingly neat feature: a cut-out groove that lets you dock both a phone and tablet at the same time. There’s no direct connectivity on offer—so there’s no data syncing or charging going on—but the…

This Vintage Typewriter Is Actually a Keyboard For Your Tablet

For some of us who type all day for a living, the world is too quiet. We pine for the whir of the Xerox machine, the rattle of rotary telephones, the clackety-clack of the typewriter. A slightly romantic vision, maybe, but no longer completely impossible, thanks to this keyboard modeled to look exactly like a…

Fleksy Messenger Makes Typing on a Smartwatch Slightly Less Impossible

Samsung’s Gear 2 smartwatch can be handy for checking your text messages without whipping your phone out of your pocket. But it’s impossible to type on—literally, you can’t reply to texts on the watch. Fleksy just changed that with Messenger, a Gear 2 SMS messaging app that brings Fleksy’s intelligent keyboard to the very, very…

This Wireless Keyboard Contraption Brings Your Desktop to Your Lap

Anyone who tries to play PC games on their TV inevitably runs into the same problem: What do you do with that damn keyboard and mouse? Roccat has a clever if not super elegant solution. Just put an entire desk-top on your lap. You could do that with a normal keyboard, sure, but Roccat’s new…

Your Heart Won’t Skip a Beat When You Spill On Fake Keyboard Coasters

Despite their remarkable ability to survive daily abuse, you still can’t help but feel a little panicked when you’ve accidentally spilled a drink across your keyboard. Unless your keyboard’s made from soft, flexible silicone and is specifically designed to be used as drink coasters, and not for typing. The complete set of these four interlocking…

You Can Finally Get a Standalone Leap Motion-Powered Keyboard

The Leap Motion Controller is cool—and it’s about to get cooler—but the neat little dongle is a toy, not a must-have. Now, HP is going to start selling keyboards with Leap built right in, and it’s probably the best way to get in on the fun. HP already built Leap into a laptop, and has…

Microsoft’s Infrared Keyboard Gives Gesture Control to an Average PC

Your laptop’s trackpad gestures are great, but they make your desktop computer’s keyboard-and-mouse combo feel old-fashioned. Microsoft’s prototype keyboard changes that, cramming infrared sensors between the keys to allow hand gesture control without ever leaving the home keys. The 64 infrared proximity sensors powering the prototype keyboard have a very low resolution, but with a…

Logitech’s New Auto-Dimming Keyboard Is Perfect For Movie Night

In the good ol’ days, finding the buttons on your remote in the dark was hard enough—but now, finding the keys of you keyboard is a living hell. Enter Logitech’s neat little auto-dimming keyboard, which seems just perfect for movie night. The new wireless, backlit keyboard —K830 to its chums—auto-dims based on ambient light, and…

Use Your Favorite USB Keyboard On Your Phone With This Backup Battery

It can be hard to choose a backup battery when the market is as flooded as Bluetooth speakers and iPhone cases have become. Manufacturers are now finding ways to include added value with their emergency power supplies, like Cerevo’s new EneBrick that can turn your favorite USB keyboard into a wireless Bluetooth accessory for your…

An Encrypted Wireless Keyboard Ensures No One Intercepts Your Passwords

Have you ever worried about how secure that wireless keyboard you’re using really is? How do you know that when working somewhere remotely there isn’t some hacker nearby capturing every word you type? With Matias’ new Secure Pro keyboard, your security is guaranteed thanks to a 128-bit AES encrypted wireless connection to your computer using…

In an interview with Bloomberg, Blackberry’s CEO John Chen said that the future of the brand is in hardware keyboards. “I personally love the keyboards,” he said, “so you will look to Blackberry going forward to do keyboards — I wouldn’t use the word exclusively, but predominantly.” Welcome to the past!

You Won’t Mind Pocketing a Business Card That’s a Working Keyboard

Even with perfect typography, a stunning design, or a novel shape, a business card is still an antiquated way to share your contact details. So the folks over at TechKeys—makers of custom keyboards—wanted to design a card that reflected their work and left a lasting impression—and what better way to do that than with a…

This Trewgrip Backwards Keyboard Gives You an Absurd New Way to Type

The Trewgrip mobile QWERTY keyboard for iOS and Android devices is absurd. It’s a handheld keyboard that puts the keys behind the board but arranges the letter in a weird way that somehow makes sense. So you hold the keyboard like you would a game pad and type by pressing keys on the back. It…

This Dongle Lets You Use Your Laptop’s Keyboard With Your Phone

There are almost as many wireless Bluetooth keyboards on the market as there are Bluetooth speakers. But why spend money on yet another keyboard for your mobile devices when there’s probably already a perfectly good one on your laptop? With this Bluetooth USB transmitter dongle from Buffalo, the keyboards you already have can also work…

A Matching Numerical Keypad For Your Wireless Apple Keyboard

Belkin’s new YourType Bluetooth Wireless Keypad looks a lot like Apple’s Magic Trackpad. But the only folks who might actually find it ‘magical’ are accountants, because Belkin trades gestures and multi-touch input for a set of numerical keys and extra shortcuts for navigating large documents. If you’ve been bemoaning the lack of these extra keys…