Macenstein is reporting a rumor of an “upcoming Apple TV update and the first Apple TV-specific accessory, a multi-touch Apple keyboard.”
A new keyboard. bluetooth. aluminum with design and keys just like existing wireless. but to the right a touch-sensitive area. it is aluminum and backlit. a thin groove defines the edge of its area. it is programmable. it can illuminate a numerical pad. a click wheel. a standard trackpad. a keyboard. whatever. create your own.
apple tv has a unused bluetooth capability. not for much longer. you will be able to pair this keyboard with the apple tv. why? an apple tv software update will include full .mac compatibility. check and write email, surf, organize photos, create and order a photo book or upload them to a .mac gallery, and ichat, even video ichat. plug in a USB webcam, or even a digital camcorder or just a digital still cam as long as it has video capture and USB.
More in the full article here.
Nah, the Multitouch keyboard for the Apple TV is already out… It’s called the iPhone, or iPod Touch.
We’ve gotten used to having remote controls scatterd around the living room. Will the same be true of a keyboard? I don’t know.
Looks like it’s right handed only. A large % of Mac users are left handed. General population 7% lefties. Artists 20% lefties.
This resembles the old Web TV attempt, which was a total failure… It’s going to be the iPhone / Touch! It would even help the sales of iPhone / Touch, because if you don’t have one, you’ll have to use the standard Apple TV remote (or if you forget your iPhone somewhere, you’ll still have a backup).
Just turn it over!
So…is the Mac mini dead or will this work with it? ‘Coz… I’m sick of running the mouse over my bedsheets.
I don’t think there will be a keyboard part to this, just a touch pad that will show you what you need when you need it. When you have to enter text you see a keyboard, when you need a number pad you will see the number pad. When you need play, forward, and rewind you see something like an iPod wheel or button like a remote. It will show you what you need when you need it but it will not have keys that go up and down.
It will also be able to see your mac, your AppleTV, your iphone, and your iPod, and you will be able to control all of the devices remotely with the pad. they will talk to this super remote via a wireless network.
Amazin1, “Just turn it over!”
I love it, very funny. You would be an Amazin1 if you could type on it.
Now if it were ALL touch, it could any be configuration. Even left-handed.
“check and write email, surf, organize photos, create and order a photo book or upload them to a .mac gallery, and ichat, even video ichat. plug in a USB webcam, or even a digital camcorder or just a digital still cam as long as it has video capture and USB.”
i would love to have safari on my AppleTV. could my wife watch the webcast shows she misses? i doubt it, that would eat into the subscriptions wouldn’t it?
it is programmable
Bzzt. Wrong!
WHY would you need a programmable keyboard, with function keys, arrow keys, and keypad for a living-room device? Besides, this thing has WAY too many keys for Steve’s tastes.
Cost-issues aside, a multi-touch remote that resembled a iPhone would be ideal. Second choice would be a Wii-style remote/wiimote with on-screen keyboard.
feh, ‘Macintosh’ is right, just use your iPhone or iPod touch.
Thats nice, but the iPhone/Touch would work just as well right? That would be a killer combination.
I clicked on the link and didn’t see any keyboards. All I saw were the Macenstein Chicks!!! WOW!!!!!!
That shit is wack.
I would use that as a replacement for by keyboard mouse for my regular mac and mini.
My perfect wireless keyboard from Apple (not necessarily just for the aTV) would be the current wireless keyboard with a trackpad placed BELOW the keyboard – just like on their laptops. No relearning hand movements (to the side rather than down), it would be identical to the laptops. I’d certainly use one on my desktop (getting rid of my mouse in the process).
@d/nomder
way too many keys……….. it first of all is a rumor. second there could be future updates that will more than likely be added to the apple TV. I would not be shocked to see that it links to your .mac account so you can email or surf the web.
I think this idea is cool but I think they should just make a remote out of the ipod touch and iphone… though not everyone wants to spend $250 or more to control their apple tv. Also this should and probably will work with having a desktop mac. probably $100 maybe 75 for a wireless touchpad keyboard like this. It would be kinda cool giving the option to preset keys on the touch pad.
Being a designer it would be great to set most of my shortcuts on the right pad especially using maya or adobe creative suite.
It would need to be a major ‘paradigm shift’ in order for people to actually embrace using a QWERTY keyboard while on the couch. Surfing web and e-mailing is a one-person experience; watching movies and TV works well with groups. What I’m trying to say is, TV belongs in the living room because it tends to be (historically has) a family activity. Computer generally belongs to the bedroom/office/library, since it is private, one-person activity. Laptops tend to break this rule by bringing private activity into the living room, but the activity still remains private.
Using a keyboard with a device that uses family TV as its default display implies moving private, one-person activities into a family environment. Unless Apple has figured out how to make this feel natural, people just won’t accept it.
This keyboard looks more like someone’s work of imagination.
I got an Apple Bluetooth keyboard to use with my HDTV and MacBook Pro. It’s nice to sit back and navigate with the keyboard form across the room.
Adding a multi-touch pad to the thing would be a nice addition, because then I could forgo using a bluetooth mouse (RadTech BT500+… NICE!), which can be a bit awkward.
That is something that would be awesome, a track pad/keyboard would be hot.
Predrag…
Actually, using a keyboard in the living room with a group can be quite a lot of fun.
For instance:
Friends are over watching pictures I took in Bulgaria last summer on the HDTV. I can switch between photos and Google Earth to show maps and aerial views of Sofia and Plovdiv and the Rhodopi Mountains.
We pass the keyboard around and people can Google recipes, or snippets of Bulgarian music, or images of frescoes in monasteries, etc, etc.
It really can be a group experience and a LOT more fun than just sitting and watching pictures and listening to my girlfriend and I tell stories.
Safari would be good on Apple TV. Apple could allow people/companies to make applications for the Apple TV. Maybe? Maybe not?
You’re right. That observation was the same thing that popped into my mind when I read about this keyboard.
Not to mention the fragility of an aluminum keypad thin enough to be backlit.
Now… an entire keyboard (whether for Mac or AppleTV) programable and customizable and based on iPod Touch/iPhone Touch technology… yeah, that would be awesome… and that’s something I do expect to see sometime down the road.
That keyboard is awesome; perfect for any Mac with Bluetooth. On another note, doesn’t Apple already have an AppleTV with keyboard and mouse called the MacMini? I’m just sayin’…