The most frequent complaint I hear about the iPhone is its lack of a physical keyboard.

Toronto-based Mobile Mechatronics said it has taken care of that by building a Blackberry-style physical keyboard that attaches to an iPhone.

The keyboard has a short kind of sleeve that you slide the phone into. It attaches to the phone’s battery port to draw power for the keyboard. It slides on and off and no special software is required to use it.

The keyboard was originally intended as a training device, said Mike Nykoluk, a founder of Mobile Mechatronics. It was designed to help people transition from a physical keyboard to the iPhone’s virtual keyboard by training them where the virtual keys are and to build muscle memory.

The idea came from Nykoluk’s own experience in changing from one Blackberry to another. “I always found when I got a new Blackberry, I hated the new keyboard” said Nykoluk. “Then in a week, it was the best keyboard ever.”

He thought that people just needed a way to get used to the virtual keys of the iPhone. But beta testers often chose to keep using the physical keyboard, he said.

There are prototypes in beta test now, which have rubber keyboards. The final version will be made of hard plastic, said Nykoluk.

The keyboard is available for pre-order and should become available around November, said Nykoluk. (NYT)