Kahney argues that the “new” virtual keyboard and Exposé in the Dock are signs of preparation for an Apple tablet:

The more I play with Snow Leopard, the more it looks like it’s designed to run Apple’s upcoming tablet.

However, there are simpler explanations than these conspiracy theories (without even entering into the debate of iPhone OS—the most likely candidate for a 10-inch tablet—vs Mac OS X. Clumsy desktop operating systems don’t translate well to slates, as Windows has demonstrated many times).

The virtual keyboard has been in Mac OS X forever as part of the input system. In fact, it was part of the old Mac OS as well, and was incorporated as part of the input menu system in Mac OS X. In Snow Leopard, you can activate it using the Keyboard panel in System Preferences. Go there and check “Show Keyboard & Character Viewer in menu bar”.

Before, the keyboard window used to be so tiny—as you can see in the top image—that it even made people whine about it in Apple support forums. Fortunately, Apple changed this and now you can resize the window as much as you want.

There’s no magic here. It’s just a vector-based app that can be scaled at any size you want. The same happens with the Character Viewer.

So, if this is not a sign of the tablet, what could it be? Apple has been working on a fully resolution independent display model since Mac OS X 10.4. During every Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple has been preparing developers to ready their apps for the jump. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard implemented a system wide resolution independent model (unfortunately, it was systemwide and not on a per-screen basis).

The objective: To be able to use ultra-dense resolution displays without making everything on the screen tiny. As a user, if Apple decided to turn on this feature, you would see that menus, icons and buttons use the same physical space no matter what display you use. Things would have the same size but would look sharper on a display with more pixels per inch. Example: A button will be one inch wide in a 24-inch 1080 pixel-wide display and a 24-inch 2160 pixel-wide display. However, it will look a lot sharper on the 2160 pixel-wide display because it will be made of more dots.

If you have the developer tools installed in your Mac, you can check the scalability of the user interface using Quartz Debug. This tool allows you to zoom in and out of the user interface, seeing how everything—except bitmap elements—scales in real time, with no pixelation.

What about Exposé on the Dock? I’m a believer in Occam’s razor theory: the simpler theory is always the better. In this case, Exposé on the Dock is just a more convenient way to see your open application’s windows. More intuitive and easier to use for the normal user than hot corners or function keys.

Bottom line: I’ve no doubt that touch interfaces will come to Apple devices, but these two functions are not any indication of it.

Updates to the Comfort Curve design include a soft-touch palm rest and low-profile quiet touch keys. As for Windows 7, users can take advantage of a time-saving feature called Taskbar favourites that allows easy access to open programs by mapping their location to a series of hotkeys and instantly adapting to changes. It also includes Device Stage support—giving users quick access to peripheral devices and a dedicated Windows Flip button for thumbnail previews on both the mouse and keyboard.

The Wireless Comfort Desktop is available now for pre-order on Amazon ($80) and is expected to ship later this month.

Microsoft Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 Makes Everyday Tasks Easier with Smart Features for Windows 7

New desktop set offers ultimate comfort made easy.

REDMOND, Wash. ¾ Aug. 4, 2009 ¾ More than seven in 10 Americans have felt discomfort from computer use,1 so today Microsoft Corp. debuts the ergonomist-approved Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000, which utilizes a Comfort Curve layout that encourages natural wrist posture with a slight six-degree curve. This new desktop set combines the Microsoft Comfort Curve keyboard layout with a soft-touch palm rest to make the PC experience more comfortable. Since the Comfort Curve design launched five years ago, more than 10 million units have been sold,2 and the design’s ease of use continues to draw praise, with 94 percent of users recommending the keyboards.3 To complement the comfort, the Microsoft Hardware Group also created smart one-touch features for Windows 7 to help consumers make the most of their new Windows 7-based PCs.

“People are spending more time on computers than ever before, so comfort is very important,” said Dan Odell, lead ergonomist and user researcher at Microsoft Hardware. “A Comfort Curve keyboard, like the Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000, provides an easy way to improve your typing ergonomics while maintaining your productivity.”

Full Package: Comfort, Style and BlueTrack Technology

The design elements of the keyboard enhance its look and feel with an updated soft-touch palm rest; low-profile quiet touch keys; and a contoured, compact shape that looks great on any desk. The included Wireless Mouse 5000, with rubber side grips and an ambidextrous shape for comfort in either hand, features Microsoft BlueTrack Technology, which lets consumers go anywhere and work with confidence on more surfaces than when using optical and laser mice.4 Both the mouse and keyboard wirelessly connect to the computer via a reliable 2.4GHz mini-transceiver that works up to 30 feet away.

Smart Features for Windows 7

The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 is the perfect companion for Windows 7 because it gives people smart ways to make everyday computing tasks easier. A new time-saving feature called Taskbar favourites gives Microsoft keyboard users an easy way to access their open programs. Instead of the traditional My favourites Keys with stored locations, Taskbar favourites will map to the location of open applications on the improved Windows taskbar. The icons in the taskbar can be easily rearranged just by clicking and dragging; Taskbar favourites will instantly adapt to the new icon locations. Other Windows 7 integration features include these:

o Device Stage. Microsoft Hardware mouse and keyboard products will support Device Stage, a Windows 7 feature that gives customers quick and easy access to common tasks, including product information, registration, settings and more for popular device categories such as cell phones, cameras, printers, portable media players and input devices.
o Windows Flip. Microsoft mouse and keyboard users can easily see a thumbnail preview of all open windows with the press of a button. A full-screen preview of the application will automatically display, enabling the user to better identify and select the desired application.

“Our goal is to have a strong ecosystem of compatible and innovative products,” said Gary Schare, director of Hardware Ecosystem Product Management at Microsoft. “We’re excited about the work Microsoft Hardware has done to light up the key features of Windows 7. For example, the Taskbar favourites keys on the Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 complement our improved taskbar – helping to deliver a full end-to-end experience to make life on a Windows 7-based PC easier and more enjoyable.”

Pricing and Availability

The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 will be available later this month for an estimated retail price of $US79.95 (U.S.).5 The product is available now for presale on Amazon.com and will ship when it is widely released. The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 is backed by a worldwide three-year limited hardware warranty from Microsoft. More information about these and other Microsoft Hardware products is available at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware.

[Amazon]

The Hunt and Peck keyboard features a one-button switch between alphabetical and QWERTY, and helpfully lists both letters on each key so you can get even more confused than you undoubtedly are already. It also maps certain irritating acronyms to the function keys, so even though you’ve never seen a keyboard before, you can type LOL and ROFL with ease, and more confusion. It costs $US30, if you’re looking for a keyboard for one of those feral children raised by wolves or, more probably, you want to play a prank on somebody by switching all their keys around. [Oh Gizmo!]

The idea is that brands are so recognisable that we can exchange them with letters, probably the most recognisable symbols we know. It works, too, if you give it a second, although some of them are tricky (The Rolling Stones is only a corporation in the most cynical of senses). It doesn’t actually exist, but it’s a fun little experiment. [Ignacio Pilotto via Crunchgear]

It’s a half-baked idea, of course, which is why we’re only seeing it in a patent and not in actual hardware. Unless the half-keyboards were incredibly strong, the whole device would feel like it’s itching to break into pieces, and wouldn’t it have to be twice as thick as standard QWERTY sliders to accommodate double the amount of hardware? So it’s just a patent, and it’ll almost certainly stay that way. But at least somebody’s trying to figure out a way to keep hardware keyboards alive. [Reg Hardware]

Not surprisingly, it looks like an elongated notebook. One that uses a lot of tape to hold those cables tight in place.

[Blogeee—Thanks Martin]