Appletell

The Macworld Expo is like CES - so many products to see that you forget about most of the smaller ones. But sometimes, the smallest products are the coolest and most innovative out there. Macworld picked up on something quite special: The $100 BTKeyMini from MacAlly. It’s a small, portable, foldable Bluetooth keyboard - something that many of you will have seen before in the past. So what’s so special about the BTKeyMini? A writer at Macworld had a talk with one of the MacAlly representatives, and apparently when the BTKeyMini arrives in March, it will be compatible with iPhone. If this is true - it will be a first. You will be able to use it in any iPhone application where the normal touch-screen would be used as a keyboard input.

An external keyboard for the iPhone may not seem like much - but it is. This would transform the iPhone from a “smartphone” to a smarterphone. You would be able to type emails at least two times faster with this keyboard - and when you’re done, you just fold it up and put it in a bag. This could, in fact, eliminate the need of a laptop like a MacBook Air in a lot of situations. The iPhone can visit every website on the internet thanks to its Safari browser - and you can do that anywhere in the world thanks to its EDGE connection (although HSDPA would have been a lot better). I can’t wait to see this thing in action.

Via [Macworld]

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What’s an iPod without Mac OS X? This one. It turns out that several folks have received their iPod Touches without the operating system installed. When the iPod starts up, a simple diagnostic utility is displayed showing vital functions like speaker, touch, accelerometer, ambient light, buttons and what’s this? Bluetooth!?

This sounds a lot like a little first-batch stuff up. Still, it’s interesting to note that Bluetooth hardware might actually be embedded into the iPod Touch, which could perhaps be unlocked in a future software update. Oh and did you notice the cereal box for the

serial number? Teehee.

Via [Engadget]

• Cube debuts on the App Store for free
• Should Apple use the “Kill Switch” to discourage theft?
• Mac OS X 10.5.6 targeted for Friday?