Makers Of Slip-On iPhone Keyboard Sued By BlackBerry Release New Model

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When the makers of a slip-on keyboard designed to give iPhone users the physical touch they craved were sued by BlackBerry over what the phone company claimed was a copy of its phones, they had to take the product off the market. Today the company — with Ryan “I Actually Look The Same In Real Life As I Do As A Character On The Simpsons” Seacrest as a major investor — says it has a new version of the keyboard that puts it in the clear, legally.

Typo’s first keyboard prompted a lawsuit form BlackBerry that’s still ongoing, while BlackBerry managed to score an injunction against the product to keep it from being sold in the meantime.

The new version has a design that’s based on the iPhone’s software keyboard and is meant to avoid any further legal action, while still providing a physical keyboard, notes Re/code.

The iPhone 6 version costs $99, while the 5/s model is available for $79.

Those who like using the iPhone 6’s fingerprint sensor will be out of luck, but CEO Laurence Hallier told Re/code that users who want the keyboard would rather be able to type more quickly.

There’s no iPhone 6 Plus design because adding on to those dimensions didn’t quite work, Hallier said, so a new design isn’t expected until later.

“We designed one, but the phone is so big, it makes it top heavy,” Hallier said.

Both that design and an iPad version will be ready until next year.

Typo Ships New iPhone 6 Keyboard, Plans iPad Product for Next Year [Re/code]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist