First, the trackpad. You can set it to appear above or below the keyboard. I tried it below but quickly moved it to above because my hands already trained for a spacebar at the bottom of any on-screen keyboard.

To use the trackpad, you simply swipe it to the left or right to quickly move your cursor through any text. Tap the trackpad and a space is inserted. Double-tap to select a single word or triple-tap to select all text. There are also two arrows — one on each side of the trackpad — that will immediately move the text cursor from one word to the next.  Here’s how it looks:

Overall, I like this type of navigation and it gets better once you’ve selected text. Tapping and holding the trackpad causes a cut/copy/paste menu to appear, making it easy to copy your selected text, move the cursor as needed and then paste text. This whole process makes it easier to handle such activities with one hand on a large screen.

Unfortunately, Tyype’s feature set essentially stops there. While the trackpad itself is excellent and easy to use, the keyboard itself is bare-bones. There’s no auto-correction of misspelled words, nor is there any word suggestion option; two key features that are a must-have on any mobile keyboard for me.

If Appvetica, the small team behind Tyype, were to add those features, I’d be adding this keyboard to my Android smartphone right away. Instead, I’m putting Tyype on my “watch list” and not on my phone, hoping to see these important features added.

For those that want to test out the keyboard, it’s free for five days in the Google Play store; after that you’ll have to upgrade to the paid version for  $1.58. I double-checked to see if the paid version adds any features, but the Appvetica team said not yet. They hope to add auto-correct in the next one to two weeks.

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AirPlay mirroring

The iPad 2 can mirror its display, apps, home screen and all, to a TV or other connected display via the Apple Digital AV Adapter and an HDMI cable. But having a long cord tethering your iPad to your TV is no fun. That’s why it’s great that iOS 5 will bring AirPlay Mirroring, which will let you do the same thing without wires, so long as you have an Apple TV (the new little black model) attached to your television. It should be great for watching movies and slideshows, but latency issues could hinder its usefulness when it comes to gaming. We’ll have to wait and see how it performs.

Wi-Fi sync

Apple showed off how its iOS devices will be able to go PC-free when iOS 5 arrives, but if you still want to grab your music and movies from iTunes, you can do so over a local Wi-Fi network from your Mac or PC instead of having to plug your device in. Apple does say “it automatically syncs and backs up any new content to iTunes” every time “you connect your iOS device to a power source,” but it isn’t clear if that’s a requirement.

Multitouch gestures

The iPad gets expanded multitouch gestures, which have actually been available to developers before now. They include the ability to close apps with four finger pinches, swiping up to reveal the multitasking bar, or swiping left and right to switch between open apps. I’ve had hands-on experience with these, and they actually make a bigger (positive) difference than you might expect.

Custom vibration and LED flash settings

It’s technically an Accessibility option, but Apple is bringing user-customizable vibration and LED flash settings to the iPhone in iOS 5. You probably can’t make it specific for each contact in your address book, but it should let you know at a glance (or at a feel) whether you’re getting an email, a text message, or an iMessage.

Split keyboard

I have big hands, so I can wrangle thumb typing on the iPad without too much discomfort, but it’s not exactly fun. For those with daintier digits, it’s downright frustrating. The new split keyboard should make it much easier to type out emails without having to deploy an iPad stand and assume a more traditional typing position.

Did you watch or follow the keynote and have other suggestions of your own of great iOS 5 features not exactly given center stage today? Let us know in the comments

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