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MacBook Air-style keyboard for iPhone

updated 12:35 pm EDT, Fri July 4, 2008

MacBook Air iPhone KB


An iPhone modder recently unveiled a MacBook Air-style makeover for the iPhone's keyboard, offering users an attractive alternative to the jeweled buttons of the default keyboard. Just Another iPhone Blog reveals that although the keys have a smaller appearance, they are aesthetically pleasing and do not permanently replace the layout for the default keyboard. The app warns users to delete any existing keyboard modifications, as it may cause issues.

Replacing the keyboard layout on the iPhone requires users to jailbreak the device.


by MacNN Staff

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 iPhone, hacks, MacBook Air, keyboard

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  1. howiethemacguy

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2007

    +1
    07/04, 12:54pm | report spam | Reply |

    Interesting...

    It actually looks kinda nice. I would love to see the iPhone keyboard go landscape in every app that uses a keyboard.

  1. Inkling

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2006

    0
    07/04, 01:27pm | report spam | Reply |

    Morse code input

    Someone should also create a Morse code input for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The code isn't that hard to learn and tests have shown that for small devices it's much faster any other form of input.

    --Mike Perry KE7NV

  1. Zaren

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    +5
    07/04, 01:35pm | report spam | Reply |

    @inkling

    Really, it's faster? I don't mean to rain on your hammy parade, but I'd be surprised to see that ... --- ... could be faster to key in than SOS, let alone .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .. .----. -- / .- / -- .- -.- . I suppose it's possible that it could be faster, what with only having to use two buttons, though. Can you point out any of those tests? I'd be interested to se them.

  1. das

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2001

    +1
    07/04, 05:21pm | report spam | Reply |

    No, Morse is not faster

    Zaren, I think he's talking about things like this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhsSgcsTMd4

    Morse can be faster in the hands of someone who is skilled with Morse, when pitted against conventional phone handsets without full keyboards.

    But Morse is definitely not faster than devices with a full QWERTY keyboard. Sorry, Inkling. That said, if someone wants to provide Morse input for all the old school amateur radio operators out there who think Morse is great, they should knock themselves out.

  1. Haroscarfel

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2007

    +3
    07/05, 01:37am | report spam | Reply |

    wheres dvorak

    i would love to see dvorak layout come to the iphone. my iphone is one of the only time in my daily life that i have to re-experience the qwerty

  1. danviento

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2005

    0
    07/05, 02:22am | report spam | Reply |

    i'd say

    If you want to see legit changes in iPhone interface, it might be a while. The current terms for iPhone apps at the App Store only let one program run at a time, and a universal change like thisn that effects other apps would be outside of that box.

    That being said, I would definitely love to see landscape-keyboard in every app. Something of this nature would have to be an added ability coming from Apple. As for dvorak keyboards, it wouldn't seem to hard for Apple to come out with a remapping of the keys. The whole point of having a touch-screen interface was that it can go through huge interface upgrades without changing any hardware.

    That software update is still pending, so keep your fingers crossed.

  1. notehead

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0
    07/05, 09:33pm | report spam | Reply |

    hardware keyboard?

    How about a tiny hardware keyboard, via Bluetooth? Something about the same size as the iPhone, perhaps a tad thinner, could be very useful to those who will be doing a lot of text entry on their iPhones.

  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    -1
    07/06, 10:43am | report spam | Reply |

    re: hardware keybd

    Sorry, Apple isn't allowing such things. They've blocked access to hardware devices to connect to the iPhone, probably because they fear that someone with a hardware keyboard will cause the phone to crash, not accept calls, take down the entire cell network across the country, if not the world, etc, or whatever lame-a** reason they use to restrict use of the phone.

    Remember, its a phone FIRST! Which is why Apple is so aggressively advertises its internet capabilities, the new OS 2.0 and the ability to use 3rd party apps, including games, and all the different things you can do with it. None of which actually related to it being a 'phone first'.

  1. ophiochos

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2006

    +1
    07/06, 08:34pm | report spam | Reply |

    dvorak or nothing

    just as the tech world has to realise that Mac users are vociferous and fussy, so too Apple should realise that anyone who bothered to learn Dvorak (either as touch-type or prising keys off and putting them back) are equally insanely committed to it. i'm not getting an iPhone til I get dvorak; I already dropped Palm because they stopped supporting it. qwerty is a truly insane layout, the Windows ME of keyboard layouts...

  1. ophiochos

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2006

    0
    07/06, 08:37pm | report spam | Reply |

    on the other hand...

    it struck me that the iPhone corrects mistakes based on proximity of keys? so they would have to rewrite that whole algorithm to deal with a sensible keyboard layout. Which adds to the OS overhead. So maybe we won't be seeing it in the near future.
    So I won't be getting one. once you have left qwerty behind you never, never want to go back.

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