Bluetooth Keyboard Paired with Hacked iPhone

iPhone expert Ralf Ackermann who had used an external bluetooth module to pair a standard keyboard to the iPhone is at it again.

He has managed to get Apple's Bluetooth keyboard (can be any Bluetooth keyboard) to pair with a hacked iPhone without any external Bluetooth module.

Ackermann's wrote on his blog:

"Feels like getting closer to the “mainstreaming” goal - it uses hardware that comes of the shelf (unfortunately you still need to have access to a jailbroken phone), uses a packaged application, does not expose bits and pieces to the end user, just works with all the applications that use the standard on-screen keyboard"

Ackermann has used the Bluetooth stack developed by the researchers at ETH Zurich.

You can watch the demo video of the external Bluetooth keyboard paired with a jailbroken iPhone:

When we had written about Ralf Ackermann's earlier feat of using an external bluetooth approach to pair a keyboard to the iPhone, it had resulted in an interesting discussion among iPhone Hacks readers.

At that time, we had mentioned that if you are a long time iPhone user who is used to its virtual keyboard, you might find the need of a physical keyboard unnecessary which some agreed (though we surprisingly were in the minority).

TC Rhino, one of our readers had pointed out that we did not get the point of a bluetooth keyboard. He wrote:

"It amazes me that people don't get the point of the external bluetooth keyboard on the iPhone. The touch keyboard is great for on the go, quick notes, etc, but is not optimal for longer documents, blog posts, email, etc. Neither is a Blackberry/G1/Windows Mobile physical keyboard.

The point is to have a way to enter lots of information comfortably. Years ago, I had a keyboard that plugged into the dock connector on my iPaq. It folded up into a nice hard-sided package about the size of a large deck of cards and slipped into a pocket. Best form factor for writing emails and long notes on a plane that I ever found, better than a laptop, more versatile than today's netbooks."

There were a majority of users who agreed with Rhino and loved the idea of an external keyboard. Rhino made a valid point, it really depends on your requirement. The ability to connect a physical keyboard can be quite useful if you want to use your iPhone to write blog posts, long emails etc.

Unfortunately, Ackermann hasn't provided a release date on when it will be available to iPhone users. We will keep you posted if we hear of any updates, so stay tuned here at iPhone Hacks.

So what you think about an external keyboard for the iPhone? Please let us know your take in the comments.