iPad Accessories - iKeyboard vs TouchFire

Part of what makes the iPad such a great mobile device is the near-full-size keyboard. Hidden during other uses and functions, the keyboard appears on the tablet screen when needed and slides out of view when it's not in use.

And while it does allow for much easier typing and data input than you get with mobile phones or other smaller devices, you can't actually touch type without looking at the keys. The skill of touch-typing is based on feeling, being able to feel where your hands are on a keyboard so that you hit the characters you wish.

But all that is about to change...

I've had an iPad (first generation) almost constantly glued to my hands since they first came onto the market and have adapted my use as nearly all iPad users have: we go from true touch-typing back to watching our hands as we do a modified hunt-peck.

However in the summer of 2011, I found my way to a website called Kickstarter. There, in amongst a variety of projects seeking start-up funding, I found a couple of product designs that just might make the iPad as typing-accurate as with a conventional keyboard. Both proposed items are supposed to bring the ability to touch-type to the iPad but each took a slightly different approach and material.

After careful research, I decided I was going to back both of these emerging products and see for myself which worked best for me. In the end, what I spent on these is still less in price than a external, wireless keyboard and much smaller and lighter for travel and other portable usage. And with two weeks of travel coming up in February, and then a trip to Europe planned for this summer, I've got the situations to truly test and travel with these accessories. Bring 'em on!

The iKeyboard was the first iPad typing accessory I found and sponsored in the summer of 2011. It's being manufactured from plastic. Essentially, imagine a thin template that can lay on top of your iPad and provides shape and definition to the typing spaces, thus allowing you to feel where you are and regain your ability to touch type.

In early December 2011, iKeyboard announced it had completed manufacturing and that the product was beginning to ship. Then it turned out their manufacturer switched plastics on them, using an unapproved material. So they had to pull the first items back and remake everything. Then in January, they came up with an improvement, resulting in iKeyboard 1.5 turning into iKeyboard 1.7. I opted to wait for the 1.7, and as of Jan 27, was told it should ship in 10 days. I've got fingers crossed it makes it to me in time to go on the road with me in February.

I chose the sponsorship level where I will receive a 1st generation iKeyboard, plus I'll be able to send in feedback to the company AND I'll be eligible to receive a 2nd generation one as well. That way, if the product is changed significantly, I'll get one of that version as well.

The TouchFire was the second touch-assistant I found for the iPad, sometime in late October 2011. It too was a project looking for funding on Kickstarter, but in that instance, not only was it showing a larger number of supporters, the designers were located in Seattle (where I live) and were going to be showing their product in person as part of evening for other emerging technology. So, with the TouchFire, I got to see and touch the product before I decided to back it.

This keyboard accessory is going to be crafted from a thin layer of silicone. It's been designed to adhere to the iPad 2 with magnets, but since I have an iPad 1, it's going to be interesting to see if it works as well for me. The TouchFire is just starting their manufacturing in early December 2011, so it's most likely that I won't see this product until after the first of the year. A single TouchFire cost me the same as what I paid for the original plus revamped deal that was offered by the iKeyboard people.

Jan 2011 update: I just got contacted by TouchFire for shipping info, so clearly things are moving right along! The one snag in the works is the arrival of Chinese New Year which stops any and all production in China but no one can do anything about that, it's just a fact of doing your manufacturing over there.