News

We told you a few weeks back these were coming and today the announcement from Think Outside makes them real, Bluetooth PDA keyboards are almost here.

Today Think Outside is made an announcement about the Bluetooth drivers and a reference design available to OEM's, so we should see many more iterations of this keyboard out very soon. Buried at the end of the release was a pre-announcement regarding the new line of Bluetooth keyboards:

In related news, Think Outside today also announced its Stowaway Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard, a new Bluetooth-enabled Stowaway keyboard for use with compatible smartphones and PDAs. This full-sized, collapsible mobile keyboard is based on a reference design that is capable of being modified to meet an OEM's specifications, to speed their time to market with Bluetooth Keyboard products for smartphones and PDAs.

This model will be almost an exact copy of the Ultra Slim Keyboard this is currently on the market. There will be both a Palm and Pocket PC version, so everyone ends up happy.

The official release is slated for March 2004, but if the planets are aligned properly, we may see them earlier. An announcement that sheds more light on this product line is expected before the CES, which is in early January. At the moment price is not yet known, but I think consumers should expect something in the $150 area.

This is just one of many Bluetooth accessory announcements we expect to hear for products being released in 2004. We're currently aware of more keyboards, pointing devices, GPS units, and other goodies that will help solidify Bluetooth as a baseline requirement for mid to high end PDAs.