A ''wireless keyboard'' is a

computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a built-in or peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or Push-button, keys to act as Mechanical keyboard, mechanical levers or Electronic switching system, electro ...

that allows the user to communicate with computers, tablets, or laptops with the help of

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the u ...

(RF), such as

WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

and

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

or with

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

(IR) technology. Wireless keyboards in the current market are commonly accompanied by a wireless

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

. Wireless keyboards based on infrared technology use light waves to transmit signals to other infrared-enabled devices. In case of radio frequency technology, a wireless keyboard communicates using signals which range from 27 MHz to up to 2.4 GHz. The majority of wireless keyboards today work on 2.4 GHz radio frequency. Bluetooth is another technology that is being widely used by wireless keyboards. These devices connect and communicate with their parent device via the Bluetooth protocol. A wireless keyboard can be connected using RF technology with the help of two parts, a transmitter and a receiver. The radio transmitter is inside the wireless keyboard. The radio receiver plugs into a keyboard port or

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

port. Once the receiver and transmitter are plugged in, the computer recognizes the keyboard and mouse as if they were connected via a cable.

Types

*Standard size wireless keyboard: These keyboards are standard size wireless keyboard. *Foldable - hinges allow for folding of keyboard *Portable keyboard with touchpad: Keyboard comes with integrated touch pad. * Portable with Stand - comes with tablet/smartphone stand *Roll-up wireless keyboard: wireless keyboard that can be rolled up when not in use. *Mini Wireless Keyboard: Palm sized keyboard with an integrated touch pad; uses thumb typing *slim keyboard BTKeyboard

With touch pad - combined keyboard and

touchpad A touchpad or trackpad is a type of pointing device. Its largest component is a tactile sensor: an electronic device with a flat surface, that detects the motion and position of a user's fingers, and translates them to 2D motion, to control a Cu ...

Bluetooth keyboard

A Bluetooth keyboard is a wireless keyboard that connects and communicates with its parent device via the

protocol. These devices are widely used with portable devices such as

smart phone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s and tablets, though they are also used with

laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...

s and ultrabooks. Bluetooth keyboards became popular in 2011, coinciding with the popularity of portable devices. Most Bluetooth keyboards have standard

qwerty QWERTY ( ) is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top letter row of the keyboard: . The QWERTY design is based on a layout included in the Sh ...

layout In general terms, a layout is a structured arrangement of items within certain limits, or a plan for such arrangement. Specifically, layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), ...

s, though some mini Bluetooth keyboards may have a different layout. Bluetooth keyboards are compatible with all the leading

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

s such as Android,

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. Since they are primarily used for portable devices, Bluetooth keyboards have special

function keys A function key is a key on a computer or terminal keyboard that can be programmed to cause the operating system or an application program to perform certain actions, a form of soft key. On some keyboards/computers, function keys may have defa ...

for Android and iOS operating systems. Most Bluetooth keyboards, except a few, are not compatible across operating systems. Thus, compatibility of the keyboard needs to be checked before purchasing one. This is because of the special function keys which differ between Android and iOS.

References

{{Reflist Computer keyboard types Remote control American inventions

Types

Bluetooth keyboard

See also

References