Today in TechNew iPad keyboard case gives your tablet some MacBook flair
As smartphone manufacturers continue to blur the line between mobile handset and full-fledge tablet, accessory makers are playing a similar game: making your tablet look and act more and more like a laptop. Perhaps the most impressive example of this — at least in terms of design and aesthetic appeal — is the new iPad keyboard case from Rakuten. It is currently on sale in Japan for roughly $75, and while that may seem like a lot for a tablet accoutrement, this is no ordinary case.
The sleek cradle secures your device like many other standard tablet portfolios, but that's where the similarities end. Inside you'll find a netbook-size keyboard designed to look just like Apple's own MacBook Pro notebooks. The keyboard communicates with the tablet via bluetooth and even features USB and miniUSB ports for charging. Though it's made from plastic as opposed to aluminum like Apple's mobile products, you'd never know it from looking.
According to Rakuten's Japanese website — it isn't yet available on the U.S. version of the store — the case charges in about five hours, which is then good for 60 days of standby time or 55 hours of continuous usage. The product description says the case is made for the iPad 2, and notes that it will not work with older models. There is no mention of support for the new iPad, which varies just slighting in thickness from the iPad 2. Hopefully when the MacBook-esque case shows up on the company's U.S. store the description will shed a bit more light on its compatibility.
[via DVICE]
This article originally appeared on Tecca
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