Hasta La Gadget!

Akai SynthStation49 dock / giant keyboard combo is less portable than its predecessor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SwiftKey for Android was one of the breakout stars in the virtual keyboard business last year, thanks to a unique predictive phrase system that learns how you talk (or write, as it were) and recommends entire words based on your personal style. It sounds weird, but it’s surprisingly helpful — and even if you don’t use the phrase prediction aspect at all, it’s simply a well laid-out, easy-to-use keyboard. The company has big plans for 2011 with talks of OEM deals in the pipeline, UI and functionality tweaks, new utilities for learning your writing habits by ingesting RSS feeds, Facebook posts, Gmail, and other sources… oh, and this: a new app customized for use on Android tablets.

Text entry on tablets is a challenge that manufacturers and software vendors have been trying to solve for a long, long time, and one look in a busy airport with dozens of people trying to type on iPads carefully-balanced on their laps will tell you that we’ve still got a long way to go. We’re not sure how SwiftKey’s new version will work on 10-inch tablets (take the Xoom, for instance), but we had a chance to check it out on a Galaxy Tab — and we have to say that it’s probably the best landscape virtual keyboard we’ve used on a 7-inch tablet so far. Swype and other tracing keyboards seem out of place on a screen this big, but SwiftKey takes advantage of the fact that your thumbs are so far apart by splitting your QWERTY into two parts and placing the lesser-used numbers in the center.

The keyboard isn’t ready for prime time just yet — SwiftKey still bills it as a prototype — but we imagine it’ll be available before too long. Follow the break for a hands-on video!

Continue reading Exclusive: SwiftKey tweaks its Android keyboard for tablets (hands-on with video)

Exclusive: SwiftKey tweaks its Android keyboard for tablets (hands-on with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips has been touting its uWand “direct pointer” remote for a good while now, but we’ve never had the chance to actually use one ourselves. Today that omission has been rectified as we got our mitts around this motion / gesture-based controller and gave it a quick test drive. It works by having an infrared camera embedded in the front, which detects an IR beacon in your TV and thereby judges its own distance, tilt and relation to the TV. That then allows for things like motion-based zooming, pointing the remote at the particular thing on the television that you want to “click” on, and navigational shortcuts attached to gestures performed with this handheld. There’s also a nice spacious keyboard on the back, assisting in the use of all these Smart TVs CES has been littered with. Philips’ intention is to license the technology out to other manufacturers, which could result in consumer products by 2012 — so yeah, it’s not terribly close to your living room yet, but our gallery of images is.

Continue reading Philips uWand hands-on

Philips uWand hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The folks from Clamcase stopped by our trailer this afternoon with some of the first finished products to roll off the assembly lines, and while we didn’t get to spend as much time as we would’ve liked, we got to take a ton of photos of this intriguing accessory that essentially converts your iPad into a netbook. In our few moments actually using the thing, we can say that it’s got a sturdy build quality and a decent keyboard; although there’s a fair amount of travel, it just feels a bit cheap. It’s also a bit cramped, but as the company rep pointed out to us, it’s as large as they could’ve made it without adding to the iPad’s already large bezel. We’ll update this post when a real review unit lands back on our trailer front door, but for now enjoy our photos below.

Clamcase iPad keyboard case hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been two years in the making, but Smartfish has finally released its opus into the world: the Engage keyboard. It’s been known as the Pro:Motion and ErgoMotion over the years, but now it’s got a new moniker, a classy all-black look, and a $150 pricetag. Outside of the tilted design and large palm rests, the keyboard has an internal motor that moves the position of the two halves of the keyboard based on your typing frequency. The periodic position adjustments help fight off fatigue, an approach developed in conjunction with The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. We’ll try to play around with the keyboard at CES — last year’s prototype wasn’t terribly impressive — but if it’s anything as good as the Smartfish Whirl Mini Notebook Laser Mouse, we might have a new carpal tunnel warrior in our arsenal.

Continue reading Smartfish Engage keyboard automates ergonomics, is finally available

Smartfish Engage keyboard automates ergonomics, is finally available originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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