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innominato5090

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 4, 2009
452
71
anyone has tried to pair a generic Bluetooth keyboard that is not the apple's one? I'd like to buy a infrared BT keyboard for my iPhone!
 
I'd like to buy a infrared BT keyboard for my iPhone!

What is an infrared BT keyboard? Infrared and Bluetooth are not the same thing (or even compatible with each other: an infrared device cannot talk to a Bluetooth one and the iPhone does not have infrared hardware).
 
Why would you want to attach a keyboard to your iPhone? Id say it would make sense to do so with an iPad , but iPhone?

Seems cool but I just dont see the point.
 
Why would you want to attach a keyboard to your iPhone? Id say it would make sense to do so with an iPad , but iPhone?

Seems cool but I just dont see the point.

I actually have a Stowaway iGo Bluetooth keyboard that I use to take notes on my iPhone in lectures. This way I don't have to lug out my laptop and charger and I look technologically badass while doing so.

Here's what it looks like:

http://keyboard.ringwald.ch/Welcome_files/shapeimage_1.png
 
Why would you want to attach a keyboard to your iPhone? Id say it would make sense to do so with an iPad , but iPhone?

Seems cool but I just dont see the point.
A full-sized keyboard would look silly, yes, but imagine an iPhone case, with a slide out, HTC Touch Pro 2-style landscape QWERTY keyboard?
htc-touch-pro2-hands-on-1.jpg

I know many folks who love their iPhones, but would also love a physical keyboard too(not me personally, but I can see a profitable market for such add-ons).
 
I actually have a Stowaway iGo Bluetooth keyboard that I use to take notes on my iPhone in lectures. This way I don't have to lug out my laptop and charger and I look technologically badass while doing so.

Here's what it looks like:

http://keyboard.ringwald.ch/Welcome_files/shapeimage_1.png

My god , that sure looks badass lol! Would still prefer a notebook to take notes on, though.

I understand that there is a market for these sort of things, but I just thought the iPhone's screen is waaay too small to take notes on all the time , especially with a keyboard.

The case with keyboard functionality would be nice, although I like the onscreen keyboard a lot.
 
Why would you want to attach a keyboard to your iPhone? Id say it would make sense to do so with an iPad , but iPhone?

Seems cool but I just dont see the point.

Sometimes I'm stuck with only my phone and I need to reply to a couple of e-mails. It takes 10 minutes but with a large keyboard it would've taken 4 minutes.

What's so odd about that?
 
What is an infrared BT keyboard? Infrared and Bluetooth are not the same thing (or even compatible with each other: an infrared device cannot talk to a Bluetooth one and the iPhone does not have infrared hardware).

I mean one of these http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/5731.html even if they're quite pricy :(
my worry is that the OS 4 will be only compatible with apple BT keyboard... did anyone try with a 3rd party keyboard?
 
A full-sized keyboard would look silly, yes, but imagine an iPhone case, with a slide out, HTC Touch Pro 2-style landscape QWERTY keyboard?
htc-touch-pro2-hands-on-1.jpg

I know many folks who love their iPhones, but would also love a physical keyboard too(not me personally, but I can see a profitable market for such add-ons).

I agree that we are likely to see some very interesting case designs that incorporate keyboards. Could be cool. :cool:
 
Sometimes I'm stuck with only my phone and I need to reply to a couple of e-mails. It takes 10 minutes but with a large keyboard it would've taken 4 minutes.

What's so odd about that?

There's nothing odd about it, its just that for me personally it seems pointless to carry a bluetooth keyboard to shave off a few minutes of my emailing.

I can understand what you like about it though , sure. Afterall, life is short :rolleyes:
 
There's nothing odd about it, its just that for me personally it seems pointless to carry a bluetooth keyboard to shave off a few minutes of my emailing.

I can understand what you like about it though , sure. Afterall, life is short :rolleyes:

Well, I'm not gonna buy one just for my phone.

But next year I'll be replacing my Macbook with an iPad + keyboard. After that I'll be carrying the iPad + keyboard all the times I currently carry my Macbook. So I'll be exchanging a 5 pound $2,000 item for a 2 pound $700 item(s).

And at that point, yeah, if I have my keyboard with me I'll hook it up to my phone when I need it. If I have it with me, why not? I fully expect to do a fair amount of iPhone pairing at that point.

It's not like I'll be bringing the keyboard along during the times I wouldn't have had my Macbook with me...just the times when I would have grabbed the whole laptop anyway.

So for me, it'll be lighter and cheaper than what I currently have. I don't see that as pointless at all.
 
Well, I'm not gonna buy one just for my phone.

But next year I'll be replacing my Macbook with an iPad + keyboard. After that I'll be carrying the iPad + keyboard all the times I currently carry my Macbook. So I'll be exchanging a 5 pound $2,000 item for a 2 pound $700 item(s).

And at that point, yeah, if I have my keyboard with me I'll hook it up to my phone when I need it. If I have it with me, why not? I fully expect to do a fair amount of iPhone pairing at that point.

It's not like I'll be bringing the keyboard along during the times I wouldn't have had my Macbook with me...just the times when I would have grabbed the whole laptop anyway.

So for me, it'll be lighter and cheaper than what I currently have. I don't see that as pointless at all.

then it seems that we both like different things, because i would never replace a macbook with an ipad.
 
There's nothing odd about it, its just that for me personally it seems pointless to carry a bluetooth keyboard to shave off a few minutes of my emailing.

I can understand what you like about it though , sure. Afterall, life is short :rolleyes:

I understand why you would not want to carry a bluetooth keyboard around with you (neither would I!) but I'm actually interested in this "feature" as well. I travel a great deal for work. When I travel for work I ALWAYS have my laptop (no problem for emails and such).

But, when I travel for vacation or a trip home to see the folks (or my wife's folks, or my sister or whatever) I don't bring my laptop because my iPhone covers everything I need. BUT, I often get lengthy emails that require lengthy replies and the iPhone keyboard just doesn't cut it when I have to type half a page. But if I have a handy fold-up BT keyboard in my suitcase...bingo! Problem solved and I don't have to lug the laptop!

Also, on a related note: Does anyone know if the BT keyboard can be used with MAME (jailbroken phone) as a controller?
 
I paired my apple bluetooth keyboard to my iPhone and it works great no lag and ultimate accuracy but if something like the xbox 360 keyboard came out that would be awesome
 
I mean one of these http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/5731.html even if they're quite pricy :(
my worry is that the OS 4 will be only compatible with apple BT keyboard... did anyone try with a 3rd party keyboard?

lol that seems pointless for an iphone....if you want to use a virtual keyboard use the iphones! if you want to use a physical keyboard then use a physical one! haha it does look pretty badass tho haha. but even I couldnt justify that purchase and im alllllll about gadgets haha.
 
then it seems that we both like different things, because i would never replace a macbook with an ipad.

Well, my wife has one too. When we travel it's not like we need TWO laptops with us. But we both like to have something to watch on the plane or read in the hotel.

All the dynamics change when you've got 2 people instead of 1. (This is what all the tech reviewers miss, by the way. They talk about "my" items. Never "our" items. It changes everything.)

We each want a device to use when we're traveling, but we really don't need 2 laptops at the same time. (Like, ever, really.) Right now we travel with 1 Macbook and 2 iPhones and I leave my Macbook at home. Of course, when I travel alone I take the laptop. So having an iPad would let us take Macbook/iPad on trips together and then I can choose which one I want when I travel alone depending on the trip. Gone to Arizona for 3 days? Probably the Macbook. Going to New York for 15 hours? Well the iPad would make more sense there.
 
Welcome to things that Jailbreaking allowed you to do some time ago...

I would use it for playing lode runner on Mini vMac while away from my Mac.
 
Very interesting points being made here. I guess that the bt keyboard solutions are great when you got a lot of traveling to do.

Im not someone who travels a lot and , i really dont have any problems with the onscreen keyboard of the iPhone. Im now so used to it that i can even type without looking at it. Typing half a page on my iPhone would not be that much of a problem for me. Im actually typing this reply on my IPhone.
 
Yep. Paired my little apple Bluetooth keyboard up yesterday and it works great.

i thought the OP asked about non-apple keyboards?

I never want to see effing physical keys on the iPhone.

then go buy an android phone, and why would you want physical keys anyway? the phone i had before the iPhone had a full QWERTY keyboard, and after using the iPhone's all virtual one, the physical ones suck in comparison
 
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