There are several enthusiasts who tried building keyboards for iPhone. A Japanese guy successfully use a concept keyboard originally designed for Compaq iPaq and turns it into iPhone mini keyboard. The solution may not be suitable for all users because it requires a more advanced tweaking and modifying. Later on, a company tried to design Bluetooth keyboard for iPhone. The product release date is still unclear because iPhone has no native Bluetooth receiving capabilities that would allow the keyboard to work.

An actual solution, the one that really works and available on the market, is iTwinge. ITwinge is introduced as more of a ‘typing skin’ than a keyboard. It does look like regular silicone skin widely available, but it has a set of mini QWERTY keyboard on the front side. People at Mobile Mechatronics are clever enough to actually use iPhone’s on-screen keyboard and design their typing skin to match the on-screen keyboard. When you are typing using iTwinge, you are actually typing on your on-screen keyboard with the help of iTwinge’s skin layer.

The question remains: does iPhone really need an external keyboard? The answer to this question may vary depending on your needs and wants, but we have to admit that a functional mini keyboard — more or less similar to the one used in Nokia’s Communicator series or BlackBerry’s handsets — would be a great addition to this already amazing handset.