TextBlade Portable Keyboard

[Lunatique]

Yes.

Or the two halves of the keyboard should just be functional without having to be connected (technically it's possible), and each would get half of the space bar. This way all you need is to be able to rest your hands on each half, and you can type.

Type on your armchair, with your arms relaxed. Type when sitting with one half on each of your thighs... Many configurations become usable.

Okay, I just posted a link to this thread at the TextBlade forum, so its creator(s) can take a look at our discussion and maybe implement it in the next iteration of the product, or develop it as an add-on accessory.

[Input Nirvana]

1) Sitting in your easy chair, typing with each hand resting on the arm of the chair and the keyboard halves at the end.

2) Yes, that would truly be input nirvana, amirite?

1) Yes

2) Yes

[jdcarpe]

1) Sitting in your easy chair, typing with each hand resting on the arm of the chair and the keyboard halves at the end.

2) Yes, that would truly be input nirvana, amirite?

1) Yes

2) Yes

Senpai noticed me.

p(*＾-＾*)q

[Input Nirvana]

Lololol

I just wanna hug you, Grasshopper

<NOTE> No wall of text. That should make someone very happy. I sure hope it does, gonna see him at GH Meerup in 2 days.

[Ramuq]

Cool concept but it looks like a ***** to type on and I don't see them being worth 100 bucks. I wouldn't mind picking it up for a more reasonable price though.

[islisis]

It occurred to me that if the modules could be split up successfully, the compact fingerboards might work nicely in a vertical keyboard, especially if they were low-force. A small split keyboard resembling something like two Evoluent vertical mice would be very comfortable, and allow the hands to stay at rest and not fight gravity as with traditional vertical boards.



On an unrelated note, the more I think about it the more useful position-sensitive keycaps could become. Another example would be a phone case keyboard, with the main layer consisting of a single actuating mechanism per thumb, and tactile grooves representing standard alphanumeric keys. For a lot of areas, I see this technology potentially solving the problem of one finger accidentally pressing down two keys at once, without sacrificing the basic haptics of full-size mechanical entry. In this case we allow ourselves to hit all of them at once and simply register the most probable one. It's like using analog logic to augment and solve a digital problem (..no pun intended). It's cheap, compact, light and could be sculpted into a variety of different shapes.
The keys will be the tactility of the grooves, uniformity of activation across the surface, and freedom from lawsuits.

[sypl]

Argh, that site is garbage! Choppy streaming videos to demonstrate the features. Ain't nobody got time for that! Just show me some diagrams and be done with it. The layout is compact and innovative though, and actually kinda similar to something I'm working on.

As always though, this will will and die on how the keys feel. I'm pretty sure we'll know within 10 minutes of someone getting hold of one of these whether they're any good or not.

[mashby]

Has anyone ordered and received one yet?

[daerid]

got a few more weeks to go

[ezrahilyer]

I am watching eagerly for the first reviews on this. I am ready to order, but want to be sure they are working as advertised before I put my money out there.

[spiceBar]

Show Image

got a few more weeks to go

My estimated delivery date is March 16, but I would not be surprised that you receive yours first due to spotty postal service here.

But who knows... This internet page could be totally fake, and nothing is actually being built! :)

[pnutster]

Couldn't resist. Ordered one, a sucker for matrix layout and just trying to get a smaller footprint than my honking Kinesis Advantage This one should do the trick.

In all seriousness, this is going to be so good for travelling.

One thing that I was wondering about, the armrest remarks, I think all components need to be hooked up to the spacebar (the battery part) for it to work? So separating them on armrest will not work I think. Would be nice though!

[derezzed]

Couldn't resist. Ordered one, a sucker for matrix layout and just trying to get a smaller footprint than my honking Kinesis Advantage This one should do the trick.

In all seriousness, this is going to be so good for travelling.

One thing that I was wondering about, the armrest remarks, I think all components need to be hooked up to the spacebar (the battery part) for it to work? So separating them on armrest will not work I think. Would be nice though!

I think your assessment of the necessity to keep the parts together to function is correct.  I really hope the TextBlade is legit.  I really want one but there's no way I'm shelling out $100 for a product that is still vapor at this time.  Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof.

[tetraslash]

Why do I get the feeling that this product may turn out to be a gimmick? Maybe I'm just being a skeptic. Let's see how it works out.

[spiceBar]

My delivery date has been delayed to April 3 from March 16.

I guess everyone's delivery date is going to be delayed, because it looks like they are modifying one of their molds.

On the order status page, there is a list of the steps they are intending to execute. This includes "Building TextBlade", "QA at the factory", "QA in California" and some other steps.

"Building TextBlade" has suddenly be broken into a bunch of new items, so the task list now looks like this:
- Received Order (jan 14)
- Processed Order (jan 14)
- Charged credit card (jan 14)
- Emailed confirmation (jan 14)
- Started build of TextBlade order (feb 16)
- Completed NanoCharger (feb 17)
- Completed NanoStand (feb 19)
- Completed KeyBlade PCB (feb 20)
- Completed SpaceBlade PCB (feb 23)
- Completed SpaceBlade base (feb 26)
- Started Butterfly mold upgrade (march 1)
- Completed KeyBlade base (march 3)
- Butterfly mold upgrade in progress (march 6)  <--- they are currently working on this
- Validate upgraded Butterfly (est march 14)
- Complete final assembly (est march 21)
- QA TextBlade in factory (est march 22)
- QA TextBlade in California (est march 28)
- Pack order in California (est apr 3)
- Ship via FedEx priority (est apr 3)

In the process, the shipping date has slipped by more than 2 weeks...

Let me guess... They have realized they had a design error on the case's plastic mold, or maybe the factory has made a mistake and some hole in the PCB is not where it should be, so they have decided to throw away the first molded cases and to design a new one because that's less expensive than throwing away the defective PCBs? OK, that's just speculation.

[pnutster]

Ordered yesterday and delivery date is set to May 15th. I just hope that is 2015, they don't specify hehehe

[SpAmRaY]

https://forum.waytools.com/t/order-estimates-slip-a-week-no-updates-from-waytools/187

[mashby]

https://forum.waytools.com/t/order-estimates-slip-a-week-no-updates-from-waytools/187

I thought he handled the negativity pretty well, but I'm glad I'm not in his shoes.

Clearly no one in that thread has backed a Kickstarter before. I know this wasn't a Kickstarter backed program, but a few weeks, or even a month delay is nothing on a device that isn't on the market already is nothing.

[Justintoxicated]

I'm totally intrigued by the TextBlade too, but I can't help and think if I'm going to carry it around in my pocket so I can type on it anywhere, I'd want to be able to type with it even when there isn't a flat surface to put it on. Imagine if you are in your car and an email or text arrived and you want to reply immediately, or you're walking down the street, or in a park, or anywhere that doesn't have a flat surface for you to place the TextBlade on.

Thats what swype is for duh

[beestingza]

Overall neat concept.

The very slight key surface indication and use of a single button each for the separate columns on pinky and index finger – and for the rows in each column – seems like it would be a pretty big pain, causing lots of mistakes. I suspect that people with large hands are going to have a lot of difficulty with this thing.

That's what I thought also. However I can see that the rationale was that the buttons would be too small otherwise. I expect it will all boil down to whether the haptics/tactility are at least as good as a chicklet keyboard, and whether the software is smart enough to eliminate errors. 

I think if they were willing to take up ~30-50% more area with this keyboard, they could make it much less error-prone and more flexible, by slightly shifting the columns so the home row lined up with neutral finger positions, splitting separate keys, adding an extra couple thumb keys. Ideally a split portable keyboard like this would support 20°+ of tenting instead of lying flat on the table.

This is very true also. I never liked any of the reduced footprint laptop keyboards that came down the pike in the 90's

Dude in the demo video should get his palms up off the table.

Your last comment was the only one I didn't automatically agree with. Don't you think that since the keyboard is already so close to the table surface that resting your palms wouldn't be an issue? I see that the fastest typists always adopt a floating hand position, but seems so fatiguing to me.

[Neo.X]

looks pretty neat, looking forward for a user review.

[jacobolus]

Dude in the demo video should get his palms up off the table.

Your last comment was the only one I didn't automatically agree with. Don't you think that since the keyboard is already so close to the table surface that resting your palms wouldn't be an issue? I see that the fastest typists always adopt a floating hand position, but seems so fatiguing to me.

If it’s fatiguing that means (a) your keyboard is probably placed and/or oriented inconveniently and as a result (b) your arms are being held further out away from your body than you want them to be, forcing your shoulders and back muscles to do a lot of work. If you notice any of your muscles under a high static load, then you should change something about your position. If your upper arms are hanging down loosely at your sides with your back straight and your shoulders back in a comfortable relaxed position, your biceps should be able to support your forearms with a like 70–110° elbow angle for hours at a time, especially if you take occasional breaks, as you should especially be doing if you work while sitting. If you really need to rest on something, I also know people who have had good success just resting their elbows on armrests or their forearms on those moving forearm rests. As always, YMMV. Do what works for you. (I’m not a doctor or physical therapist or ergonomics researcher, just some guy on the internet who has read and thought a lot about the subject.)

When you type you want your wrists to be as neutral as possible. People typing on a laptop keyboard or a full-size separate keyboard with a wrist rest (where in both cases the palms end up elevated to about the height of the keys) still usually have their wrists extended at a 10–25° angle. This not only substantially reduces finger agility, but it’s also quite unhealthy to do for extended periods of time with repetitive finger motions, leading to tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc. It’s still better than typing on a tall keyboard with wrists resting on the table, as many people do, but that’s a very low bar.

[ander]

Barbie and Ken will definitely want these.

[SpAmRaY]

Barbie and Ken will definitely want these.

No they wouldn't, it's not pink.

[Oobly]

Dude in the demo video should get his palms up off the table.

Your last comment was the only one I didn't automatically agree with. Don't you think that since the keyboard is already so close to the table surface that resting your palms wouldn't be an issue? I see that the fastest typists always adopt a floating hand position, but seems so fatiguing to me.

If it’s fatiguing that means (a) your keyboard is probably placed and/or oriented inconveniently and as a result (b) your arms are being held further out away from your body than you want them to be, forcing your shoulders and back muscles to do a lot of work. If you notice any of your muscles under a high static load, then you should change something about your position. If your upper arms are hanging down loosely at your sides with your back straight and your shoulders back in a comfortable relaxed position, your biceps should be able to support your forearms with a like 70–110° elbow angle for hours at a time, especially if you take occasional breaks, as you should especially be doing if you work while sitting. If you really need to rest on something, I also know people who have had good success just resting their elbows on armrests or their forearms on those moving forearm rests. As always, YMMV. Do what works for you. (I’m not a doctor or physical therapist or ergonomics researcher, just some guy on the internet who has read and thought a lot about the subject.)

When you type you want your wrists to be as neutral as possible. People typing on a laptop keyboard or a full-size separate keyboard with a wrist rest (where in both cases the palms end up elevated to about the height of the keys) still usually have their wrists extended at a 10–25° angle. This not only substantially reduces finger agility, but it’s also quite unhealthy to do for extended periods of time with repetitive finger motions, leading to tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc. It’s still better than typing on a tall keyboard with wrists resting on the table, as many people do, but that’s a very low bar.

Not to mention that with your wrists anchoring your hands you can't involve your upper arms in helping  type, leading to fatigue / muscle strain of your fingers / wrists / forearms.

[Altis]

Looks like a decent amount of key travel and minimal finger movement. Could be a pretty ergonomic little device.. looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[metalliqaz]

Wow I missed this. I need it

[FoC_Tow]

Wow, this looks definitely a lot more interesting then I expected for a mobile/portable keyboard.

I'm also considering to order one to try it, so looks a lot like the wallet hack is expanding to mobile devices now... Great 

[metalliqaz]

Looks like there are none of these out in the wild, so I'm guessing this product isn't actually out yet?  Seems like a risky move without any real reviews.

Also I notice they charge extra for the remapping app, unless you preorder.  I don't like the sound of that.

[derezzed]

They still offer the 6-pack for $495.  That works out to $82.50 per unit, if you can find 5 other people to go in on that offer.  Even at that price, I'm not intrigued enough to take a chance.  I'll wait for several reviews (if it ever reaches market) before I put it on my list of desired keyboards.

[ander]

Barbie and Ken will definitely want these.

No they wouldn't, it's not pink.

Okay, '90s Barbie wouldn't want one.

BTW, if any of you are trying to improve your image with the babes, you should probably steer clear of this kind of thing, at least in public.

[spiceBar]

...
BTW, if any of you are trying to improve your image with the babes, you should probably steer clear of this kind of thing, at least in public.

Thanks, I was eagerly waiting for an expert's advice. 

[beestingza]

When you type you want your wrists to be as neutral as possible. People typing on a laptop keyboard or a full-size separate keyboard with a wrist rest (where in both cases the palms end up elevated to about the height of the keys) still usually have their wrists extended at a 10–25° angle. This not only substantially reduces finger agility, but it’s also quite unhealthy to do for extended periods of time with repetitive finger motions, leading to tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc. It’s still better than typing on a tall keyboard with wrists resting on the table, as many people do, but that’s a very low bar.

I think I got you now. Hopefully this is why I have trouble breaking 50 wpm.  )
Thanks for the insight.

[Huxley2500]

Looks flimsy.

[jacobolus]

Review:
http://www.macrumors.com/2015/03/06/hands-on-with-the-textblade-keyboard/

[daerid]

Review:
http://www.macrumors.com/2015/03/06/hands-on-with-the-textblade-keyboard/

That's actually reassuring. Looking forward to receiving mine in April

[heedpantsnow]

Yeah, interesting that they quote stuff like 2mm of travel and 55g actuation. Makes it seem like they almost understand sth about keyboards.

[Canut]

Yeah, interesting that they quote stuff like 2mm of travel and 55g actuation. Makes it seem like they almost understand sth about keyboards.

The info on Mac Rumors does sound encouraging.
As does stuff like:
"...an app [...] to remap keys, create macros... and more."
"[...] over-the-air updates to keep firmware up to date [...]The TextBlade will have more functions six months after it's released than it does today."

Bring on the GH reviews!

[Oobly]

They didn't mention in the article how to actually type with it or what the sensing mechanism is. This section in particular is full of "magic":

"Each component of the TextBlade has a built-in computer chip to power the MultiKey and MultiLayer features. The computer chips are networked and connected by magnets, which is what allows the TextBlade to function without any cords or circuits that bridge the different pieces together.

Rare earth magnets are built into every key of the TextBlade and all of the magnets perform different functions, from allowing the pieces of the TextBlade to snap easily together to charging to facilitating communication between each piece. There are 23 magnets in the space bar alone, for example."

So it somehow uses magnets for sensing, charging and inter-chip communication?

[daerid]

Considering electricity and magnetism are the same fundamental force, that's not so far fetched.

[metalliqaz]

There's no way it uses magnets for communication.  It obviously uses them for structure, and according to the above text blob, it uses them for sensing.  Communication is definitely handled with good old conductors (read: wires) and radio waves.  I'd be willing to bet that the only wireless is bluetooth to the host.  The two key arrays probably use contact points at the edges of the three pieces.  Apparently, the keys work using a combination of capacitive sensing and mechanical switching.

[sypl]

Looks like MacRumors got paiiiiiiiiiid! Blatant!

[metalliqaz]

Looks like MacRumors got paiiiiiiiiiid! Blatant!

It's MacRumors.

[jacobolus]

They’ve filed a bunch of patents if someone wants to go do the research to figure out how these things work.

metalliqaz has the right idea though. The separate parts obviously have little gold contacts that get snapped into alignment with magnets.

[suicidal_orange]

That review was so positive as to make it questionable, but there really doesn't seem to be much to dislike - it's small, it's ergonomically shaped, built in charging connector and if it gets close to the claimed month between charges the lack of a replaceable battery shouldn't be an issue.

I'm tempted, but as my netbook won't rotate I'm not allowed to view the store

[jacobolus]

there really doesn't seem to be much to dislike

From what we can see so far, I think they’ve done an admirable job considering their size constraints.

I just personally think they could do quite a bit better functionally if they were willing to make it twice as big.

[nova779]

This is a pretty neat idea but adapting the whole new size and layout seems really difficult and almost not practical. I'll just carry my poker everywhere and annoy everyone as always.

[derezzed]

I emailed WayTools to ask about the 6-pack bundle.  Their reply is below.  I'm still not motivated enough to buy it but I find myself leaning closer to a purchase.  Their claim that we will be able to buy additional plates with Dvorak legends, Colemak legends, no legends, etc., is particularly intriguing, considering the keymapping software will be free to customers who preorder.

[metalliqaz]

This is a pretty neat idea but adapting the whole new size and layout seems really difficult and almost not practical. I'll just carry my poker everywhere and annoy everyone as always.

True geekhacker

[Oobly]

They’ve filed a bunch of patents if someone wants to go do the research to figure out how these things work.

metalliqaz has the right idea though. The separate parts obviously have little gold contacts that get snapped into alignment with magnets.

Here's the clearest picture I can find of the edges of the parts where they connect:


Looks like only 2 contacts per side that connect to the "spacebar" and another 2 between the sides, unless I'm missing something. That makes it possible (just) to use single wire signalling to communicate between each side and the main unit (2 power connections to main unit, 2 power connections between units, 1 communication line to each unit).