Microsoft’s Universal Mobile Keyboard is an $80 Bluetooth keyboard designed to work with Windows, Android, or iOS devices. But if a 9 inch wide keyboard doesn’t seem particularly portable enough, you might want to check out the new Universal Foldable Keyboard.
The company’s new keyboard folds in half to save space. It’s coming in July for $100.
Like Microsoft’s existing universal keyboard the new model is designed to work with Windows, Android, or iOS devices — and you can pair it with more than one device at a time so that you can quickly switch from typing on your tablet to typing on your phone with the tap of a button.
The keyboard is spill-resistant, has a fabric exterior, and Microsoft says the battery lasts for up to 3 months between charges.
This is exactly $95 more than it’s worth. Also it looks so 1990, that my iGo Stowaway from 2004 can’t stop laughing…
https://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/05/igo-stowaway-pic-rm-eng.jpg
A sharp reminder of how consumer technology is starting to mimic fashion in how things keep returning every other decade or so. I still recall reading about people using folding keyboards with their Symbian and PocketPC devices damn it…
Best news here, at least for some of us, is that Windows Phone will finally add Bluetooth HID support, so this and other keyboards can be used. Long overdue…
I wonder why nobody makes those PDA-era folding keyboards anymore. The ones that folded in 3 sections, left no gaps between the hinges, and fit in your pocket.
I believe someone does. I purchased one, perhaps two years ago, from a small company in Hong Kong. It looked like it could have been made from the same tooling as the old Stowaway Sierra. The pieces were made of a softer, lower-quality material, as if the original tooling had deteriorated. It did fold and unfold correctly but I was never able to get a computer to recognize it.
The place in Hong Kong agreed to an exchange but they insisted they never received my original unit. I should have been more careful about my shipping method. I think it went from USPS to HK Post or something like that. USPS gave me documentation that they had passed it on but HK Post said the document was inadequate and the putative recipient had to contact them. I may have the details wrong. The build quality was low enough and the company was low-profile enough that I eventually gave up.
tl;dr I think the machinery to make them exists but is not in good shape and not being used to best advantage.
There are quite a few folding bluetooth keyboards on amazon – for about $30. Bought one about 6 months ago and it works really well. That makes me wonder what makes this model worth $100.
$100 ….. it is from microsoft y’e know – always expensive. squeeze the customer as best as possible. the big money must come from somewhere.
Let’s not exaggerate, sure… MS does put a price premium but this does do some premium things like being able to easily switch between multiple devices without constantly needing to re-pair it each time…
Along with the spill-resistant, frabric exterior, and up to 3 month battery charge is more than you would get from the cheaper BT KB offerings…
Whether it’s enough to warrant a $100 pricing is another matter, but it’s not like most companies wouldn’t charge more than average for this type of offering…
Besides, there are BT KB out there that cost as much or even more!
The Logitech Bluetooth Easy-Switch K811 Keyboard, for example, is $99… but doesn’t fold, isn’t spill resistant, etc…