OLPC 2 First Look is pretty sweet.
As an owner of the iPhone I do not recommend using a touch-screen for typing. Our bodies need the tactile feedback. There is no argument that a touch screen keyboard is better from a tech perspective, I do not feel it is better from a physical one.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the whole “keyboard can expand to fit the size of your hands” concept. And certainly typing on a screen is better than not being able to type and being forced to use a pointer or mouse. But at the end of the day, we should not be forced to compromise. Let’s first lay out what we want and then try to get there.
As of today we know that:
Multi-touch screens are the best to work with
Tactile keyboards are easier to type on
A haptic feedback keyboard on a multi-touch screen would be the best of both worlds. Imagin feeling when your finger moved over the gap between letters on the keyboard. Flight simulators use small changes in motion to trick out minds into thinking large changes have occurred. A similar small “feedback” should be able to be developed for the keyboard.