Writer is another keyboard case for the iPad, but this one seems to be small and slim enough to carry with you, and better than my previous favorite solution, an Apple Bluetooth keyboard.
The case folds to just under an inch thick and around a pound in weight (iPad included), and folds out around a hinge that includes its own light-up battery indicator. The keyboard also sucks itself to the case via magnetic strips, and these also let you slide it back and forth the obtain any screen angle you like. Worried about the keys butting up against the screen when it’s closed? So was I, but the top side of the keyboard has rubber nubbins to stop the two from touching. The keyboard also switches off its Bluetooth radio when you close the lid, just like a real laptop.
The iPad is a fantastic writers’ device. Prop it up in portrait-orientation, stream some music to your speakers with AirPlay and use the Apple Bluetooth keyboard along with a full-screen text-editor and you’re as close to a typewriter as you could wish for, only without all the effort, and with the addition of a delete key. The only problem with Apple’s keyboard is that, while it has brightness, iTunes and volume controls, it lacks a home button and a screen lock. The Writer has these, along with a questionably useful start-photo-slideshow key.
The Writer is being hawked on Kickstarter, the site where the public can kick in a pledge to get projects made. Adonit, the company behind the Writer, already have a bunch of prototypes out for review and testing, so this looks pretty close to market. The minimum total pledge of $10,000 has almost been met (as of now, founders Kris Perpich Zach Zeliff have raised $7,800). You can buy in for $89 (the final retail price will be $99).
It might just be the coolest-looking keyboard-case we’ve yet seen. On the other hand, I might just stick with my existing iPad / external keyboard combo, if only for the lack of the home key. Otherwise, it might be a little too easy to check the Twitter when I should be writing.
Adonit Writer: iPad Case + Keyboard [Kickstarter]
Adonit Writer product page [Adonit]
See Also:
- Aluminum Shell Hides iPad Keyboard
- iPad Keyboard: Pricey and Awkward, But a Must-Have for …
- IPad Keyboard Dock Works with iOS4
- ThinkGeek Joins iPad Keyboard Case Cavalcade
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