keyboards

I don't use the iPad for typing anything longer than a URL in Safari or a line or two of an e-mail, and when I do use the keyboard, I rarely split it. This tip from a post on iPad Insight, however, might make me reconsider using the split keyboard.

Lurking along the inside edges of the split keyboard are six hidden keys. They simply repeat three of the available keys on the opposite side of the keyboard, but these hidden keys might help touch typists type faster.

Here's the deal: instead of using your right thumb to … Read more

One of the defining features of the Mac platform is the Command key, which originated from the Open Apple key on earlier Apple computer systems and joins the Shift, Control, Option, and Fn keys as modifier options for keyboard shortcuts in OS X.

The Command key is the primary modifier key for the Mac platform and is used to perform basic editing and application management commands such as quitting, printing, and copying and pasting, but in addition it can be used in combinations to force a hardware reset and to boot to special modes such as the OS X Lion … Read more

Those of you who loved Lenovo's classic-style laptop keyboards can wave bye-bye to them.

With the new 2012 T-series ThinkPads, Lenovo has put the final nail in the coffin of the classic keyboard once made popular by IBM.

Lenovo stuck with the classic keyboard for the current T420, T420S, and T520. But the new ThinkPad T430, T430s, and T530 due to launch early next month have been overhauled with the island-style keyboards that seem to be hitting almost every laptop these days.

The company had already switched to the island-style keyboards for all of its other laptops, so the … Read more

An iOS developer is working on a new keyboard that takes some cues from RIM's virtual keyboard in BlackBerry 10.

Dubbed Octopus Keyboard, the solution is designed for owners of jailbroken iPhones who want to get more functionality out of the virtual keyboard built into iOS. According to iDownloadBlog, which first reported on the keyboard, the software should enhance a user's ability to quickly type out a message, and can work with a host of languages.

However, the key feature is a learning function that runs in the background and determines what the user typically types out. Based on that information, words are displayed above a letter. If the user wants to add the word to the message, they can just hold their finger on the word and swipe up to make it happen.… Read more

NEW ORLEANS--You know all that typing on your phone's virtual keyboard? Snapkeys says that so long as you're using a QWERTY layout, you're doing it wrong.

The company believes that there's little logic to the traditional way a keyboard's arranged, and instead offers up an onscreen virtual keyboard that uses only four buttons.

The buttons are organized by letter types: one for letters that touch the bottom of a ruled line once (like T and I); one for letters with two touch points (like K and H); one for letters with straight lines at the … Read more

Logitech's been on a roll with its well-made keyboard accessories for the iPad (the Ultrathin Keyboard Cover is one of my favorites), but there's one big problem with all these accessories: they need their own USB charging cables.

Logitech's just-announced Solar Keyboard Folio adds a clever twist to the crowded iPad keyboard case market by introducing a solar charger. Better yet, the case doesn't look clunky.… Read more

In today's show, we're flowing through apps, fixing our faces and keeping track of the roomie's tab:

At the BlackBerry World conference in Orlando, we learn more details on the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The interface has a multitasking feature called Flow View and the camera has a time-bending feature that can make sure everyone in a photo looks their best.

And though Research in Motion is pushing it's new virtual keyboard, the CEO made it clear today that the company is not abandoning physical keys. After this new all-touchscreen model is released later in the … Read more

In today's show, it's time to get touchy with BlackBerry, bite your nails over courtroom drama, and share your spleen on Facebook:

Research in Motion showcased the new BlackBerry 10 operating system and its new touch-screen keyboard. Senior Editor Brian Bennett called the keyboard 'freakishly smart, and it was as if the device could read his mind.

On Facebook, you can now add organ donor information to your timeline. To add it to your profile, select life event, and find it under health and wellness.

The first phase of the Oracle v. Google trial heads to jury. Google argues it used Java fairly … Read more

commentary A BlackBerry without a keyboard? Sacrilege, I suspect many of the faithful will say.

But Research In Motion has bit the bullet and shed its physical keyboard -- arguably the defining trait of its best phones -- and has opted to go virtual with its BlackBerry 10 operating system (at least for the initial phone). And even though I argued as recently as a few months ago that a physical keyboard should remain intact with the next-generation of BlackBerrys, I find myself warming up to the idea.

If BlackBerry 10 is supposed to represent a wholesale change and jump … Read more