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May 19, 08 - 10:55 am Comment from: Macintosh

Nah, the Multitouch keyboard for the Apple TV is already out... It's called the iPhone, or iPod Touch.

We've gotten used to having remote controls scatterd around the living room. Will the same be true of a keyboard? I don't know.

May 19, 08 - 11:00 am Comment from: ron

Looks like it's right handed only. A large % of Mac users are left handed. General population 7% lefties. Artists 20% lefties.

May 19, 08 - 11:04 am Comment from: Macintosh

This resembles the old Web TV attempt, which was a total failure... It's going to be the iPhone / Touch! It would even help the sales of iPhone / Touch, because if you don't have one, you'll have to use the standard Apple TV remote (or if you forget your iPhone somewhere, you'll still have a backup).

May 19, 08 - 11:05 am Comment from: Amazin1

Just turn it over!

So...is the Mac mini dead or will this work with it? 'Coz... I'm sick of running the mouse over my bedsheets.

I don't think there will be a keyboard part to this, just a touch pad that will show you what you need when you need it. When you have to enter text you see a keyboard, when you need a number pad you will see the number pad. When you need play, forward, and rewind you see something like an iPod wheel or button like a remote. It will show you what you need when you need it but it will not have keys that go up and down.

It will also be able to see your mac, your AppleTV, your iphone, and your iPod, and you will be able to control all of the devices remotely with the pad. they will talk to this super remote via a wireless network.

May 19, 08 - 11:13 am Comment from: ron

Amazin1, "Just turn it over!"

I love it, very funny. You would be an Amazin1 if you could type on it.

May 19, 08 - 11:15 am Comment from: ron

Now if it were ALL touch, it could any be configuration. Even left-handed.

May 19, 08 - 11:29 am Comment from: shen

"check and write email, surf, organize photos, create and order a photo book or upload them to a .mac gallery, and ichat, even video ichat. plug in a USB webcam, or even a digital camcorder or just a digital still cam as long as it has video capture and USB."

i would love to have safari on my AppleTV. could my wife watch the webcast shows she misses? i doubt it, that would eat into the subscriptions wouldn't it?

it is programmable

Bzzt. Wrong!

WHY would you need a programmable keyboard, with function keys, arrow keys, and keypad for a living-room device? Besides, this thing has WAY too many keys for Steve's tastes.

Cost-issues aside, a multi-touch remote that resembled a iPhone would be ideal. Second choice would be a Wii-style remote/wiimote with on-screen keyboard.

May 19, 08 - 11:33 am Comment from: jjjj

feh, 'Macintosh' is right, just use your iPhone or iPod touch.

May 19, 08 - 11:44 am Comment from: Jubei

Thats nice, but the iPhone/Touch would work just as well right? That would be a killer combination.

May 19, 08 - 11:50 am Comment from: MadMac

I clicked on the link and didn't see any keyboards. All I saw were the Macenstein Chicks!!! WOW!!!!!!

That shit is wack.

I would use that as a replacement for by keyboard mouse for my regular mac and mini.

May 19, 08 - 12:04 pm Comment from: kirkgray

My perfect wireless keyboard from Apple (not necessarily just for the aTV) would be the current wireless keyboard with a trackpad placed BELOW the keyboard – just like on their laptops. No relearning hand movements (to the side rather than down), it would be identical to the laptops. I'd certainly use one on my desktop (getting rid of my mouse in the process).

May 19, 08 - 12:11 pm Comment from: jtc

@d/nomder
way too many keys........... it first of all is a rumor. second there could be future updates that will more than likely be added to the apple TV. I would not be shocked to see that it links to your .mac account so you can email or surf the web.

I think this idea is cool but I think they should just make a remote out of the ipod touch and iphone... though not everyone wants to spend $250 or more to control their apple tv. Also this should and probably will work with having a desktop mac. probably $100 maybe 75 for a wireless touchpad keyboard like this. It would be kinda cool giving the option to preset keys on the touch pad.

Being a designer it would be great to set most of my shortcuts on the right pad especially using maya or adobe creative suite.

May 19, 08 - 12:23 pm Comment from: Predrag

It would need to be a major 'paradigm shift' in order for people to actually embrace using a QWERTY keyboard while on the couch. Surfing web and e-mailing is a one-person experience; watching movies and TV works well with groups. What I'm trying to say is, TV belongs in the living room because it tends to be (historically has) a family activity. Computer generally belongs to the bedroom/office/library, since it is private, one-person activity. Laptops tend to break this rule by bringing private activity into the living room, but the activity still remains private.

Using a keyboard with a device that uses family TV as its default display implies moving private, one-person activities into a family environment. Unless Apple has figured out how to make this feel natural, people just won't accept it.

This keyboard looks more like someone's work of imagination.

May 19, 08 - 12:26 pm Comment from: Mr. Reeee

I got an Apple Bluetooth keyboard to use with my HDTV and MacBook Pro. It's nice to sit back and navigate with the keyboard form across the room.

Adding a multi-touch pad to the thing would be a nice addition, because then I could forgo using a bluetooth mouse (RadTech BT500+... NICE!), which can be a bit awkward.

That is something that would be awesome, a track pad/keyboard would be hot.

May 19, 08 - 12:34 pm Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Predrag...

Actually, using a keyboard in the living room with a group can be quite a lot of fun.

For instance:
Friends are over watching pictures I took in Bulgaria last summer on the HDTV. I can switch between photos and Google Earth to show maps and aerial views of Sofia and Plovdiv and the Rhodopi Mountains.

We pass the keyboard around and people can Google recipes, or snippets of Bulgarian music, or images of frescoes in monasteries, etc, etc.

It really can be a group experience and a LOT more fun than just sitting and watching pictures and listening to my girlfriend and I tell stories.

May 19, 08 - 12:44 pm Comment from: JAYGEE

Safari would be good on Apple TV. Apple could allow people/companies to make applications for the Apple TV. Maybe? Maybe not?

You're right. That observation was the same thing that popped into my mind when I read about this keyboard.

Not to mention the fragility of an aluminum keypad thin enough to be backlit.

Now... an entire keyboard (whether for Mac or AppleTV) programable and customizable and based on iPod Touch/iPhone Touch technology... yeah, that would be awesome... and that's something I do expect to see sometime down the road.

That keyboard is awesome; perfect for any Mac with Bluetooth. On another note, doesn't Apple already have an AppleTV with keyboard and mouse called the MacMini? I'm just sayin'...

May 19, 08 - 02:04 pm Comment from: Predrag

Mr. Reeee:

I agree with you; however, it was YOU who found use for it, but frankly, it is unlikely that a single keyboard would make people realise there is a potential in the living room. For about seven decades, we have been conditioned to gather around this screen in the living room and watch (more or less quietly) the moving images. For about two-three decades, we have been also conditioned to sit at a desk in front of this (more or less) static screen and interact with it using a keyboard and a mouse. Cross-breeding two concepts will require major shift in thinking of most people. You and I can comfortably do it by ourselves; that's why you have a bluetooth keyboard in your living room, and I have my MB. Mainstream America, however, will find this extremely alien and cumbersome, until Apple arrives on stage with an iPhone-like intuitiveness. I somehow doubt that this keyboard would be IT.

May 19, 08 - 03:51 pm Comment from: jtc

@Predag

I can see some would use this in the living room though... how much is it gonna cost? I'm sure not under $100 and if it was.... then it would be selling off the shelves. I'd personally use it for apps for shortcuts instead of pressing down 2 or three keys I just press a button on screen. I can even see it's use for people who edit audio if you could add in audio controls for each sound track or people using turn tables... it's a neat idea... just not sure if it will actually happen.

I had never heard before that the AppleTV had unutilized Bluetooth. Can anyone confirm this?

May 19, 08 - 05:43 pm Comment from: MacLovin

@ ron; I'm left handed, but I always use my right hand to move my mouse... just a thought, but good point. I don't know if I would use my left or right hand to move with multitouch... But imagine it, you could use that like a track pad on a laptop, and you wouldn't have to have a mouse laying around... (I had a computer hooked up to my plasma before, and it drove me crazy to have to use my mouse on my chair... lol)

It does have bluetooth... those who have hacked it and installed OSX it does work.

what's the point of buying a mac when you can use an apple tv? i never knew the apple tv was capable of anything other than be a multimedia hub. but the trackpad idea is so cool. it better not be compatible only with the apple tv like the superdrive is for the air.