Twelve South, which has made high quality stands for the iPhone and iPad in the past, will launch its first HiRise stand for the Apple Watch sometime in May.

Twelve South says that the HiRise stand for the Apple Watch will be able to accommodate all of the official bands that have been announced for the smartwatch. It states:

HiRise for Apple Watch is designed, like HiRise for iPhone, with a stable, metal base that lets you interact with the screen on your watch while it’s charging. See alerts, reply to messages or check the time at a glance. This brushed metal stand is elevated and angled just right so you can see your Watch screen while lying in bed or glancing over at a countertop. A non-slip rubber base keeps HiRise in place.

HiRise is designed so you can quickly and easily insert and remove the charging disk that comes with your Apple Watch. Simply press the magnetic disk on the end of your charging cable into the round, silicone-lined cutout on HiRise to begin charging your Watch. When you need to take your cable on a getaway or business trip, simply pop out the disk and go.

Twelve South will sell the HiRise Apple Watch stand for $49.99 in silver and black colors. At the moment, there’s no word on when it will begin taking pre-orders for the stand.

Source: TwelveSouth

The latest Das Keyboard for the Macintosh: Is it the mechanical keyboard you’ve been waiting for?

Computer keyboards can use electronic or mechanical switches under the keys. I’m a big fan of mechanical keyboards, because I can type faster and more accurately on them. Metadot makes some of the best Mac-specific mechanical keyboards out there, and today they’ve released the Das Keyboard 4 Professional for Mac. Here’s my review.

The good

• Available in two switch types, clicky and tactile
• Media buttons and oversized volume key work well with iTunes
• Lighter, thinner, more efficient than previous Das Keyboard model
• Built-in USB 3 hub
• Unique “Footbar” stand
• N key rollover support

The bad

• Expensive
• Bulky USB cable looks clunky

What makes mechanical keyboards special?

The key switches inside the MacBook are “scissor” switches: rubber domes cover a circuit board. Each time you press a key, a scissor-shaped mechanism underneath the plastic cap collapses and you press the rubber dome to make contact with the circuit board underneath.

It’s a good way to make an inexpensive, extremely low-profile and quiet keyboard, but it lacks the same crisp tactile response of a good mechanical keyboard.

Mechanical keyboards harken back to the dawn of the personal computer business. Many of us “old school” computer users who came up during that time prefer them, as do a growing number of enthusiasts in gaming and other niche markets like journalism and programming.

Mechanical keyboards cost more money, they’re heavier and they’re a good bit noiser (more “clicky”) than modern scissor keyboards, but those of us who love them will tell you that they’re faster and more productive on a good mechanical keyboard.

Inside the Das Keyboard 4 Professional for Mac

Metadot first came to prominence among keyboard enthusiasts in the mid-oughts with their Das Keyboard II, which featured mechanical keyswitches built by German computer hardware maker ZF Electronics (formerly Cherry). They’ve come out with new designs since then, and their original Das Keyboard Model S Professional for Mac remains one of my favorites.

The Das Keyboard 4 Professional for Mac sports a 104-key US QWERTY layout, complete with cursor keys and a numeric keypad. There are also dedicated media control keys built into the keyboard above the num pad that function as rewind, fast forward and play/pause buttons; a circular button mutes sound and a sleep key will also put the computer into sleep mode. A large rotary dial on the upper right side of the keyboard is smartly outlined in a red metallic finish; it controls volume.

Metadot first introduced the Das Keyboard 4 Professional in 2014 for Windows PC users. Mechanically, the Mac keyboard is the same. The Mac version’s media keys activate iTunes and adjust system volume, and the command and option keys are correctly marked. The keys next to F13 (ostensibly SCRL LK and PAUSE on the PC version of this keyboard) control screen brightness.

The keyboard attaches to your Mac using a 6.5-foot USB cable. Built into the back of the keyboard are two USB 3.0 ports, one of the first Mac keyboards I’ve seen so equipped (most have USB 2.0 ports instead). The USB 3.0 hub is a nice feature, but the long USB cable is very bulky and inelegant.

The new Mac Das Keyboard model is available with two different switch options: You can order it either with blue or brown switches. Both are mechanical; the blue version is more crisp and clicky, while the brown is softer but still very tactile. Both feel great, but I prefer the brown switches. Mechanical keyboard enthusiasts probably don’t need a lot of prompting either way; we all have our favorites. I find the brown to be a bit less distracting, even though I don’t get the “click” that I do with the blues, which is oh-so-satisfying.

I still have my Das Keyboard Model S Professional for Mac, and it still works well. The new keyboard is thinner, uses a different typeface on the keys, and doesn’t grab two USB ports.

Metadot’s developed a different raising mechanism for the back of the keyboard than the integrated feet used by the older model. They call it the Footbar, and it attaches magnetically to the bottom of the keyboard when you want to use it.

Metadot has cheekily incorporated inch and millimeter measurements into the Footbar (it’s actually about 16 inches long), so you can use it as a desk ruler if you’re not elevating the back of the keyboard.

N-key rollover is an important consideration for discriminating mechanical keyboard enthusiasts. Keyboards with N-key rollover let you register as many key presses as you can manage at once without dropping any characters. It’s one of the big reasons speedy typists looking for maximum accuracy prefer mechanical keyboards. Not only is N-key rollover supported, but you can toggle it on and off using a key command.

The Bottom Line

If you liked the Model S, you’re going to love what Metadot’s done with the 4 Professional for Mac. The choice of tactile brown Greentech switches and clicky blue switches gives discriminating mechanical keyboard enthusiasts a great choice – tactile but quieter, or loud and clicky. The Pro 4 for Mac is thinner and lighter than its predecessor. Outside of a rather awkward black USB cable, it’s gorgeous inside and out.

• $175 – Buy now

Are you a PC user interested in the Das Keyboard 4 Professional? Pick one up here:

• $161.99 – Buy now

CeBIT 2015 is all set for March 16th – 20th in Hannover, Germany and BlackBerry subsidiary Secusmart has some rather interesting plans laid out for a press conference ahead of the event. According to a brief press release sent out, Secusmart, in collaboration with IBM and Samsung, will be unveiling a new device for ‘highly secure mobile communication’.

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The Cortana team has been rolling out new Interests to Cortana’s Notebook for a few weeks now. One of them is the Lifestyle category, with Fitness Tracker as the particular class. (The other new interest is Showtimes + Trailers).

Many of Cortana’s characteristics and interests do not roll out to users all at once. Instead, Microsoft tends to push it out slowly, gauging feedback and usage. Lifestyle though is an interesting one: it appears that you can get the interest to show up by merely saving a favorite place as ‘Gym’.

If you are unsure on how to save places as favorites, follow these steps to get the Lifestyle interest in Cortana

Now’s a great time to pick up a new Apple TV, or two!

At Apple’s Spring Forward event this week the Apple TV saw its specs unchanged but its price slashed from $99 to $69. If you already have one, now’s a great time to grab another. That’s what I’m doing. Yep, it’s another episode of “first world problems,” cats and kittens.

Versatility in a little black box

My family and I have enjoyed Apple TVs ever since the first one came out. It looked like a Mac mini and ran hot enough to keep your coffee warm in the wintertime. We eventually went to the smaller second-gen black Apple TV, which we still use.

We subscribe to Crunchyroll, so we can get our fix of asian anime and costume dramas; we regularly use the YouTube channel to share funny videos and entertain friends when they came over. We streamed a Sleater-Kinney concert when we had a friend over for dinner last week.

There are other reasons we love the Apple TV. It’s simple to stream content from the Mac and the iPad onto it, for example. We’re able to catch new episodes of shows we like to watch without having to deal with our cable provider’s ads or sketchy on demand service.

The HomeKit connection

HomeKit is Apple’s framework for controlling devices in the home. We’ve been hearing about since June of 2014, when Apple talked about it at WWDC. So far, there haven’t been a lot of devices that take advantage of it.

Getting more Apple TVs into people’s homes isn’t just about a better bottom line for Apple. It’s also about laying the groundwork for HomeKit. Even the current generation model is a link between those devices and Siri control on the iPhone and iPad. And within the next few weeks, the Apple Watch too.

If Apple gets a few million more Apple TVs into the home, then HomeKit apps and devices will be that closer to critical mass once the technology is ready for prime time.

Patience is rewarded

I’ve set up an entertainment system in our bedroom, but I haven’t plugged in an Apple TV upstairs yet. I’ve been waiting for a big refresh, because the Apple TV hasn’t been touched except for software since March of 2013. That big refresh hasn’t happened yet.

Regardless of what the future holds for Apple TV, the current device and the lowered price make it practically an impulse buy for many of us; $69 is just a bit more than a AAA game for the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. You can spend more on a Roku box or an Amazon Fire TV.

Last year Apple cut the price of the MacBook Air by $100 and had a kick ass quarter for Mac sales. Now they’re hoping lightning will strike twice by dropping the Apple TV’s price by one-third.

I predict a lot of people are going to see the repriced Apple TV as a great value, and will jump at the chance to save some money and add Apple connectivity to another room in the house.

Will you be purchasing your first Apple TV, or additional ones for your home? Let me know in the comments!

Disney Infinity 2.0: Play Without Limits is now available from the Window Store. The game gives you the opportunity to play through experiences as your favorite Disney and Marvel characters.