Touchy feely typing is now at your fingertips with the launch of the world's first fabric keyboard.

Designed for use with devices such as palmtops, organisers and mobile phones, the Elektex keyboard is the brainchild of British company, ElectroTextiles.

With a guarantee that it can be folded, scrunched and washed without losing functionality, it promises to make business less slippery for the accident-prone.

Development director Chris Chapman said: "A keyboard that you can roll up and put in your pocket, that is waterproof, lightweight and robust, will make life easier for people communicating on the move the world over."

IDC analyst Andy Brown has said he'd come across rubber keyboards before: "They're useful if you spill coffee on them at work," he said. "Fabric keyboards are part of this trend. There's a definite need for such keyboards for smart handheld devices."

"The whole point of having a device is making them highly portable. As the demand for Wap browsing grows, there is more interest in keyboards," he added.

However, he said that as they are "robust in the field", they will be of more use in vertical markets such as engineering.

Elektex keyboards will be on the market in the new year.