Ion made a hardware keyboard for the iPhone

The novelty can significantly speed up text entry, but it also has an annoying shortcoming.

Undoubtedly, the greatest virtue of the ingenious device is that it allows you to enter text significantly faster than the touch-sensitive display of iPhones, especially if the user uses all 10 fingers efficiently. Despite the obvious positive, the device’s legitimacy is questionable, as for software reasons, the “Mail” app running on iPhone doesn’t support external text input tools, so writing email requires some clutter or third-party mail software. Despite the shortcomings, the add-on can be a perfect choice for forums and browsing, but it could become a really great product from iType if the software problems are resolved in the time remaining until the device is released.

The Ion iType, which will be available at a purchase price of approximately $ 70 (HUF 13), is yet to enter the market; as of now, the product may arrive on store shelves in the fall of 2010.