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Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard
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By Larry Garfield, Friday 24 September 2004  
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Larry Garfield, certified member of the Bluetooth fan club, takes a look at the Bluetooth-based Stowaway Keyboard.
Think Outside's keyboards have for a long time been the gold standard for portable typing. Full-sized keys, super-slim design, and an overall clean feel have made them a favorite for many travelers, and rebranded versions have been available for nearly every handheld. Now, Think Outside is dropping the per-line serial port design in favor of Bluetooth wireless connections, and does an overall good - but not perfect - job.
The Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard is modeled on the earlier Stowaway XT keyboard. That includes its extremely thin design with single-fold point and the ability to lock open, allowing it to work in a lap and fit into a purse or large pocket. It is a four-row design, meaning that the number keys double up on the top row of letters. There are two function keys for numbers and symbols, as well as silk-screened commands for selected default programs and operations such as New and OK on various keys. Key pitch is 18 mm, the minimum to qualify as full-sized. In all, it should be immediately usable for anyone who's familiar with Think Outside's superb keyboard designs to date.
 | | Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard |
In place of a slide-out stand and serial port, the Bluetooth Stowaway stand flips down over the top, making the closed device a bit thicker. The stand simply holds the handheld more or less in place at a decent angle, although vibrations from typing can cause it to slip during usage. Fortunately the stand can also be detached, allowing the handheld to be placed anywhere within Bluetooth range (which is higher than visible range) and still work properly.
Currently the Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard ships with drivers for Windows Mobile handhelds, Windows Mobile smartphones, and Symbian OS smartphones. Think Outside claims that drivers for Palm OS handhelds are in the works, but as of this writing are not available. It even works with Bluetooth-enabled desktops running Windows XP or Mac OS X. The keyboard is also silk-screened for Windows Mobile handhelds specifically, and we tested it with a Dell Axim X30 Advanced 624 MHz.
Driver installation was uneventful, and installs a new option into the input window. When selected, it activates the keyboard and offers an optional quick-tool bar on the handheld to activate/deactivate the keyboard or the audio feedback. Pairing the keyboard was also uneventful, as it should be. The keyboard can only pair with one handheld at at time, and while it is possible to use it unpaired the connection is not as stable.
In practice the keyboard worked almost perfectly, save for two problems. After the handheld turns on, the Stowaway Bluetooth driver doesn't load for up to 10-15 seconds, during which time the keyboard will not be recognized. We also once or twice lost the association between the handheld and keyboard and needed to reassociate them. That should be rare in practice, but ideally it shouldn't happen at all.
The keyboard runs on two AAA batteries (included), which should last for several weeks of use before needing replacement. On the other hand, the Bluetooth radio does draw more power from the handheld so it will reduce the handheld's time between charges if used heavily, just as would any other Bluetooth accessory.
Availability
The Think Outside Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard is available now for $149.99 USD. It is compatible with most recent Bluetooth-capable Windows Mobile devices including Pocket PCs and Smartphones, as well as Symbian OS smartphones and communicators.
Conclusion
Think Outside's keyboards have always been first-rate, and the Stowaway Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard is no exception. The basic design remains unchanged from the stellar Stowaway XT design, but simply swaps out the connection mechanism. The Bluetooth connection is most welcome and works about 98%, however, there's still that other two percent. A few bits of instability in the driver connection and the slow bootup are annoying but not show-stopper issues. We're more annoyed by the lack of Palm OS drivers, which keeps the keyboard from being truly universal for now. The stand could also be a bit more solid in the face of hard typers. Still, Think Outside's latest keyboard does what one would expect; bring best of breed portable typing to the latest and greatest in wireless technology.
What's positive:
Excellent design, thin, no serial port needed
What's negative:
No Palm OS support yet, Windows Mobile driver slow to load
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