Making the Connection

Part of the fun of having a new tech toy if trying out all the things you can do with it. Today was the day, I decided, to try out my Apple Wireless Keyboard with my iPad. In addition, I would be using Blogsy to do this blogpost so I'd be working with two new things at once. Wow, what a multi-tasker I am.

The first thing I did was go online to do a little research to see what all was involved in synching my keyboard with the iPad. There were actually several helpful little videos posted on YouTube that described the process in simple terms. However, they both said you first needed to disconnect your keyboard attached to your Mac. Well, I don't have a Mac and the Commander assured me that my keyboard wasn't Bluetooth-enabled so it seemed like I could skip that step. Yay!

Here is what I did to make the connection:

1. Go into "Settings" on your iPad. Pick "General" and then and make sure that the Bluetooth option is slid to the "On" position.
2. Turn on the wireless keyboard. The "on" button is at the upper right-hand end of the keyboard.
3. You will see a message on your iPad that the iPad is trying to connect to the keyboard, if this is the first time you have synched them together. It will ask you to type a short phrase or number combo on your wireless keyboard and then to hit the "Enter" or "Return" key.
4. Once I did that, the keyboard was discovered and the connection was made. Easy as pie! (Or at least, easy as eating pie.)

I brought up the "Notes" app and started typing to make sure that everything was working properly. Everything was good.

The size of the keyboard is actually quite small. That's perfect for those of us who love the freedom to be able to pop our iPads into a backpack or big purse and head out. I use a Tom Bihn Ristretto bag and I can easily put my iPad AND this little keyboard into the bag, along with other necessities, like my billfold and iPhone.

I placed one of our iPhones next to the keyboard so you could get a sense of how big it is. The actual measurements are approximately 11" long by 5" wide and the keyboard rises up a little over a half inch at the back to give it a nice angle for typing.

I have normal sized hands for a woman but long fingers (okay, they ARE a little arthritic and twisty from all those years of knitting and typing). I found it to be quite easy to type on this wireless keyboard. The keys are tile-shaped and have a nice, springy action to them. There are plenty of extra symbols along the top which might be more familiar to a Mac user. I'm not entirely sure what all they are used for. I was quite happy just using the normal alpha-numeric keys and the arrow keys in the bottom right corner. There are also "function, control, option, and command" keys at the bottom left. Frankly, typing on this is a piece of cake compared to typing on my netbook.

So that's my review of the Apple Wireless Keyboard. As an extra bonus, this is also another chance for me to use Blogsy, the blogging app on my iPad. I am really enjoying it and the ease with which I can insert pictures from my Flickr account. If you like to blog and would like the freedom to do it on your iPad, this is definitely a useful app to have as a blogging tool in your arsenal of apps.