iPhone with physical keyboard!?

Ryan Seacrest is notorious for having his hands in just about everything these days, so it's no surprise he's now eyeing the tech industry.

The American Idol host and serial reality TV producer, who is known for using both an iPhone and BlackBerry device, invested $US1 million in the Typo Keyboard, an iPhone accessory that aims to make typing a lot easier. The case snaps on to the top of an iPhone and turns the touchscreen keypad into one that resembles the BlackBerry's qwerty keyboard.

The Typo Keyboard ($US99) targets those who carry two phones: one for typing and correspondence and an iPhone for most everything else. The concept makes sense for BlackBerry lovers who have resisted switching to the iPhone because of loyalty to the qwerty keyboard.
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"One night, Ryan and his friend Laurence Hallier, CEO of Show Media, were out to dinner and both had phones on the table. Two people, four phones!," the press release says. "They looked at each other and thought there was an easy solution to the problem, a keyboard for the iPhone."

The Typo Keyboard, which works when Bluetooth is enabled, adds less than 1 inch (2.54 centimetres) to the iPhone's length.

Although the concept isn't entirely new — companies such as BoxWave and Dobi have dabbled in the space — Seacrest and his business partner believe the solutions on the market fell short of what they could be to make typing as easy as possible.


/Smh.Com.Au/