Hooking-up a full-sized keyboard to an iPhone

R

RonaldMacDonald

Registered
Can someone recommend a good full-sized keyboard to hook up to an iPhone? What would really be good is if I can hook up the iPhone to my iMac and see it on the screen too. I sit in front of a Mac all day at work and all night at home. I hate cellphones - or anything that is not full-sized. Acutually I don't need the full-size keyboard. The keyboard that comes with the iMac is awesome.
 
DeltaMac,

Hey that looks good. I notice it says: "SB rechargability means you’ll never run out of power. Easily top up your keyboard with the convenient USB cable and continue to work. Fast, flexible recharging has never been easier." So do you that that mens I can hook it up to my iMac )no BT) with a cable, and work with BT on the iPhone?

One thing that concerns me is security. If I use this wireless, is there any loss in security? I want to use it to login to my bank account with my iPhone.
 
As far as I know, bluetooth is an encrypted protocol, and would not introduce security issues for you. It's not wifi, it's bluetooth, by its nature talks to local devices only at a maximum of about 30 feet - and cannot possibly interact with your wireless (wifi) network.

That Logitech keyboard does not function through USB. That connection is used only for recharging the battery.

The keyboard can be paired (through bluetooth) to 3 different devices, and you only need to press a button to change between them.
I think you have a G4 iMac - no bluetooth?
You could add a bluetooth USB transmitter - plugs into one of the USB ports. But, I think you have the older USB 1.1 ports? If so, then you may find that even if the bluetooth dongle works, the performance with bluetooth might not be acceptable - plus it takes away one USB port.
 
I have this bluetooth dongle. It's an Iogear brand.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833139019
It works on my own eMac with 10.5.8
No software needed, just plug it in.
That's an Iogear GBU421, which has several different models. There's a newer GBU521, which doesn't appear to be directly supported by OS X, but it COULD still work anyway, I don't know. You should be able to find the GBU421, it's pretty common.
There are probably several other brands that have bluetooth dongles that will work in a Mac, but that's the only one I have tried.
 
DeltaMac,

Ah, so that is what a dongle looks like. I have something like that for my wireless mouse. I have a Logicool wireless mouse. Perhaps that would work with your suggested keyboard too???
 
If it is Bluetooth, yes.
Some are NOT bluetooth, but are RF.
The "Unifying Receiver" used in most Logitech (Logicool) devices is NOT bluetooth, but is RF (different protocol)
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/promotions/6072
Easy for you to tell: open your System Preferences, then the Bluetooth pref pane. You should see your mouse showing there as a device.
You can also look in your System Profiler, under the Bluetooth tab. A bluetooth receiver will be listed there.

You COULD use an RF wireless keyboard on your Mac, but there's no way to connect that to your iPhone... Bluetooth would be your only choice there, as far as I know.
 
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