Newsletter Archives

• Incase, redux

  Posted on January 3, 2025 at 03:00 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  A few weeks ago, I noted that Incase had not seemed to make much progress towards its stated goal of having “Designed by Microsoft” products available in 2024. Beating that goal by mere days, the company added a Designed by Microsoft section to its website listing 17 products, with 11 “coming soon” and the rest available for shipping.

  On Thursday, Incase announced a new addition to the lineup, the Ergonomic Compact Keyboard (left). The keyboard will be displayed at the 2025 Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas starting next Tuesday. A notable feature is the inclusion of a Copilot key next to the righthand Alt key, replacing the longstanding, righthand Windows key.

  Incase also announced that its products would be available through Amazon and BestBuy.com. Incase already has an Amazon page, but the Designed by Microsoft products are not yet displayed there. Some of them can be found by searching.

  I’m glad to see some of these products on the market again. It remains to be seen whether they match the quality of their Microsoft predecessors.

  Hardware Designed by Microsoft, Incase, Keyboards, Mice, Peripherals

• The hardware baton passes, sort of

  Posted on March 25, 2024 at 02:41 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT

  

  By Will Fastie

  I try to follow Microsoft news carefully, but it can be hard when the news about Microsoft comes from an unexpected third party.

  In January, Onward Brands published a press release stating that its Incase brand would be introducing a series of “Designed by Microsoft” products. These comprise a significant portion of the hardware accessories sold by Microsoft.

  The discovery of this news came as a surprise.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.13.0, 2024-03-25).

  Microsoft Accessories, Incase, Keyboards, Mice, Microsoft News, Newsletters, Onward Brands, Webcams

• The best news of the year

  Posted on December 18, 2023 at 02:44 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The year 2023 revealed many poor decisions made by Internet giants. Almost every big company seemed to make at least one techno no-no.

  The good news is that the year also saw several positive developments — or, at least, an incremental change that might lead to something better.

  I’ll update you today on some of the most significant news. These situations were first described in stories that I originally covered in an AskWoody column this year.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.51.0, 2023-12-18).

  Public Defender Generative AI, images, iMessage, Keyboards, Newsletters, RCS, Rich Communication Services, SMS, TenKeyLess, Texting

• No NumLock key? Problem solved! Here’s the fix.

  Posted on May 22, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Most laptop makers are now leaving the NumLock key out of their smaller notebooks.

  That’s a disaster for people who’ve been getting symbols that aren’t on their keyboard by entering Alt+number — for instance, typing Alt+0169 on the numeric keypad to get the copyright sign (©).

  Some laptops have a function key for a “hidden” numeric keypad. But I’ll show you much easier ways. Read this today, and you’ll be writing documents faster — mañana!

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.21.0, 2023-05-22).

  Public Defender Keyboard remapping, Keyboards, Newsletters, NumLock, TenKeyLess, Windows

• The Fastie Keyboard Silencer Pro+

  Posted on February 13, 2023 at 02:44 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Getting a quiet keyboard is easier than you think, especially with my new product concept.

  I type a lot. That’s what editors do. I also write code when I’m working on websites. I can’t escape the need for a good, comfortable keyboard.

  I also can’t escape the need for a quiet keyboard.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.07.0, 2023-02-13).

  Hardware Hardware, keyboard, Keyboards, Newsletters, Quiet