Updated Physical Keyboard?

[jakfish]

I see that the kb is out of stock at the store, and while I'm glad to have mine to use with the Beta, I was wondering if there's a new generation of kb in the pipeline. Something with a backlight, perhaps.

[tllim]

I see that the kb is out of stock at the store, and while I'm glad to have mine to use with the Beta, I was wondering if there's a new generation of kb in the pipeline. Something with a backlight, perhaps.

There is no new generation in the pipeline. The main out of stock reason due to slow sales and factory required high MoQ (Minimum Order Quantity).

[pehjota]

I see that the kb is out of stock at the store, and while I'm glad to have mine to use with the Beta, I was wondering if there's a new generation of kb in the pipeline. Something with a backlight, perhaps.

There is no new generation in the pipeline. The main out of stock reason due to slow sales and factory required high MoQ (Minimum Order Quantity).

Maybe take pre-orders/crowdfunding for enough of the MoQ to make it worthwhile, and/or raise the price a little to reduce the breakeven quantity?  Maybe add a package product of the PinePhone (Pro) with keyboard included, like the convergence package with docking bar, to make the keyboard option more prominent.  Second-hand listings with keyboards have been selling for double the Pine Store prices, so there seems to be demand.

I know some people would consider buying a PinePhone (Pro) only because of the keyboard, so sales of the PinePhone (Pro) may be reduced without the keyboard available.

I for one need a new keyboard and would immediately buy several if available.  I can't imagine using my daily driver PinePhone without my keyboard, but unfortunately it broke: the sides of the case keep it rigid, but the headphone jack hole is a weak point in the case that broke on mine when dropped, so the case flexes and loses contact with the pogo pins (in hindsight, a headphone jack on the right side of the phone instead of the left would have been better, but oh well).  Because of that weak spot (and just the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries), I'd like to stock up on spares of the keyboard.  And maybe other keyboard owners will also someday need replacements (due to damage/wear or battery age).