Is the keyboard on your smartphone or tablet slowing you down? LG has a solution.
The company on Thursday introduced what it calls "the industry's first solid rollable wireless portable keyboard." The Rolly Keyboard folds up along its four rows to "create an easy-to-carry 'stick' that fits into one's pocket as easily as any purse or briefcase," LG said.
Featuring "high-contrast keys" and a fold-out stand, LG said the keyboard makes typing "extremely comfortable" thanks to its 17mm key pitch, which rivals the 18mm key pitch found on most desktop keyboards.
It's made of impact-resistant, durable polycarbonate and ABS plastic, which offers "satisfying tactile feedback" you won't get from other flexible keyboards made of silicone, LG said. Even better — to connect it to your smartphone or tablet, all you need to do is unfold the Rolly Keyboard. This will enable the auto-pairing function, letting you connect to up to two different devices at the same time via Bluetooth 3.0. You can toggle between the two devices with a simple key press.
The Rolly takes just one AAA battery, which should give it enough juice for up to three months of "average use," LG said.
"LG Rolly Keyboard is just one of the many premium input devices we'll be unveiling in the coming months as we expand our accessories offerings," Seo Young-jae, LG's vice president in charge of innovative personal devices, said in a statement. "The goal was to create a product that could add more value to LG smartphones and tablets at the same time offering a unique design proposition that hadn't been explored before."
LG plans to show off the Rolly Keyboard at the IFA trade show in Berlin next week.
At this point, there's no word as to how much it will set you back, but LG promised pricing details at launch. The Rolly Keyboard will be available in the U.S. this September before arriving in Europe, Latin America, and Asia in the fourth quarter.