Twelve South

In case you missed it up top, here it is again:

MagicWand Combines Your Magic Trackpad and Keyboard Into a Single Super-Peripheral

LOVE that headline. Kyle VanHemert, writing for Gizmodo, showed our MagicWand some love back in February.

In his words:

“It didn’t take long after Apple’s Magic Trackpad was introduced for people to start scooching it up next to its natural mate, the Apple keyboard. Now the good people at Twelve South have come up with a way to keep them together: the MagicWand.

The product is a simple one: a long tube accommodates the round lip shared by both the keyboard and trackpad, and a few other bars lock things into place. Presto chango: two peripherals are now one. I don’t have an iMac, but this still looks like a very desirable way to control a computer!”

It certainly is. Get your own MagicWand here. And see the full demo here.

For those of you considering MagicWand but kind of looking at it funny, this may be the review for you. Fence sitters, break out your credit cards! If you have a MagicTrackpad (or need an excuse to get one) and a Wireless Keyboard, it is for you. But don’t take our word for it (we may in fact be ever-so-slightly biased). Just ask AppleTell:

“Twelve South’s MagicWand is the kind of device you may need to look at for a few moments before you figure out if you need it. Let me speed that process along for you; you do. If you use Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and the Magic Trackpad, you do. If you haven’t yet been able to justify the purchase of the Magic Trackpad, this is it.”

Well. We guess that means you’re all sorted out now, aren’t you? But here’s more. How about just how you’ll enjoy using it?

“Now, in its most obvious use, the MagicWand keeps things positioned on your desk. You’ll find its much easier to grow accustomed to using the Magic Trackpad if it’s always in the exact same spot in proportion to your keyboard.

But then you’ll start to get a little more creative. Place the Trackpad opposite your mouse hand, and you’ve got convenient access to two input methods aside from your keyboard; precision from the mouse, gesture controls from the Trackpad. Yes, you can do this without the MagicWand, but this way it seems more like a system, less like a mess.

The big advantage, though, is that you can easily take the gesture controls with you. By combining the MagicWand with the stabilizer, you’re able to create a single unit that can be used on your lap. Why would you need to do this? Those using Mac minis for home theater control wouldn’t need to ask that question.”

Lovely, no? Kind of looks as if it belongs there, yes? In short, here’s why you need the MagicWand:

“It looks and works as if Apple wanted this to be your setup all along.”

And that, people, is why AppleTell gave MagicWand a whopping 4 out of 5 apples.

Get your own MagicWand here, or at your friendly neighborhood Apple Store.

We are bighugefans of great writers. And great bios on blogs. So when we were made aware of the bighugelaunch of new blog BigHugeNerd, we had to take a peek (maybe it’s because we are bighugenerds ourselves, kind of. Well. Ok, we are.).

The best part of writer William Grose’s bio is this:

“An avid video-gamer, William is also a car enthusiast and former world-champion rally driver. Everything about the previous sentence is true, except for the rally-driver part.” Ha.

Here’s what BigHugeNerd William says about our MagicWand in this, his inaugural review of a product that isn’t made by Apple, and isn’t an app.

“This review can be summed up with just one question: Do you have an Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad?

It really is just that simple. If, like many others out there, you’re sitting in front of your computer using Apple’s wireless keyboard and trackpad, you’ve probably noticed how the two don’t really stay together. At all. From my personal experience (i.e my incredibly messy desk), I’m always moving my keyboard and trackpad around either by bumping them or having to sweep breakfast crumbs/lunch crumbs/dinner crumbs/1am-snack crumbs off it. On numerous occasions I’ve wondered why on Earth did Apple not include some fancy way of keeping the two together.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one.

Enter, the MagicWand.

OK, so I’m not going to pretend, – the MagicWand may be a slightly questionable name for a product that keeps a keyboard and trackpad together. Feel free to google “Magic Wand” or (as designer Twelve South calls it) “MagicWand.” Yes, you see what happened there.”

(Editor’s note: Yes, we have been recently made aware of a certain other MagicWand out there, which is apparently a bestseller in the “personal care” industry. You know, for achy muscles and such. But enough about that.)

“Name aside, the MagicWand is a simple, simple piece of work, that just… well… works. So let’s take a look-see…

Inside the minimalist packaging are the following:
1.)  The MagicWand container
2.)  H-slide piece
3.)  Small rubber cover
4.)  Instructions

That’s it. No glueing, screwing, sticking required here.

Putting the MagicWand together will take you about 15 seconds if you’re quick, and 30 seconds if you’re slow. Either way, if you’re of the “now” generation or just generally impatient, the MagicWand will work out well for you.

Highlights:

1.)  Very easy to put together.
2.)  Very stylish and minimalistic, as if Apple itself had created it.
3.)  No flex when picking up the unit as a whole from either the keyboard or trackpad side.
4.)  Perfect for Home Theatre Mac users.
5.)  Plastic construction so no scratching your aluminum keyboard/trackpad.

Possibly the most useful piece of plastic you can buy for your Mac setup. This could easily have an Apple logo on it. Keeping my keyboard and trackpad together – and moving them out of the way – just became a non-issue. We can’t imagine using our Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad without the complete magic that is the MagicWand (that’s a lot of magic!).

We give Twelve South’s MagicWand full marks and a well-deserved five nerds!”
(Five nerds! Woot!) Get your own MagicWand here. This one, NOT that other one.

Cheers and best of luck to BigHugeNerd — we hope to read more from you!

The iPad Fan is a little bit of a misnomer as sites go — while the writers certainly *are* iPad fans (and who among us aren’t?), they’re also BIG fans of Apple-related technology in general. So we were pleased that they took notice of our MagicWand recently, and after taking it for a spin, found it to be an accessory they can’t live without. Here’s what writer and tech dude Jon Norman has to say:

“What’s the MagicWand? It’s a simple yet effective hardware add-on for your wireless Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad. It easily and nicely connects the two devices together, allows them to be moved together and used easily from a couch or chair…and even better, keeps them IN PLACE on the desk. No more hunting with your hand for the Magic Trackpad.”

Jon continues, “This is the type of add-on I would have expected from Apple. But just like always, where Apple falls short, Twelve South comes in and picks up the slack. They continue to produce high quality items that compliment Apple designs and fill a void left by various products. Be it iPad, Mac, etc. Each time I’m wondering if they can live up, and each time I’m impressed.

The MagicWand ($29.99) by TwelveSouth is one of the little things you don’t know you miss until you have it, then you wonder how you lived without it. It just works! It’s just what anyone with the setup of wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad needs.

The design itself is great, doesn’t look out of place at all, as it’s perfectly streamlined to fit these two devices. If I didn’t know better I’d say it was made BY Apple, but again, it’s not. Twelve South just do what they do, continue to impress with their products.

It’s a cinch to install, takes about 30 seconds. Has nice little anti-slip feet on it to keep things in place on a desk, and is sturdy enough to let you carry your two devices as one around to a different location. The accessory can even be installed on either side of the keyboard. Perhaps you use the Magic Trackpad as a mouse replacement. Perfect! Perhaps you use it on the left side in CONJUNCTION with the mouse, to make your experience even better. Again, perfection.”

Thankyouverymuch. We think MagicWand rocks, too. Get yours here.

Joshua Schnell, who writes for Macgasm, is pretty straightforward about his history of second-guessing Twelve South products. When MagicWand showed up at his door, he was skeptical, and fast forward a couple of days? He wasn’t sure how he lived without it.

Here’s the skinny on MagicWand via Macgasm and Joshua:

“Leave it to Twelve South to come up with a device that’s both so simple, and painstakingly obvious in hindsight, that it’s a must-have. The MagicWand literally connects your Magic Trackpad to your Apple Wireless Keyboard. You slide both devices into the MagicWand, connect the spacer, and away you go. The end result is a consolidated device: Magic Trackpad and Keyboard united at last. Like I said off the top, I was skeptical, but after playing with it for the last couple of days, I’m not exactly sure how I functioned without it. That seems to be the norm with Twelve South. They make great products that no one has ever thought of before. While I’m constantly skeptical about their products on release, they always live up to my expectation, and ofter surpass my early uneducated assumptions.  I should really stop second guessing Twelve South. They release great product after great product.  I should know, as I now own a BookArc, BookBook, BassJump and MagicWand.  Not one of them has disappointed.”

Aw, shucks, Joshua. (Blushes.) Now everyone else can get a MagicWand, so they can join you in wondering how they ever did without it.