Nuu Mini-key transforms iPhone 4 into QWERTY slider
updated 01:15 pm EDT, Mon September 6, 2010
Nuu intros Mini-key add-on iPhone 4 keyboard
Young accessory maker Nuu at IFA showed a new iPhone 4 add-on that promises a fully integrated keyboard. The Mini-key melds a protective case for the Apple phone itself with a slide-out, tilting QWERTY keyboard to reassure those jumping from phones with physical keyboards. The design takes advantage of iOS 4's built-in support for keyboards, although whether it uses Bluetooth or the Dock Connector isn't known.
The peripheral has its own separate battery to power a backlight without draining the iPhone's main power.
Nuu hopes to have the Mini-key in stores by the holidays. The Hong Kong-based company does plan a US launch and expects to price the add-on at $69 for its release in the country. [via MobileMag]
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2006
Bluetooth & Suggestion
Nice! Their webpage includes a Bluetooth logo, so it's almost certainly a Bluetooth keyboard.
Nuu might want to create a free-standing version with a fold-over cover for the iPad and previous models of the iPhone and iPod touch (perhaps with a tray/holder). It'd be much smaller than Apple's Bluetooth keyboard and, if they include i-device specific keys, a lot handier to use than the typical Windows-layout Bluetooth mini-keyboards you find on eBay.
Nuu or someone in this market should go a step further and make a handheld, thumb-operated keyboard where the shift and command-like keys operated by pushing in on the sides or bottom. It'd be quicker and less clumsy.