improving the screen-as-keyboard experience without leaving the dimensions of the ipad would be very helpful. and preserving the duel orientations would be apple-like.
time for the re-emergence of the 'haptic rumor'. i remember that it broke the day before a past ipad introduction.
I could have sworn I remember reading something here on AI around the time the first original Surface came out with its keypad cover that Apple actually had just been awarded a patent on something very similar by the USPTO....
Apple did apply for a patent for a keyboard cover 2 years before MS came out with one and yes you did read it here.
Actually, the third thing that you mention would be special is already implemented in the Surface cover (at least if I am understanding you correctly). The Surface touch cover folds around the back so you can use the Surface in "tablet" mode -- and when folded around the back in this way the keyboard is disabled so no keys are pressed, etc. Because it is so thin, it works really nicely without adding a lot of bulk (still feels like a tablet - unlike a lot of other solutions out there).
Actually, the Surface touch cover does all three of the things you mention in combination with the kickstand that's built in.
Again, I would love to see this for the iPad - and maybe Apple has something up their sleeves that takes it a step further and even improves the really great design of what Microsoft has done with the touch cover.
Not a lot of people seem to have known this. I didn't. It says a lot about MSoft that the "tablet mode" keyboard cover position wasn't marketed and advertised properly. Instead, they showcased a very odd commercial. All I could remember happening was people dancing like fools and clicking the keyboard to the tablet.
The keyboard cover was not the problem; running a desktop ecosystem on a touch tablet was. They could still have a hit if they soon remove Windows mode from Surface hardware, leaving Windows only to run on X86 architected, desktop hardware. Like Apple, they could/should have two OSs: 1) Surface (nee´ Modern UI, for tablet apps and hardware) and 2) Windows (for desktop apps and hardware). I only recently saw the Surface hardware up close. The display and build quality are very nice.
It makes sense. A big number of the iPads I see in the wild (coffee shops, planes, trains) are being used with a bluetooth keyboard. I work near a university and tons of students are at the local coffee shop typing up their papers on iPads instead of laptops.
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.
The headline makes it sound like "Apple might be following Microsoft's lead" by testing a 'keyboard/cover similar to that of the Surface".
Well, how about saying Apple is testing a keyboard/cover similar to the one they sell at Apple Stores, made by Logitec? That's a keyboard, cover, and stand that snaps magnetically to the iPad, and has been around since long before the Surface was even announced. Actually, their most popular iteration provides a complete hardshell cover for the iPad as well. And it's about the same or LESS expensive than Microsoft's fancy cover.
Microsoft didn't 'innovate' the idea of a lightweight attachable keyboard/cover with the Surface, and Apple most certainly isn't "following" them, or doing much truly "akin" to anything Microsoft does.
The headline makes it sound like "Apple might be following Microsoft's lead" by testing a 'keyboard/cover similar to that of the Surface".
Well, how about saying Apple is testing a keyboard/cover similar to the one they sell at Apple Stores, made by Logitec? That's a keyboard, cover, and stand that snaps magnetically to the iPad, and has been around since long before the Surface was even announced. Actually, their most popular iteration provides a complete hardshell cover for the iPad as well. And it's about the same or LESS expensive than Microsoft's fancy cover.
Microsoft didn't 'innovate' the idea of a lightweight attachable keyboard/cover with the Surface, and Apple most certainly isn't "following" them, or doing much truly "akin" to anything Microsoft does.
I say give this one to MS. They have so little mindshare these days and the Surface is a market failure but the snapping keyboard cover is probably the most well known snapping keyboard cover thanks to their goofy commercials.
Not entirely true. Considering the Surface is essentially a full PC with a full desktop OS, it is expected to handle the full range of desktop applications and uses. For many of these, a physical keyboard is a necessity. The iPad is inherently limited in it's capabilities (when compared to a desktop/notebook system) and so doesn't need a keyboard.
I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong, they're simply two different devices. Apple has reduced complexity to the point where a physical keyboard isn't needed, but they've done so by limiting capabilities - ease of use through limited functionality. Microsoft created essentially a desktop computer in tablet form factor. And while I'm no fan of Metro, it handles iPad level tasks with approximately the same ease of use (klunkiness and limited app selection aside). So without a keyboard, the Surface will function about as well as an iPad, with a keyboard, it functions about as well as a full notebook computer. Compromises were made, to be sure, but for many, those are compromises worth making if you need more functionality than is offered by iOS.
I believe it's actually the "Surface Pro" that is more comparable to a portable PC. The "Surface" runs RT, which is underpowered crap.
I say give this one to MS. They have so little mindshare these days and the Surface is a market failure but the snapping keyboard cover is probably the most well known snapping keyboard cover thanks to their goofy commercials.
People may confuse Surface for KitKat bars thanks to all the snapping and try to eat them.
I have a vague memory that one of the things that MS licensed from Apple to use with the Surface was the keyboard/smart cover thing. Apple had looked at it, and patented it, but not implemented it. Then, when MS came to make the Surface, they actually licensed the cover design from Apple. I remember thinking this was unusual behaviour for MS, they'd usually just take stuff from Apple when they wanted it.
Of course, I fully expect that this, if it is true and not a delusion or fever dream of mine, will be completely ignored in any coverage should Apple produce a similar device.
- The parking lot at the new campus? It will be underground, hence covered.
"a lot more"
- Many more products? Kind of a boring hint, but we have seen that before.
- A larger iPad with "a lot more" real estate? I'd enjoy that.
"to cover"
- More products to cover? Pretty boring but, again, not unprecedented.
- A new type of smart cover with integrated keyboard? History suggests that, if Apple indeed introduces a cover/keyboard combo tomorrow, it will be unlike what we see from Microsoft or Logitech.
Comments
improving the screen-as-keyboard experience without leaving the dimensions of the ipad would be very helpful. and preserving the duel orientations would be apple-like.
time for the re-emergence of the 'haptic rumor'. i remember that it broke the day before a past ipad introduction.
APPLE EMPLOYEES IN "SECRET DESIGN LAB"
TESTING DIFFERENT SWEETENERS IN THEIR COFFEE
According to a source familiar with the group... UGH. Non-story, here, folks.
apple didn't invent any technology or even any presentation of technology…
so who invented Firewire and Quicktime then?
apple didn't invent any technology or even any presentation of technology…
You… meant to /s that, right?
This would be decent.
But it NEEDS TO WORK ON YOUR LAP, unlike the Surface.
He keeps tapping the space bar...
Apple did apply for a patent for a keyboard cover 2 years before MS came out with one and yes you did read it here.
Actually, the third thing that you mention would be special is already implemented in the Surface cover (at least if I am understanding you correctly). The Surface touch cover folds around the back so you can use the Surface in "tablet" mode -- and when folded around the back in this way the keyboard is disabled so no keys are pressed, etc. Because it is so thin, it works really nicely without adding a lot of bulk (still feels like a tablet - unlike a lot of other solutions out there).
Actually, the Surface touch cover does all three of the things you mention in combination with the kickstand that's built in.
Again, I would love to see this for the iPad - and maybe Apple has something up their sleeves that takes it a step further and even improves the really great design of what Microsoft has done with the touch cover.
Not a lot of people seem to have known this. I didn't. It says a lot about MSoft that the "tablet mode" keyboard cover position wasn't marketed and advertised properly. Instead, they showcased a very odd commercial. All I could remember happening was people dancing like fools and clicking the keyboard to the tablet.
The keyboard cover was not the problem; running a desktop ecosystem on a touch tablet was. They could still have a hit if they soon remove Windows mode from Surface hardware, leaving Windows only to run on X86 architected, desktop hardware. Like Apple, they could/should have two OSs: 1) Surface (nee´ Modern UI, for tablet apps and hardware) and 2) Windows (for desktop apps and hardware). I only recently saw the Surface hardware up close. The display and build quality are very nice.
It makes sense. A big number of the iPads I see in the wild (coffee shops, planes, trains) are being used with a bluetooth keyboard. I work near a university and tons of students are at the local coffee shop typing up their papers on iPads instead of laptops.
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.
So… you wish it was the iPad.
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Apple should never have stopped making the Keyboard Dock. It’d shut up all the outliers.
Well, how about saying Apple is testing a keyboard/cover similar to the one they sell at Apple Stores, made by Logitec? That's a keyboard, cover, and stand that snaps magnetically to the iPad, and has been around since long before the Surface was even announced. Actually, their most popular iteration provides a complete hardshell cover for the iPad as well. And it's about the same or LESS expensive than Microsoft's fancy cover.
Microsoft didn't 'innovate' the idea of a lightweight attachable keyboard/cover with the Surface, and Apple most certainly isn't "following" them, or doing much truly "akin" to anything Microsoft does.
I say give this one to MS. They have so little mindshare these days and the Surface is a market failure but the snapping keyboard cover is probably the most well known snapping keyboard cover thanks to their goofy commercials.
Not entirely true. Considering the Surface is essentially a full PC with a full desktop OS, it is expected to handle the full range of desktop applications and uses. For many of these, a physical keyboard is a necessity. The iPad is inherently limited in it's capabilities (when compared to a desktop/notebook system) and so doesn't need a keyboard.
I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong, they're simply two different devices. Apple has reduced complexity to the point where a physical keyboard isn't needed, but they've done so by limiting capabilities - ease of use through limited functionality. Microsoft created essentially a desktop computer in tablet form factor. And while I'm no fan of Metro, it handles iPad level tasks with approximately the same ease of use (klunkiness and limited app selection aside). So without a keyboard, the Surface will function about as well as an iPad, with a keyboard, it functions about as well as a full notebook computer. Compromises were made, to be sure, but for many, those are compromises worth making if you need more functionality than is offered by iOS.
I believe it's actually the "Surface Pro" that is more comparable to a portable PC. The "Surface" runs RT, which is underpowered crap.
I say give this one to MS. They have so little mindshare these days and the Surface is a market failure but the snapping keyboard cover is probably the most well known snapping keyboard cover thanks to their goofy commercials.
People may confuse Surface for KitKat bars thanks to all the snapping and try to eat them.
So Google is also copying MS?
Of course, I fully expect that this, if it is true and not a delusion or fever dream of mine, will be completely ignored in any coverage should Apple produce a similar device.
We still have a lot more to cover ...
"We", "still", "have"
- Nothing hidden here.
"a lot"
- The parking lot at the new campus? It will be underground, hence covered.
"a lot more"
- Many more products? Kind of a boring hint, but we have seen that before.
- A larger iPad with "a lot more" real estate? I'd enjoy that.
"to cover"
- More products to cover? Pretty boring but, again, not unprecedented.
- A new type of smart cover with integrated keyboard? History suggests that, if Apple indeed introduces a cover/keyboard combo tomorrow, it will be unlike what we see from Microsoft or Logitech.
MS Surface keyboard is useless if your device is bricked by the software update.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2056295/microsoft-releases-fix-for-surface-rt-slates-borked-by-windows-rt-8-1-update.html