Logitech's iPad FabricSkin Folios feature slim, Surface-like cloth keyboards
Logitech on Tuesday announced two new iPad accessories, one of which leverages a novel case design to give Apple's iPad a keyboard while still maintaining a slim profile for the tablet.
The FabricSkin Keyboard Folio has a Bluetooth keyboard fused into the case's interior fabric, providing users with full-size keys and tactile feedback like one would expect from a traditional keyboard. The fabric of the keyboard has been treated with a liquid-repellent coating, and hidden magnets allow for positioning the iPad in two arrangements.
The Logitech Folio is designed for the iPad or iPad mini, with the same materials and style as the Keyboard Folio, but minus the keyboard. It features magnetic closures to lower the possibility of the tablet's screen being damaged while in transit, and its four-way flip stand allows users to view their tablets without having to hold it in hand.
The Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio and Folio for iPad and iPad mini are both designed to protect the front and back of the iPad, and both pair that protection haute couture design cues determining the color palette and overall look of the devices. They're available in a range of colors, including Electric Blue, Sunflower Yellow, and Mars Red Orange. Customers can also choose from a number of fabrics, including matte leather and woven cotton.
The Logitech Folio for iPad and iPad mini is available for preorder now from Logitech and retails at $70. The Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio is also available for preorder, and it retails for $150. Both accessories are expected to ship in May of this year.
The FabricSkin Keyboard Folio has a Bluetooth keyboard fused into the case's interior fabric, providing users with full-size keys and tactile feedback like one would expect from a traditional keyboard. The fabric of the keyboard has been treated with a liquid-repellent coating, and hidden magnets allow for positioning the iPad in two arrangements.
The Logitech Folio is designed for the iPad or iPad mini, with the same materials and style as the Keyboard Folio, but minus the keyboard. It features magnetic closures to lower the possibility of the tablet's screen being damaged while in transit, and its four-way flip stand allows users to view their tablets without having to hold it in hand.
The Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio and Folio for iPad and iPad mini are both designed to protect the front and back of the iPad, and both pair that protection haute couture design cues determining the color palette and overall look of the devices. They're available in a range of colors, including Electric Blue, Sunflower Yellow, and Mars Red Orange. Customers can also choose from a number of fabrics, including matte leather and woven cotton.
The Logitech Folio for iPad and iPad mini is available for preorder now from Logitech and retails at $70. The Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio is also available for preorder, and it retails for $150. Both accessories are expected to ship in May of this year.
Comments
The accompanying marketing video is patronising.
Also, I HATE!!!! the way I cannot right-click in an AI comment box to correct spelling. And yes, I have auto-corrrect turned on on my brand new 27" iMac running 10.8.3. Seriously, guys, fix the shit out of this it's been getting on my nerves for 5 months.
And yes, lack of right click autocorrect on this board is ridiculous. Can't tell you how many hundreds of times I instinctively right click the squiggly line uselessly. Such a time waster. Is it that hard to implement? Every SINGLE other text box online has it, so I doubt it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland
The accompanying marketing video is patronising.
Also, I HATE!!!! the way I cannot right-click in an AI comment box to correct spelling. And yes, I have auto-corrrect turned on on my brand new 27" iMac running 10.8.3. Seriously, guys, fix the shit out of this it's been getting on my nerves for 5 months.
Apple is responsible for a whole new genre of marketing videos. It is getting tiresome, the language is indeed a little patronizing and the whole beautifully filmed designer thought process is contrived and often pretentious. Much as I am a Jony Ive fan, he is is the undisputed champion of this new breed of infomercials.
As for your AI rant - I COULD NOT AGREE MORE. I fucking hate the web site for the reason you mention and the mobile site for the fact the 'reader' function in Safari has been disabled. Instead I am forced to use the CSS button to increase the font size which is clumsy. Same shit with the App.
It does at 0:52. It looks good and they claim 3 month battery life based on 2 hours use per day. They are expensive but they look like decent accessories - one of the few keyboards that can be tucked away behind the iPad when you don't need the keyboard.
It pretty much had to happen. The only thing innovative about the Surface was the keyboard, and it wasn't copyrighted. This even looks to be made of the exact same materials, and the trapezoidal shape of the body part makes it look even more like a Surface.
Design wise it looks kind of thick and ungainly to me, and the choice of putting their logo on a slip of fabric right under your eft hand on the edge of the folio is a bad one indeed. Discrete marketing it is not.
Personally, I don't know why anyone takes an aluminium device and puts it in a cheap plastic or fabric holder. It doesn't actually "protect" it at all, it just keeps it from being scratched. It will still shatter when you drop it if you do drop it. I'd like to see this keyboard part just by itself. Like Apple's simple magnetic cover, but with a keyboard inside.
The need people have to take something that's already marginally heavy and awkward and make it even more so by sticking it in a stupid plastic case bewilders me. It reminds me of those nut-bars that go totally insane when they get a tiny scratch on their car. A certain amount of wear and tear is normal for devices, it actually makes them look better IMO.
And so the surface can go away without making to much noise.........
I feel sorry for the 3 guys that bought it.
Here is all the marketing bullshit from the video:
"we really wanted to create a product that focused on the user and talk to them on a more emotional level"
"you've go to look at it from a slightly different perspective"
"it's designed for movement and pulls from the fashion world as well"
"the way we stand out is by reaching out to customers on an emotional level"
"with the red one it's going to be someone who is more expressive and bold"
"a way to communicate something about you"
"we invested in the look and feel"
"natural references"
"people either get it or they don't, it's a visceral reaction, it's either there or it's not"
"that's only the beginning, we are building the grounds for something bigger"
"creating new experiences for people"
"if you can create desire or get people to smile"
It's this sort of shit that would ensure that I would never buy something from Logitech.
Show us the keyboard and tell us about it. I can assure you that a keyboard won't register 1 iota on an emotional level.
It'd be a pretty poor product if you hadn't focused on the user!
It's also not a new idea by many years so your "different perspective" just means you are making a derivative product.
They have another video here:
[VIDEO]
It'll probably be a lot like their older model:
[VIDEO]
I don't get it, Why would anyone want this foreskin folio thingy. Why?
Exactly. I love all these genius marketing people on the forum. Lets have one ad that appeals to all people. Wow- why doesn't every company think of that? Y'all are geniuses!
Or- they have multiple ads that appeal to multiple types of people- like all successful companies do. Print, television, Internet, etc. If you don't like that one, watch another one- or just go to their website.
Rule #1- you can't please everyone. No company can.
Rule #2- don't patronise your potential customers.
'Colours make you feel different things. Red is a vibrant colour. Yellow is less vibrant.'
Well, duh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
Why all the negativity around a marketing video? You surely don't expect them to have a 5 second promo that just shows the keyboard and nothing else. The point of promos is to show attractive people using products in public places so that you can one day aspire to be one those socially acceptable people. It doesn't matter if the product itself is totally worthless, it's all about how you're perceived once you have one.
True. But there's something particularly irritating about this video in my opinion. There's absolutely nothing special about the product, yet they act as if it is some work of art. I mean, seriously, how much time did it take their designers to rip off the Surface and find a few nice fabrics? Furthermore, I don't care how they spin it, but every Logitech product I've ever owned has been half-baked at best. $150 for this? Absurd!