Apple reportedly testing iPad keyboard akin to Microsoft's Touch Cover

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  • Reply 81 of 116
    Is that all Apple can do these days is to copy other companies?

    /s

    Cross-licensing. :)
    Apple and Microsoft have been partners since Steve and Bill buried the hatchet.
  • Reply 82 of 116
    ipen wrote: »
    ipad doesn't need a keyboard.  If i want a tablet with keyboard, i would just buy an MBA.  I wish MBA can have a detachable keyboard like the asus transformer.

    I agree. And I have both. I use the Air when I need a full computer, say coding, for example. However, the iPad covers many situations that don't involve heavy typing.
  • Reply 83 of 116
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member

    Simple - 12" iPad. TS will be happy.

  • Reply 84 of 116

    In all those smirky Surface commercials where Siri says "No I do not have a keyboard", some little text shows at the bottom saying "keyboard sold separately". Well MS, I can buy a nice bluetooth clickety clack  keyboard case for my iPad separately as well. And those keyboards were available prior to your POS tablet ever came out.

  • Reply 85 of 116
    felix01felix01 Posts: 297member
    Sad day when Apple starts copying Microsoft six months after they hit the street with something! Have all the true innovators and visionaries at Apple moved on to more lucrative jobs?
  • Reply 86 of 116
    akqiesakqies Posts: 768member
    felix01 wrote: »
    Sad day when Apple starts copying Microsoft six months after they hit the street with something! Have all the true innovators and visionaries at Apple moved on to more lucrative jobs?

    :no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no::rolleyes::no:
  • Reply 87 of 116
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Felix01 View Post



    Sad day when Apple starts copying Microsoft six months after they hit the street with something! Have all the true innovators and visionaries at Apple moved on to more lucrative jobs?

     

    I covered that already in the very first comment.

  • Reply 88 of 116
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jkichline View Post

     

    The difference here is that Microsoft had to sell a keyboard with their product to make it even close to usable. This is because of the form factor of Windows (typically landscape orientation) coupled with the aspect ratio of the screen. The keyboard would take up 2/3 of the screen. That and traditional Windows programs still require a mouse. Sure you could touch the screen, but using a keyboard and mouse would make the tablet a computer, which Windows was designed for.

     


     

    What nice backhanded spin.  This is like saying Apple "had to" make Macs easier to use than PCs because Apple customers are illiterate morons who don't know anything about computers.

     

    Quote:


     I think if Apple came out with a keyboard, it would be them admitting defeat of some sort.  The iPad ought to stand on it's on (no pun intended) as the only thing you need to use it.


     

    You mean like Apple's own iPad Keyboard Dock:

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPad-Keyboard-Dock-Package/dp/B0040HEMP8

  • Reply 89 of 116
    Originally Posted by rednival View Post

    I could see businesses pressuring Apple to come up with something like Microsoft's keyboard for the iPad.


     


    How would said businesses pressure Apple?

  • Reply 90 of 116
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by StruckPaper View Post

    How would said businesses pressure Apple?

     

    Tie Tim Cook to a chair and use thumb screws?

  • Reply 91 of 116
    In all those smirky Surface commercials where Siri says "No I do not have a keyboard", some little text shows at the bottom saying "keyboard sold separately". Well MS, I can buy a nice bluetooth clickety clack  keyboard case for my iPad separately as well. And those keyboards were available prior to your POS tablet ever came out.
    Not really the same though is it?

    Apples statements about making the hardware if software are just as true when you extend it to making all the hardware. Sure a bluetooth keyboard works with an ipad but you have to pair the thing, its not as thin, it cant flip round the back like a smart cover and instantly disable itself.

    Its the different between something that works and something thats been perfected.
  • Reply 92 of 116
    I can't do too much typing on the iPad because my fingers just hit a glass screen as opposed to getting some kind of tactile feedback.

    I do have a Bluetooth keyboard, but it doesn't integrate that well. I'd love it if Apple did release a keyboard smart cover.

    However, instead of the keyboard just being flipped back when not in use (exposing the keys at the back), Apple should have a mechanism where the keyboard would slide back, rather than just turn back. That way, the keys will be against the iPad's back when not in use.

    Of course, I don't expect them to release one, but it would be nice if they gave that option.
  • Reply 93 of 116
    Apple may be working on a new keyboard accessory for the iPad, one that would mimic the functionality of Microsoft's Touch Cover for its own Surface tablets, according to a new rumor.

    Prior to Ryan's post, there was no indication that Apple may be planning to unveil a new keyboard accessory for its full-size iPad.

    Such a move wouldn't be a shock, however, as keyboard accessories for the iPad, such as Logitech's <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/03/26/logitechs-keyboard-folios-complement-protect-apples-ipad-ipad-mini">Keyboard Folios</a> or Belkin's <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/03/27/belkins-ultimate-keyboard-case-for-ipad-adds-magnetic-stand-improves-sound">Ultimate Keyboard Case</a>, have proven popular. Apple also recently released a multitude of accessories for the iPhone 5s and 5c, including official cases and docks. That's a change from last year, when Apple did not offer an official case or dock for the iPhone 5.

    uh, No, the Apple product wouldn't mimic the Microsoft Touch Cover - it will mimic the Logitech Follos or Belkin's Ultimate Keyboard Case, either of which preceded the Surface Touch Cover for a lot less money.
  • Reply 94 of 116
    ahmlco wrote: »
    "A keyboard cover would probably sell very well, but I think it would damage Apple's image and vision for the iPad more than it would be worth."

    Don't see why. Lot's of people have bought covers from Logitech and others in order to do heavier typing, writing, etc..

    The difference is that the iPad is useful without the keyboard, which can easily be removed when it's not needed. The Surface? Not so much.

    Actually, the Surface has a much better on-screen keyboard than the iPad, which is why the touch/type keyboard is optional. Microsoft simply realises that people who need to type, want to do so on a proper physical keyboard.

    Microsoft's new touch and type keyboards are actually really nice - they are backlit too, but don't need any batteries since they get their power from the tablet.
  • Reply 95 of 116
    akqiesakqies Posts: 768member
    wp7mango wrote: »
    Actually, the Surface has a much better on-screen keyboard than the iPad, which is why the touch/type keyboard is optional. Microsoft simply realises that people who need to type, want to do so on a proper physical keyboard.

    Microsoft's new touch and type keyboards are actually really nice - they are backlit too, but don't need any batteries since they get their power from the tablet.

    Apple's physical keyboard for the iPad is much better than the flimsy ones offered by MS then means "[Apple] simply realises that people who need to type, want to do so on a proper physical keyboard." It's not as portable as what MS offers but your comment gave no such allowance.
  • Reply 96 of 116
    uh, No, the Apple product wouldn't mimic the Microsoft Touch Cover - it will mimic the Logitech Follos or Belkin's Ultimate Keyboard Case, either of which preceded the Surface Touch Cover for a lot less money.

    Nobody will be fully copying the new Microsoft Touch/Type keyboards for the following reasons -

    1. They are backlit.
    2. They don't need batteries since they get their power from the tablet.
    3. The touch-keyboard also doubles as a giant gesture trackpad (that's why it has 1100 sensors in it).
    4. The touch/type keyboards also incorporate a mouse pad which supports gestures. That's because they can be used in the desktop environment just like a MacBook Air.
  • Reply 97 of 116
    akqies wrote: »
    Apple's physical keyboard for the iPad is much better than the flimsy ones offered by MS then means "[Apple] simply realises that people who need to type, want to do so on a proper physical keyboard." It's not as portable as what MS offers but your comment gave no such allowance.

    The original MS touch keyboards where flimsy. The new ones are not. So, let me fix your comment again -

    "Microsoft simply realises that people who need to type, want to do so on a proper physical keyboard"
  • Reply 98 of 116
    I can't do too much typing on the iPad because my fingers just hit a glass screen as opposed to getting some kind of tactile feedback.

    I do have a Bluetooth keyboard, but it doesn't integrate that well. I'd love it if Apple did release a keyboard smart cover.

    However, instead of the keyboard just being flipped back when not in use (exposing the keys at the back), Apple should have a mechanism where the keyboard would slide back, rather than just turn back. That way, the keys will be against the iPad's back when not in use.

    Of course, I don't expect them to release one, but it would be nice if they gave that option.

    A simple solution is to do what Microsoft did - the touch/type keyboards can be attached upside down too, so that when you fold them back the keys are hidden. That said, it doesn't really matter, because the MS touch/type keyboards contain gyros and accelerometers so that they detect when they are folded behind so that the keys are not triggered by your fingers or by anything you may be resting on.
  • Reply 99 of 116
    akqiesakqies Posts: 768member
    wp7mango wrote: »
    The original MS touch keyboards where flimsy. The new ones are not. So, let me fix your comment again -

    "Microsoft simply realises that people who need to type, want to do so on a proper physical keyboard"

    They are considerably more flimsy and considerably worse keyboards to type on than what Apple offers iPad users.
  • Reply 100 of 116
    akqies wrote: »
    They are considerably more flimsy and considerably worse keyboards to type on than what Apple offers iPad users.

    No they are not. I have used iPad keyboards and the new Surface Pro 2 type keyboard. There is nothing flimsy about the Surface Pro 2 type keyboard - it's actually an excellent keyboard.
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