Here’s a neat solution for both on-the-go number-crunchers and gamers alike. Called the NumberKey, it is an iPhone App which displays an elegant numeric keypad and wirelessly transmits touchscreen keystrokes to your MacBook or MacBook Pro.
NumberKey was developed by Balmuda Design for people who require the numeric keypad omitted on MacBooks. For the wireless connection to work, you need to install their NumberKey Connect software on your laptop (only macs at the moment) so that it can interpret the information sent by the App Store Application on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
The buttons come in four different flavors; one is an old school mac button set and the others come in color schemes designed to match your particular MacBook. With a price of $1.99 (AU$2.49), NumberKey provides a much cheaper (and elegant) solution than purchasing a bulky USB keypad, which you then have to lug around with you.
NumberKey requires the very recent OS X Leopard 10.5.5 in order to run, which is unusual since they claim Power PC support. Your iPhone or iPod Touch must also have at least the version 2.1 software update.
This solution won’t provide the tactile feedback of a traditional numeric keypad, but is still a very cool app if you’ve got the gear and meet the requirements.
