Samsung Kills Keyboard Dock For Galaxy Tabs

Samsung has quietly discontinued its keyboard dock accessories for three of its more popular recent tablets, potentially frustrating would-be owners with a more cumbersome separate stand and keyboard combo. The keyboard dock for the Galaxy Note 10.1, the Galaxy Tab 10, and the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, has been axed, Samsung has confirmed with UK retailer Clove, with unspecified "supply issues" impairing deliveries from November 2012.

According to the retailer, Samsung's intention is to replace the single keyboard dock – which has an integrated nook into which the Galaxy Tab slots – with an accessory double-act. A tablet stand, complete with dock connector for recharging the tablet, would form one half of that combo, while a Bluetooth keyboard – still yet to be fully detailed – would be used for text entry.

The audience for keyboards to go with tablets is arguably small, though various Kickstarter projects and third-party manufacturers have waded in to design the "perfect" accompaniment to a tablet (usually Apple's iPad). Only last week, Logitech and Belkin each outed an $80 add-on 'board for the iPad mini, for instance.

One argument for separate peripherals might be that it introduces ergonomic flexibility. By splitting the dock and the keyboard, it allows users to move the tablet further away and perhaps raise it closer to the eye-line.

Still, as Clove counters, two accessories make for less convenient mobile computing, though it's worth noting that Samsung's original keyboard dock lacked the snap-cover convenience of iPad counterparts from companies like Logitech. No pricing information for the new Samsung Bluetooth keyboard has been revealed, though Clove warns that the separate dock and 'board combo will be "a higher cost" than the old-style add-on.