Hi Courtney,
Congrats on your plans to get a keyboard dock to use with your iPod
Touch. I'll cc this post to the viphone list, since there are some
posters who have been interested in using the iPad keyboard dock for
the iPhone 3GS. I'm not sure whether the Apple Store will carry dock
extension cables, since that's the kind of item that may depend on
whether they have enough space to stock it while carrying all the new
iPads, iPhones, and their accessories. If you want something like the
Cable Jive "dockXtender" (weird spelling) that Geoff posted about on
the viphone list for use with the Otterbox Defender cases, then my
guess is that you'll have to go through the manufacturer's order page:
http://www.cablejive.com/products/dockXtender.html
That recently released dock extender cable should work for every case
-- as opposed to a lot of cables that worked for nearly every case --
just not the Otterbox Defender. Using the cable won't let you take
advantage of the iPad keyboard dock's ability to support the iPod
Touch on the base when docked. There are a number of iPod Touch cases
that allow you to slide a bottom portion of the case off to dock,
though. They include cases like the Griffin Wave and the Incase
Slider. On the other hand, using a dock extender cable will allow you
to use the headset and mic cables that come with the iPod Touch to
control your playback and use voice control, since you can still
access the headset jack at the bottom right of the iPod Touch. This
iPod Touch headset jack is covered up when the iPod Touch sits in the
dock, unlike the case for the iPhone 3GS and iPad where the headset
jack along the top right side of the device, and so remains available
even when the device is docked. If I'm listening to audio from the
iPod Touch through a headset, instead of through the iPod Touch
speakers, I'll connect my headset to the mini-jack port in the support
base of the iPad keyboard dock. That won't allow me to control the
volume and playback through the headset controls, but I can use the
keyboard controls to rewind, play/pause, and fast forward, and I
attach a volume control cable that you can get from Radio Shack to
dial down the volume. (I'm not sure the link will work, but the
product is "Gold-Plated Volume Control Cable for Stereo Headphones",
Model: 42-2559, Catalog #: 42-2559, with current price of $8.99, which
seems more than I paid.) Web URL is:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102975
When I use my iPad, I simply use the headset controls directly, or the
keyboard media controls for playback (F7, F8, and F9 positions for
rewind, play/pause, advance) and volume control (F10, F11, and F12
positions for mute, decrease volume, increase volume), just as on the
Macbook keyboard. Since I'm more likely to use my iPad for extensive
note taking an typing, this isn't an issue. I don't really need to
have all the media controls through the headset mic cable if I'm
actively typing, and if I'm not typing large amounts of text I'll pull
the iPod Touch off of the dock. If you want more portability you
might want to get the Apple Wireless Keyboard. The action of the
keyboards is the same: these are both the relatively flat, chiclet
type keyboards used with the current generation Macbook (Pro) laptops.
Each key is separated, the "f" and "j" keys have horizontal bars to
distinguish them by touch, and the key action has the relatively short
travel distance of current laptop keyboards. The keyboard dock does
give you a few more keys, such as the one to return to the home page,
and the one to take you to the search page (first two keys in the top
row, starting at the left).
HTH. Cheers,
Esther
On Jun 30, 2010, Courtney Curran wrote:
Hi,
I'm getting the Ipad keyboard dock this Friday to use with my Ipod
Touch this Friday. Before I go to the Apple store, do they have the
dock extention connector cable there, or will I have to wait an
agonizingly long time (smiles)?
Courtney
On Jun 30, 2010, Chris Moore wrote:
Thanks for that, but i really hope the Freedom i connex works as it
is foldable so it would be easier to caryy around with me if I need
to type a longer SMS or email. Shame the Apple keyboard was not
foldable. Actually I love the keyboard my imac uses, much nicer
then my laptop but that is way too big LOL
On 30 Jun 2010, at 18:30, Esther wrote:
Hi Chris,
I'm using the iPad keyboard dock with my iPod Touch, but here's a
link to an article reporting use of the iPad keyboard dock with
the iPhone 3GS at Slashgear:
http://www.slashgear.com/ios4-iphone-3gs-works-with-ipad-keyboard-dock-video-2290908/
There's an earlier post I wrote on "iPad keyboard options" that
has a link to the Gearlog diary entry about this, and also links
and excerpts to Dan Frakes' article evaluating both the iPad
keyboard dock and the Apple Wireless Keyboard:
http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/msg19393.html
There are some other considerations that I've discussed on the
viphone list. The keyboard dock is less portable than the
Wireless (BlueTooth) keyboard. In order to support the larger
iPad, it has a stabilizer base that extends out the back of the
keyboard, so it weighs nearly twice as much as the wireless
keyboard (21.4 ounces vs. 11.4 ounces, or 600 grams vs. 320
grams). It's about the size of the iPhone (very slightly larger),
and extends out from the middle of the keyboard so that it
supports the keyboard at a slight angle for easier typing. The
stabilizer base also supports the back of the iPod Touch or iPad.
It supports about the bottom third of my iPod Touch, as it sits on
the dock connector, and is very slightly wider than the device.
Good points of the keyboard dock are: support in fixed position
makes it easy to alternate between typing and touching the screen,
dock has a connector that allows you to charge your device while
docked, and also has a standard 3.5 mm audio jack connector that
lets you connect up to audio system or speakers (or, you could
plug in your headset).
Possible issues: you can't use a case on the bottom of the device
that you dock (not a problem for me, since my iPod Touch case can
slide the bottom half off), less portable (because of weight and
shape), probably not optimal for docking the new iPhone 4 (because
of the different shape design and thickness). Also, the iPhone
speaker is at the bottom of the device, so I don't know how this
would work if receive a call while typing.
HTH. Cheers,
Esther
On Jun 30, 2010, Chris Moore wrote:
Does the iPad keyboard dock work with the iPhone?
On 30 Jun 2010, at 16:42, Esther wrote:
Hi Thuy, Donna, and Erik,
Can you really do page up and page down on the Braille Display?
I'd be interested to see a list of the navigation capabilities
of the Braille devices. I'm writing up a summary of keyboard
shortcuts for the Apple Wireless Keyboard and iPad Keyboard
Dock. These are mostly the movement and selection commands you
are familiar with, but none of the Fn key combinations that work
on the Macbook to page up or page down (Fn+Up or Down Arrow), or
to forward delete (Fn+Delete) work with these keyboards. This
may be a decision, since the iPad Keyboard Dock doesn't have the
Fn key. What's interesting is that the shortcut combination of
Command-Space bar to switch input language keyboards works with
these keyboards. (This shortcut key combination is in the list
by Jacob Rus of Cocoa keybindings, and predates the existence of
Spotlight, which was also assigned this shortcut.)
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~jrus/site/system-bindings.html
The only thing is, if you want to switch to language with non-
Roman letters, such as Russian (cyrillic characters), Greek, or
Japanese, you'd better set your language rotor to "Default" if
you want to hear these options announced. (And I'm really happy
there is a language rotor in iOS4.)
Erik, you can't assign new keys under iOS4, so unless there's a
way to remap the key assignments on the Braille devices, I don't
think you can customize shortcut key combinations.
HTH. Cheers,
Esther
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