For some, the lack of a physical keyboard is a deal-breaker when it comes to the iPhone. Their typing fingers head toward BlackBerry and Android models instead.
Hoping to appeal to those who like their iPhones but do not like typing on them, the 4iThumbs2, from 4iConcepts, places a thin plastic film above the keyboard; ridges on the screen define the area of each virtual key. When you’re typing, the ridges help guide your finger into the correct location, rather than slip off to the left or right, which might otherwise result in “hello” turning into “hellp.”
The $30 skin actually did make typing more accurate. But, unfortunately, the overlay didn’t stay flat on the phone; instead, it buckled a bit in the center, which meant that each time you pressed a key, the overlay first got pressed against the phone’s screen, adding an unpleasant feel to the underlying hardware.
The company says the lack of flatness has mostly been solved in the actual production units, but “you will still have some raise on the panel,” said Gerald Rosengarten, the company’s director.
Eric A. Taub, The New York Times
