By Nevermind the fact that when I asked the representative to explain his product he completely ignored me, forcing me to fend for myself. Not to mention, he had JUST finished giving me a complete tour and told me he would gladly demo it on video. I won’t hold that against him… because his SmallQWERTY device, financed by a company called Mobiance, was rather awesome in concept:
Not only can you use the QWERTY pad to type directly into your tablet, or use the rear Motorola-Backflipish trackpad to control a “mouse” on the tablet interface, but you can also keep the device in your pocket and get audio alerts/vibrations for various notifications on your tablet.
I dig the idea, but I think it’s too early for something like the SmallQWERTY to be successful: we’re so early in the tablet craze that it’s hard to know what will or won’t be popular. We don’t even know how consumers are using their tablets regularly yet. With so many different combinations of accessories that work between their tablets and phones, which is the perfect sauce? Or is it best to let each device be its own?
I think there is a ton of room for innovation in the mobile accessory market, from phones to tablets to everything in between and outside. I’m not sure the SmallQWERTY will find its way into the mainstream, but its a cool concept and there will definitely be some innovating manufacturers that make it big by striking gold with a simple accessory that solves a simple problem.
So what’s YOU accessory idea. Leave it below so I can patent it, manufacture it, and get rich. Thanks.
How about a smell-o-vision peripheral? That’s bound to be popular, right? ;)
Tablets are a fad and this is proof.
Its a great idea just early in the game. If tablets catch on so will this
How about smell o vision 3D porn
I think I’d actually find the most use for something like this with my HTPC.
I’d love this for the PS3 or media centre.
I think I’d rather just have an almost normal sized (notebook/netbook sized) keyboard that I could use over bluetooth. Seems kind of silly to have a wirless add-on that is slightly larger than the average slider keyboard.
The Logitech DiNovo Mini is a similar device. A bit bigger, but it actually works well with the Galaxy Tab, including mouse support.
The PS3 clip-on keypad also works pretty well with Android devices, and is about the same size as this thing, and also has a VERY clever mouse-surface mechanism (where the entire keyboard face turns into a capacitive touchpad), and it would be pretty easy to trim off the excess plastic to make it eminently pocketable.
Think it would be better as an app for the smartphone you’re already carrying. Especially if its a slider
The thing I don’t like about thumb keyboads on phones (I have an original droid) is you don’t get text expansion. Using text expansion you can type way faster (and more accurately) than you can using a thumb keyboard imo.
Tablets are NOT a fad. I know so many people that are going to ditch their macbooks and laptops to use a tablet for their mobile computing needs (Myself included. With companies like Nvidia backing game development/distrobution… I bet it will kick all handheld game consoles to the curb as well…
So now I’m going to carry a phone, a tablet, AND a mini key board? I don’t think so.
Pointless. As @Bob alluded, why not use my phone instead. I can swype quite fast on it, much better than thumb typing. And if I need a full size keyboard, I can just pull the tablet and type on it – isn’t that what it’s supposed to provide anyway.