MorphPad, a physical keypad and touchpad all at the same time

When buying a phone, you usually have to decide between something with a traditional keypad or a more versatile touchscreen. Why can't you just have it both? It's 2010, for goodness sake. Well, Pelikon is looking to make the old keypad vs. touchpad debate a thing of the past for consumers with its upcoming MorphPad.


The MorphPad looks like your average keypad when everything is all lit up. When the backlighting gets a little creative, however, it's different uses become apparent. A numerical keypad, for instance, could be illuminated when you want to use your phone. Want to play a game? All of a sudden you're looking at glowing directional buttons like you'd see on a game console controller. With an entire surface that doubles as a touchpad, the MorphPad really covers all bases when it comes to controlling a phone.


You won't see the MorphPad on any phone just yet, but Pelikon is already partnered with companies such as Toshiba on various projects, so there's a good chance this idea won't remain a prototype. Check out a demo of the MorphPad in action in the video below.





[DVICE via Pelikon, via Engadget]

Video editing keyboard costs $272 – that’s one expensive jog wheel

The jog wheel. A must for anyone who edits video on a regular basis. Well, maybe not a “must” but definitely handy. They’re expensive, though, as evidenced by this otherwise normal keyboard that costs $272 thanks to the attached jog wheel.
You’ll have to order it from far, far away, too. All the way from Japan. As for specs, it’s a 105-key USB keyboard with a built-in three-port USB hub and the aforementioned jog wheel flanked by commonly used video editing shortcut buttons. It comes with configuration software as well, so you can remap the buttons according to your particular project.
[Geek Stuff 4 U via Akihabara]

Swype vs QWERTY: FIGHT!!!!! [Touch Screen]

QWERTY is pretty much the king of smartphone text input. But there's a new challenger on the horizon. It's called Swype, it works with one-hand input and, yeah, it is pretty fast.
Yes, the first thing you may notice is that Swype technically uses a QWERTY layout. But instead of pushing each key individually, you drag your finger from letter to letter.
It's tough to tell if the speed gains are legitimate, given this video has been created by the Swype camp. I will say, however, given that this demo is one hand vs. two, the technology certainly holds its own. What do you think? Would you be willing to part with traditional QWERTY to spell words through nonsensical doodles?
Swype will debut in Verizon's Samsung Omnia II arriving early next month before making its way to an unnamed Android phone next year.
[Gizmodo via Swype via TechCrunch via OhGizmo]