As great as your chosen tablet may be, there is still something to be said about typing with that on-screen keyboard. Having a physical set of keys beneath your fingers just feels more natural and that’s why there are so many Bluetooth keyboards on the market. If you’re in the market for both a case and a keyboard for your iPad, this keyboard case from Gembox could be the perfect fit.

It serves three main purposes. First, the polyurethane “synthetic leather” case will protect your iPad against bumps, bruises and other damage. The “thin and stylish” case also has a magnetic flap closure to maintain those clean lines. Second, the case can function as a stand, letting you watch videos without having to hold on to the iPad itself. And third, of course, is that keyboard.

Even though the spill-proof keyboard is built into the case itself, it actually connects to your iPad via Bluetooth. It has a rated battery life of 45 hours, recharging via the provided USB charging cable and bonus USB A/C wall adapter. You can conserve battery life by using the on/off switch.

Normally retailing for $99.99, the Gembox iPad Keyboard Case is available now for $29.99, a savings of 70% off the regular price.

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I’m writing the review of a device I am writing about using the device I am writing about. If it wasn’t such a painful experience this review may have been a bit more positive, but since I have chosen to write the review from the very device I am testing you’re going to get a raw look at how it performs. Here is an unedited snip:

i dnot have an issue with the lack if tactke feed back, nor with the $90 oprice piount, my main issue stems from the responsivebess of the nkeyboard itself, its so sensitive, very sensitive, in fact too sensitive. for some nstrange reason somke keys are moare sensitive than others, while making an inconsistent typinag experience all around. if my finger lightly hovers over one area, ,it will activiate that keystroke.. this ends up resulting in all kinds of extra charectars getting mixxec up in between othersf. theres aso the spacing of th ekeys.. they are a bit different than what i am used to so this may contribute in me being unable to not accidentaly press additional keys..

As you see, the above text was left raw and unedited and simply painful. My apologies, the rest of the review was edited on a normal Apple Bluetooth Keyboard otherwise it would never get finished. Things like spelling and double characters were corrected to prevent you from going mad reading it.

By focusing very carefully on the keys and looking at the keyboard closely, I am able to train myself to only touch the exact key I am intending to touch. By hovering my hands over top and not resting them anywhere, i’m be able to just drop a finger on it in a traditional QWERTY fashion. Although let me tell you, it feels very odd and unnatural. For one, hovering directly over top the keyboard dropping each finger one by one does not feel normal, it also gives you the terrible viewing angle you saw in the first photograph above. I think once you get past the learning curve of very carefully tapping each button precisely and making sure to be exact, the oddness of the viewing angle postion is no longer a distraction and becomes a real life nuisance. I wonder if it was tested by any humans before the company decided to mass produce it. I would never want to look at any screen the way this one forces you to. If you wanted to face the screen you would literally have to crouch down and arch your back in the most uncomfortable position at a desk. If you were on the floor, it would look like you were doing yoga child pose with your hands out in front of you. Sure, it’s a good way to stretch out your back, but you’ll kill your neck in a few minutes trying to correct the extra keystrokes you just pressed.

Conclusion
The keys are colored nice, the geiger-counter-esque keyboard ticks are kinda cool and can be turned off, I like the use of quck launch keys, it has its own internal battery, easily connects via Blueooth, charges via Micro-USB. But the keyboard is still overly sensitive with an unconventional viewing angle I couldn’t imagine enduring for any length of time. I wish the company would have done some real people testing, or maybe just sent us a unit before going all out and producing them, it’s really put together nicely. It may have avoided these issues like ergonomics and keystroke performance like I experienced. As it stands though, I would not recommend the SKINNY Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad 2 by Hatch & Co..

The post A Skinny Little iPad 2 Keyboard Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Apple iPad may seem more like a fun device to play games on, watch movies, read magazines and other stuff like that, but it can actually be quite useful for business folks too. Even so, typing on that touchscreen for extended periods of time might just not be good enough. And so, Logitech has come up with a Fold-Up Keyboard that works in tandem with Apple’s tablet.

The core functionality is really no different than any other Bluetooth keyboard. You pair it up with the iPad and start typing away at those documents and e-mails. What makes this product different is its fold-up nature. It folds up and hides behind the tablet when not in use, automatically shutting itself off. Fold it back out and it’s ready for you to type away again. It’s meant to be convenient and compact. The keyboard itself charges over USB and still uses Bluetooth to communicate with the iPad 2.

The split design is pretty interesting and it even comes with a stand in the back to prop up the iPad. That gives you an “ideal angle for typing and taking notes,” not unlike what you’d get with a netbook or notebook… or even something like the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. And just like the Eee Pad, this keyboard dock is priced quite similarly at $129.99.

The post Logitech Fold-Up Keyboard for iPad 2 targets biz pros on the go appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The large touchscreen on the iPad might be great for some things, but it might not be quite as great for others. We still want physical feedback. We still yearn for physical controls. And that’s where the iKeyboard from Cliff Thier comes into the picture.

It’s hard to touch type on the iPad’s on-screen keyboard, because you type a key as soon as you touch the screen. There’s no physical feel to it. The iKeyboard is an overlay that goes over the keyboard and gives you similar sensations to what you’d get with a conventional keyboard. The feel should help you reduce typos and enjoy tactile feedback.

“But why not just use a Bluetooth keyboard?” Well, that’s just another thing to carry. This slip-on overlay is certainly less bulky and easier to bring around with you. Add this to the JOYSTICK-IT and the iPad is becoming even more multifunctional and multi-purpose than ever.

If you want to see the iKeyboard become a reality, back Cliff Thier on his Kickstarter page. With a month and a half to go, he’s already easily surpassed his $4,000 goal, though I’m sure he’d appreciate a few more bucks if you are interested in it.

The post iKeyboard Adds Tactile Feel to iPad Keyboard appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Way before I got into the world of smartphones (since they didn’t even exist at the time), I had a Palm Pilot PDA. I thought it was God’s gift to humankind. I could keep track of my schedule, take all kinds of notes, and have my entire contact list in the palm of my hand. It was also useful for writing my university papers. I didn’t have a laptop at the time, but I could whip out my fold-up keyboard, connect it to the PDA, open up a basic text editor and have at ‘er. The portability and versatility were great. And now, many many years later, we somehow find ourselves back at the same scenario with the newly announced Verbatim Mobile Keyboard.

Sure, it does Bluetooth instead of a physical connection and it’s for the iPad/iPhone rather than a Palm Pilot, but it’s still a fold-up QWERTY keyboard aimed to help you write on a device that can be hard to write on. It’s amazing how regardless of the leaps and bounds we’ve made in technology innovation, so many aspects still stay the same. Kinda sad, really.

The Verbatim keyboard is $79.99 and can be found at Fry’s and Amazon.

[Amazon via PR]

The post Reliving my Palm Pilot days with Verbatim Mobile Keyboard for iPad and iPhone appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Zagg’s ZAGGmate is a Bluetooth keyboard case that sells for $99 and doubles as protective shell for your Apple iPad – essentially turning your Apple tablet into a 10″ touchscreen netbook.  Sure, you could just go buy a MacBook Air and end up with a real computer, but for those of us intertwined in the evolution of mobile device tabletry, we couldn’t have it any other way.  Besides, how are we going to run Angry Birds and all our iOS apps with Mac OSX?

The Design
Molded out of lightweight aluminum, the 86% sized QWERTY keyboard layout (in comparison to Apple’s wireless keyboard) will give you a slightly cramped feeling at first. But don’t fret, it’s easy to adapt to after a punching out a few lines of text.  The keyboard is recessed slightly within the aluminum shell, making for raised areas that come in to contact with the iPad and your thumbs as they rest near the space bar. And a comfortable resting place it is, made of a soft, smooth, dense rubber compound.  This prevents scratching your iPad’s outer bezel, because that’s all that really comes into contact with the ZAGGmate aside from the inner edges.   These inner edges have a thin strip of high-density foam that hugs the sides of your iPad in place – also providing some sort of impact protection, all the while keeping it “locked” in for mobile transportion.

Zagg has added a bonus row of keyboard shortcuts all along the top.  Starting from left to right are the Home (double tab for multi-tasking, sorta like cmd+tab), Spotlight, Photos, Virtual Keyboard and Turn off Display.  Going further along the top are also a tradtional set of multimedia keys we find on all Apple keyboards.  Command, Option and Function keys are situated in their typical places, giving you instant copy/paste capabilities.  Most of the keys are exactly where you would expect them, thankfully no tricks in re-learning a layout with the ZAGGmate. The up and down arrows threw me off on several occasions,  the left/ right arrows are besides the up/down.  Aside from that, you’ll be hammering out keystrokes faster than anyone iPad users.

The Good
The iPad virtual keyboard is restrictive in a sense.  Sure, it adds mobility and can be accessed with a touch, but when large amounts of keystrokes are being inputted – especially the ones on Apple’s second menu – on-screen typing is just a virtual bottleneck.  Addressing the need for an alternative to the virtual keyboard, the iPad ZAGGmate does a very good job. We received a production ready model and its keys are smooth and soft to press.

It couldn’t get any easier. The simplicity of its on/off syncing abilities are really painless.   As soon as you have paired the ZAGGmate with your iPad all it takes is the flick of the switch to bring back instant access.  No delay as I would have imagined.

Protection is prime.  When in “case mode” your iPads display is protected with a solid aluminum plate.  The backside is left bare, but that’s just another plate of aluminum, so if you’re not all freaked out about cosmetics, slap a sticker on there and call it a day.

The Bad
It’s not a netbook.  Ok we know that, it’s the iPad.  So having a keyboard on the iPad could make some people mad. They  may kick, scream and yell things at you, like “go buy a netbook” but in the end, you’ll be typing twice as fast as them, if not more. So is it really a bad thing?

The function + delete key did not not work in notes, typically, combination should delete keystrokes in front of your cursor.

No ability to adjust the angle that your iPad is tilted at.  It will be locked in at roughly 68°, although you do get to switch between landscape and portrait modes.

The Verdict
At $99 its a bit pricey, but this is a really well made keyboard accessory for the iPad that will cater to one specific user; someone who is banging out emails, text and other bits of data on their iPad.  If you  feel the bottleneck of the iOS virtual keyboard like a fuzzy itchy wool Christmas sweater your treehugging Aunt Jen just gave you, then the ZAGGmate is for you.  Typing at those speeds you’ll sooner bust out a T9 cellphone and get it done with.

Like I said, although the iPad’s back is exposed when in case mode, the screen is protected, which is the most important part.  Adding a back to this could have been done, but you would be gaining extra bulk and ruling out your ability to just slip it in a nice sleeve.  As the end user, you will have to decide if the extra battery draw on your iPad while using Bluetooth is worth the increased typing speed you’ll gain with an 86% keyboard. Allthough the ZAGGmate has its own internal battery that runs for “months,” having Bluetooth constantly on your iPad to connect to it will significantly decrease your runtime, if that’s even an issue.  I would have been really impressed if Zagg had a beefier battery pack built in that could simultaneously charge the iPad, but that would have raised the price.  If for some reason you just want the case, sans keyboard, Zagg sells that for $30 less.

So, if on that sunny Saturday afternoon on your trip to the golden Apple store you accidentally purchased an iPad instead of a that MacBook Air, or perhaps that Acer netbook you walked past at Best Buy, here’s your chance to get some QWERTY action back.

Sent from my iPad using the Zagg/mate

[Zagg]

The post ZAGGmate Bluetooth keyboard for iPad reviewed appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Apple iPad is one of the best media consumption devices out there, allowing you to read e-books, watch videos, and play games. However, the on-screen keyboard can leave something to be desired. At the same time, the tablet device needs a little bit of protection too. The ZAGGMate iPad case does both. Unlike so many other cases that wrap the entirety of the iPad, this one clips on to the front. It’s kind of like some of the cases you may have encountered for the iPhone where they clip onto the back, except this one only protects the front (where the touchscreen is).

When you remove the iPad from the case, you’ll find that the ZAGGMate can also act as a stand, providing a little wedge to prop it up and allow for handsfree video-watching. The kicker is that the inside of the case also rocks a full QWERTY keyboard. It connects to the iPad via Bluetooth and lets you type up your blog posts to your heart’s content.

In addition to the QWERTYness, the keyboard also has dedicated media controls, a home button, brightness controls, and so on. The 510mAh battery inside is rechargeable via USB and should last a couple of weeks at a time.

The keyboard-touting ZAGGMate iPad case isn’t especially cheap at $100, but it’s not way out there either. If all you want is the case and not the keyboard, the $70 version may be more your cup of tea. Either way, you can be reasonably assured of the quality. After all, these are the same folks that make the Invisible Shield.

[Zagg]

The post ZAGGMate iPad case combines Bluetooth QWERTY keyboard appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

ClamCase for Apple iPad adds chiclet keyboard

What I would call the most de-evolutionary accessory for the Apple iPad, is the ClamCase.  Sure, it matches the shiny glossy iPad display making you have to clean fingerprints twice as long, it even appears to keep it relatively thin, but doesn’t turning your iPad in to a mini-notebook computer by adding a keyboard undermine it’s entire magical existence?  Fake Steve is going to love you guys. I suppose if the ClamCase is priced right, you could have yourself a half-hacked Apple Netbook for a good price, but it doesn’t appear to have any expansion ports, USB, FireWire, SD slot, please give us atleast a camera!  The “chiclet” style keys should appeal to Mac users by giving them a sense of familiarity, as well as backlight LED lighting, and 360 rotating display connecting via Bluetooth.  I guess it could make for a cool case, since you need to protect the iPad anyway, might as well throw a keyboard on there. But doesn’t it just take the “magic” away?  Expected out this fall, no pricing yet.

The post ClamCase for iPad adds keyboard, keeps Steve Jobs up all night appeared first on Mobile Magazine.