Dawn of the Bluetooth Keyboard

Ed Hardy · 01-21-2003, 12:22 PM

Users tired of buying new keyboards every time they buy new handhelds should rejoice at the coming of wireless keyboards.

Read more at http://www.brighthand.com/article/Da...ooth_Keyboards

cecina · 01-21-2003, 03:23 PM

Flexis: Bluetooth Flexible Keyboard in Development http://www.flexis.co.kr/web/fxcubebt.htm http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=4829

CES - New Bluetooth Keyboard With Mouse Input On The Way http://www.bargainpda.com/default.as...wComments=true (Flexis? or Belkin?)

Review of Pocketop's Foldable Wireless PDA Keyboard.
http://www.foxpop.ndirect.co.uk/eclectica/pocketop.htm
Pocketop is also considering producing drivers for mobile phones based on the Symbian operating system, although a decision has not been made yet. Bluetooth is another option being considered, but again there are no specific plans, said Ferguson. "Bluetooth would be very natural and obvious move for us," he said. "Bluetooth will be a core part of the future of mobile computing. Also, we aren't huge believers in converged device. For the majority of consumers the idea of modularity will be the favoured solution. You will have Bluetooth phone, a Bluetooth PDA and a Bluetooth keyboard."
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2122596,00.html

RAST Associates' Vario Keyboard adds a new twist to the concept; it doesn't fold, but stretches - and it's got Bluetooth and 802.11b.
http://www.infosync.no/show.php?id=2012

Desktop:

Microsoft shows Bluetooth hub, keyboard and mouse http://www.computerworld.com/mobilet...,70344,00.html
Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Reviews:
http://www.ferrago.co.uk/story/886
http://www.activewin.com/reviews/har...nclusion.shtml
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,667141,00.asp (Microsoft will release additional profiles to allow notebooks, PCs, and PDAs to communicate wirelessly rather than limiting the communication ability to a desktop and its peripherals.)

Bluelogic Bluetooth Keyboard http://www.bluelogic.co.kr/korean/keyboard.htm

My question: Is the Bluetooth serial profile enough or is the HID profile (see MSFT Desktop Solution) prefered for Keyboards to be linked?

Anyone?

imported_argent · 01-21-2003, 03:42 PM

I'll pass on the flexible keyboards, thanks.

And there are already two "universal" PDA keyboards available. One uses IR, the other has a DB9 connector that works with any handhlds's serial cradle.

And while not all handhelds have Bluetooth, the all have IR. In addition, almost all PCs these days have IR on the motherboard, so if you had an IR or serial keyboard you could use your PC keyboard while working on your PDA on your desk.

We don't need to wait for Bluetooth.

Or should that be "again" or "still"? The problem isn't technical, it's marketing.

Ed Hardy · 01-21-2003, 06:32 PM

Sorry, Peter, I don't think either of those options are viable.

Have you used the Pocketop IR keyboard? It's a very kludgy solution. It's a fine system... under ideal conditions, like you have a nice big desk to set up on. I don't think any keyboard will catch on until it is as convenient as a Stowaway.

I think the "plug a keyboard into your cradle" solution is a dead end, too. Very few cradles are designed to be portable. Once you start having to carry a handheld, its bulky cradle, and a keyboard with you everywhere, you might as well bring a laptop.

Neither one of these is going to make a significant dent in sales of the Stowaway.

However, the first company that makes a Bluetooth keyboard that is small and has a clip capable of holding up handhelds of a variety of sizes will have a million seller. They can even offer a version that comes with a Bluetooth SDIO card.

masitti · 01-21-2003, 06:55 PM

If they had a stowaway with Bluetooth that'd be awesome. Still mount the PDA on the keyboard, but it uses Bluetooth to communicate instead.

imported_argent · 01-21-2003, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed
Have you used the Pocketop IR keyboard? It's a very kludgy solution. It's a fine system... under ideal conditions, like you have a nice big desk to set up on. I don't think any keyboard will catch on until it is as convenient as a Stowaway.

Isn't irony out of style or something? I mean one of the original problems with the Stowaway was that you needed a nice big desk to set up on, which is why I got a Gotype instead. The later versions fixed that by making the handheld connection more rigid (changing it from an "A" to a slanted "L") so that you could get by with a hardcover-book sized surface (but you still couldn't use it in places the Gotype worked).

The point is, there's ways to fix minor design flaws, as Think Outside did, and all these are minor design flaws. An IR-transparent light pipe and a "new-stowaway-style" support would solve that one, and cost a grand total of 50 cents (can't be any more than that, they use the optical fibers in throwaway carnival gewgaws). Same with the connector problem... I can buy a pack of 10 electrical adapters for different countries for $1.07 including tax, Think Outside could do the same with their keyboard and give you the same versatility and a lot more convenience than the cradle+db9 solution.

And that convenience is overrated. Even with Dockers Mobile Pants I don't bother carrying my Stowaway around with me... I just carry it to meetings, and for that even something as big as the Gotype is just fine.

Grab your Stowaway. Turn it over. Pull the slide out. There's a little ribbon cable snaking out from underneath the cutout the slide slides into and connecting to the PDA connector.

OK, turn it back over. See the bit of plastic above the 5-6-7 keys, that's connected to the second component of the keyboard by two screws?

Mechanically and electrically, the only difference between the Palm and the HP and the Visor and the iPaq and any other Stowaway keyboard consists of that ribbon cable, minor differences in the molding holding the stand in place, and minor differences in the piece of plastic above the 5-6-7 keys. There may be some differences in the internal electronics, but it would be cheaper for them to make if they were all the same.

A little engineering work, and you could reduce that to a snap-in module holding the connector. It's almost that simple right now.

It's not that it'd be hard for them to do it, it's just that they haven't bothered, I'm sure they don't see a huge market of people who have a bunch of different PDAs.

Bottom line: Bluetooth is nifty, and it solves a bunch of problems, but I don't see it as being vital to solve this one. If this was a problem that badly needed solving it'd be solved by now.

Quote:

However, the first company that makes a Bluetooth keyboard that is small and has a clip capable of holding up handhelds of a variety of sizes will have a million seller. They can even offer a version that comes with a Bluetooth SDIO card.

My reaction is, "Oh no, another gadget I have to watch the charge on". I can see using Bluetooth to connect my PDA to my cellphone or headphones, but if the PDA is going to be connected to the keyboard anyway, why bother?

[And to double the irony, the reason I didn't buy the Pocketop is because it's missing the number keys. That's a much bigger problem than the need for a place to stick the stand. Well, dang it all to heck, the new Stowaway has inherited the same problem.]

Sweetlu · 01-21-2003, 10:03 PM

I wonder....is it possible to build a bluetooth adapter that can connect to a stowaway.

imported_argent · 01-21-2003, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sweetlu
I wonder....is it possible to build a bluetooth adapter that can connect to a stowaway.

If I recall correctly there are serial Bluetooth adapters that can be used to connect dumb serial devices (like a Palm III or V Stowaway) to Bluetooth. You would need to build an adapter that had a Palm III or IV connector (which is basically a card-edge connector on the Palm side) to the Bluetooth adapter (which will probably be a DB9) *and* provide power for the Stowaway.

Then you would need to write a driver for the Bluetooth Stowaway, if you're not using a Bluetooth serial adapter on a Palm III or V for the other end.

It would probably be easier to build a purely electrical adapter, and more useful because it would let you use the cradle built into the Stowaway. The Visor Stowaway would probably be the best choice, since it has a very low profile connector with strong positive locking, and the schematics and parts are available for it.

Ed Hardy · 01-22-2003, 12:48 AM

I started writing this article last Thursday and I sent emails and phone messages to every handheld peripheral company I could think of asking about their plans for Bluetooth enabled keyboards. Deafening silence, except for Belkin. Finally I gave up this afternoon and ran the article with what I had. Since then, three more companies got back to me. * sigh *

Anyway, take a look at the article again:
http://www.brighthand.com/article/Da...ooth_Keyboards

cecina · 01-22-2003, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed
I started writing this article last Thursday and I sent emails and phone messages to every handheld peripheral company I could think of asking about their plans for Bluetooth enabled keyboards. Deafening silence, except for Belkin. Finally I gave up this afternoon and ran the article with what I had. Since then, three more companies got back to me. * sigh *

Anyway, take a look at the article again:
http://www.brighthand.com/article/Da...ooth_Keyboards

Finally a writer who goes a little bit further then the rest. Thanx for the interesting update Ed.