“The Typo Keyboard, an iPhone accessory backed by ‘American Idol’ host Ryan Seacrest, is scheduled to ship to customers by the end of the month after the product sold out of its initial inventory,” Nick Turner reports for Bloomberg. “”
“The device, which debuted at last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show, lets users attach a BlackBerry-style keyboard to the iPhone 5 and 5s,” Turner reports. “The startup behind the $99 product, Typo Products LLC, expects to ship new orders by the end of February, according to a statement today.”
Turner reports, “‘We’re excited about all of the positive feedback Typo has generated and we’re working hard to ensure that we get as many keyboards in consumers hands as soon as possible,’ said Typo Chief Executive Officer Laurence Hallier, who co-founded the Los Angeles-based company with Seacrest.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: No word on how many units they had in initial inventory.
Related articles:
Mossberg reviews Ryan Seacrest-backed ‘Typo’ physical keyboard for Apple iPhone – January 14, 2014
Beleaguered BlackBerry sues company co-founded by Ryan Seacrest over iPhone-compatible physical keyboard – January 3, 2014
Ryan Seacrest invested $1 million to develop iPhone physical keyboard – December 5, 2013
Hmm. I am going to guess maybe 1000 units? 🙂
Covering the thumbprint sensor? I don’t care how much someone might want a physical keyboard, that’s an immediate fail.
Obviously a iP5 design and too late to change when the 5s appeared.
They knew they’d messed that up several months ago. Odd how they bludgeoned forward anyway. That’s not good design or business acumen. I also smell FAIL.
Now there really isn’t any reason for people to stick with Blackberry
…now that DongleBerry™ is available.
Wasn’t one of Blackberry’s big selling points, that BB users couldn’t live without their chicklet keyboard? And for that reason, they’d never leave their Blackberry Phones? Well, this device pretty much makes that a mute point. This is going to pull some BB users over to the iPhone. I am curious to see how many will switch.
If I were a BB user who was a whiz using they’re keyboard and had to have it, I’d definitely consider the Typo with an iPhone. The iPhone has all the security required in an enterprise environment. Even Apple Mail can be configured for Exchange. Add iWork and iLife for free, and that crackberry is looking pretty lame and pathetic.
For these reasons, I actually like this product. Let the conversions begin.
“moot”… maybe that’s a fault of your current keyboard? 😀
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/moot
He used “they’re” for “their,” too. Or didn’t you notice?
I think that’s valid. I also wonder how many blackberry to iPhone converters will stick with typo after a while. It might end up being a security blanket for them, just knowing that they can do it might make them feel better about making the switch, whether or not they put the typo to use.
I’d also like to point out that it’s a “moot point”, not a “mute point”. Actually, I didn’t like pointing that out. It was totally against my will. I felt compelled to do so and felt I had no say in the matter. Sorry!
The grammar police are not real. They are a state of mind, over which some of us have little control.
A moot point is, technically, an arguable one. This point in question is perhaps more aptly described as a “non-issue”.
no thanks already have a keyboard in my iPhone !
Where is the stylus holder and the USB port? Doesn’t Apple need to have a keyboard and a stylus and a USB port to succeed? All the pundits said so.
Sold out?! Someone bought the prototype!!
Only idiots need this.
WHY????
Isn’t RIM / BlackBerry Inc suing these people for this device?
Yes – See here –
I personally hate the mini keyboard. I tried it on some old smartphones and the touch screen is by far the best experience for me.
Having said that, some people really miss their mini-keyboard. Either by use, or by physical comfort, or for whatever reason, some people find this useful.
What really bothers me is people trying to force other people on their choice of touch screen vs. physical. So “touch-screeners” are cool, “mini-keybordists” are idiots?
I disagree. While this keyboard has design issues (like covering the biometrics), apparently some people prefer to sacrifice that vs. having a keyboard. At leard, this is better than the silicone travesti someone made which covered half screen.
But the bottom line, it’s all about CHOICE. I do have an iPad, and I do have a keyboard for it. Sometimes, it’s easier for me to use the keyboard than using the screen. Sometimes, when I do live presentations, I don’t want the soft keyboard to pop over the screen, so an external keyboard is useful.
Bottom line, the fact that it’s sold out right after introduction has to mean something: There’s a market for it.
I also heard he removed the power steering pump from his Lamborghini… Weird
what?!
are we really going back to Pre-Post-PC era? PC era is so past tense – what’s wrong with our culture?!
why regress instead of evolve?
is evolution & survival of the fittest over?!
why be stuck in & hang onto the past?
why use a keyboard in a Touch(y) world?!
when does progress occur?
what’s the bloody difference with touch keyboard anyway?
touch keyboard on iOS is NOT smaller than physical keys?!
those fearing change should use DumbPhones, not SmartPhones or at least expect Android to suit their brain-dead drone needs.
so, Ryan Seacrest, though you’re the only bearable American host we have on tv, since the Brit Cat Deeley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Deeley) is by far superior than any, i lost some respect of you now…though you sold out on pre-orders since CES 2014-01 and your keyboard has a small market, it stagnates human progress