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One-handed typing on soft frog fabric - and it's legal!

The Internet has made the phrase "one-handed typing" rather dubious, so the Frogpad has always been something of a target for comedians. Add the word "soft" and then "fabric" and eyebrows may start to rise.

But Frogpad has turned its standard unidexter input device into one you can wear - one day.

 It has taken its Bluetooth technology and its shiftable keyboard interface, and combined it with electrical fabric maker Eleksen.

Eleksen makes keyboards you can wrap around your PDA or smartphone. The advantage is simple enough: you don't have to carry one more sharp pocket device with corners to dig into you; and the one you already carry, now has soft corners.

The idea seems to have baffled most commentators. True, Eleksen fabric doesn't make the keyboard with the best ever tactile feedback. Elderly geeks with long memories may remember the Sinclair notebook, back in the 1980s, which had a solid keyboard; using it was famously described as "like drumming on the desk with your fingertips" - but the thing is, once you got the hang of it, it worked.

As for "wearable" I think that's exaggerating. The official announcement from Frogpad says it's looking for partners to build a wearable version from the prototype they showed in Las Vegas for CES... but just because something is made of cloth doesn't mean it's clothing - and my fabric wallet would be another example of non-garment textility.

But if and when we get genuinely wearable personal computers, then just maybe...?