I make no secret of the fact I’m kinda picky about keyboards, since I spend a large part of my day typing away. I also think that there should be mandatory college level typing classes, but that’s just me. My personal favorite right now is a simple Dell multimedia keyboard because I like the feel of the keys and partly because I got it free.

Though I need to have a keyboard that I can type comfortably on, I’m not really one for the more interesting keyboard designs out there. I use a simple Dell multimedia keyboard or my laptop’s keyboard. The ones featured below are keyboard designs which are readily available and which I’m sure some people swear by, but ones that I can’t see myself using in the near future.

The Das Ultimate

This might just be the most sane design of the ones I’m going to look out. It claims to be the best keyboard on the planet, but what grabs your attention right off the bat is the fact that the keys are completely blank. Needless to say, this keyboard isn’t for anyone but the most experienced typist. I’m a fairly competent typist, but I’m not that good yet. At $130 a pop, you’d better be doing a whole lot of typing.

The Das Ultimate Keyboard

From a technical standpoint the Ultimate’s claim to fame is that it doesn’t use a membrane key system like most modern keyboards but rather has gold-plated mechanical keyswitches like the legendary Model M. I don’t think I’ve ever actually used a mechanical  keyboard so I can’t really comment about it, but if you browse the web, you’ll soon find many testaments to its superiority.

The Logitech diNovo

This is actually a keyboard that I considered buying at one point. It’s a feature packed wireless keyboard with a very sleek design. It sports a trackpad so that you can go without a mouse if you really wanted to and also makes for easy scrolling. Unlike many wireless keyboards, it’s reachargeable so you don’t have to worry about replacing batteries. It’s more expensive than the Das Ultimate at about $180 ($135 at Amazon) and I have no idea about the typing experience. I looked into getting one earlier this year, but the high price and it’s large size (which makes it unweildy at a small dorm room desk) meant that it wasn’t really a justifiable purchase.

Logitech DiNovo

The True-Touch roll-up keyboard

If I remember correctly, this keyboard got a few seconds of screen time in Die Hard 4. At under $25 dollars it’s certainly the cheapest the keyboard on the list, but I seriously doubt I’d have a enjoyable time typing on it. Though it’s a nice idea, I can’t see myself ever actually needing to use one. If I’m on the go, I’ll either have access to a full computer (with keyboard and mouse) or be carrying a portable computer. I suppose if you had an iPhone like device with a USB port you might be able to hook this up to it and get a better typing experience on the go, but that seems just a little too nerdy even for me.

True Touch Rollup Keyboard

Optimus Maximus

Most keyboards are QWERTY layouts, but it’s not too hard to change your keyboard layout in software to something like DVORAK if you want to. It’s a bit harder to get your hands on a keyboard that has a non-standard layout that you want. The Optimus Maximus keyboard solves this problem by having each key be a fully programmable tiny OLED screen. So you can assign basically any character to any key and change your layout to better suit your needs. You can also change to more esoteric layouts like Arabic, Greek or Hiragana. There’s a small panel of extra multimedia keys that can be similarly customized to be custom app launchers. I think it’s a good concept, but at an approx $1600 (from their website) I’d rather get a new MacBook with that money.

The Maltron Keyboard

All the keyboards I’ve listed above have been kinda quirky, but still look like normal keyboards. The Maltron however is a special ergonomic keyboard that has a special split-bowl design. I’ve personally never suffered from any sort of RSI (I make it a point to take regular breaks) but I know that there are people who swear by the effectiveness of bowl designs. It’ll certainly take some getting used to, but it might just be worth if it means saving your wrists.

Maltron Ergonomic 3D keyboard

The Virtual Keyboard

The strangest keyboard out there isn’t really a keyboard at all. It’s a laser projector the size of a cigarette lighter that projects the image of a keyboard onto any flat surface in front of it. It certainly packs some serious geek cred, but I’m skeptical of its utility as a general purpose typing device. I really think keyboards need to have some semblance of tactile feedback even if it’s minimized like with the newer Apple keyboards. It’ll be interesting to see if something like this takes off and how it’s put to use.

Laser Virtual Keyboard

All of the above are fully functioning, working keyboards. They may not be what you’re used to, but they’re not toys either. With the possible exception of the Optimus Maximus, none of them are really too highly priced. There are a number of other designs that I didn’t cover, especially the various split and ergonomic designs. If you have real experience using any of these or have a personal favorite design that I haven’t listed, do let me know in the comments.

Es ist eine fast einmalige Chance – ein neues Land entsteht, wird gegründet oder ändert die Staatsform. Um diese Veränderung auch optisch auszudrücken, wird in solchen Zeiten oft die Nationalflagge geändert.

So auch in Russland 1991, nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion. Leider entschied man sich für eine Flagge, die in der langen Geschichte Russlands schon mehrmals offiziellen Status hatte. Die drei panslawischen Farben Weiß, Blau und Rot werden quer gestreift.

Durch das manchmal verwendete Hellblau gefiel mir das Design, richtig aufregend oder kreativ ist es sicher nicht. Außerdem benutzen so viele Länder ähnliche Farben und Anordnungen. Wenn es nach Artemy Lebedev geht, den Stardesigner, der unter anderem für die jetzt schon legendäre Optimus Maximus Tastatur verantwortlich ist, braucht man gar nicht viel zu ändern.

Lediglich die Anzahl der Querstreifen wird verdreifacht. Es entsteht ein einzigartiges Design mit hohem Wiedererkennungswert, welches dennoch auch die traditionellen Farben beibehält – und was kann man sich Besseres wünschen?

Ich hätte gar nichts dagegen, wenn die Nationalflagge öfter mal geändert würde. Selbst die Wappen von Fußballvereinen werden mal modernisiert, und zu denen haben viele Menschen innigere Verhältnisse als zum Vaterland.

The Optimus Maximus Keyboard, is probably the most expensive keyboard in the world. It features an OLED (organic light emitting diode) screen in each key (yes, EACH key). Each key is fully programmable, you can insert a photo, a symbol a solid color, or anything you like! plus, you can programm each key to do a certain function (like open a specific program or start the email application). It really is an imppressive piece of computer engineering. Designed by Art  Lebedev, the Optimus Maximus Keyboard is truly for the geek inside you.

Click here for a demo or visit the official website at www.artlebedev.com

Price: US$1,589.99

World

El dia de mañana los teclados seran como este que os muestro a continuacion. Su peculiaridad es que sus botones son pequeñas pantallas LCD que nos muestran en cada momento, y de manera visual, la funcion que desempeña cada uno de ellos.

Después de poner a la venta, tras innumerables retrasos, el teclado Optimus Maximus, los chicos de Art Lebedev ya están gestando su próxima creación. Se trata de un teclado -originales, ¿no?- que responderá al nombre de Optimus Popularis y que contará con un número reducido de las teclas con pantalla OLED que caracterizan a su carísimo y versátil predecesor, el Optimus Maximus.

Gracias a esto, aseguran desde Art Lebedev, el teclado Optimus Popularis tendrá un precio final sensiblemente inferior a los más de 1.000 euros que cuesta actualmente el Optimus Maximus. Sus dimensiones, parece, también serán bastante reducidas.

Por ahora, eso es todo. En Art Lebedev saben como generar ruido y, por el momento, les seguiremos el juego. Solamente les pedimos que, por favor, no tarden varios años en tener lista la versión definitiva del Optimus Popularis.

Fuente: Gizmos.es.

El Optimus Maximus ya está disponible en la web de ThinkGeek, aunque por sus $1589.99, lo normal en estos casos es que al  menos te regalen un ratón para que “sientas” que has hecho una buena inversión… También nos ponen un video por si te sobra esos miles de $ y no tienes donde gastarlos…

]]> http://simonchik.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/optimus-maximus/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:15:23 +0000 dima http://simonchik.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/optimus-maximus/ http://removestringfromobject.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/optimus-maximus-a-keyboard-not-a-roman-empror/ Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:21:50 +0000 Stef Andries :: RemoveStringFromobject http://removestringfromobject.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/optimus-maximus-a-keyboard-not-a-roman-empror/ http://tomtech999.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/optimus-maximus/ Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:19:42 +0000 tomtech999 http://tomtech999.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/optimus-maximus/

The Dynamic Keyboard shown in the video is still a protoype but looks very cool. Using the specialist drivers and software bundled with the keyboard, each key’s “letter” or “symbol” can be completely manipulated, made possible by the LCD screen on the surface of each key. This is implemented by creating keyboard “Layers” within the software and assigning them per application. So for instance you may have one keyboard layout for Photoshop, one for Visual Studio, another for Half Life and so on.

Although it does not demonstrate how in the video, I am assuming that you can create logic to change key patterns and combinations dynamically, for example while holding shift in Word, the letter keys change to their specific functions (c = copy, v = paste etc). This type of adaptive keyboard can also be used to display dynamic data on un-used keys. For instance the number of Unread mail in your Gmail inbox, or perhaps your remaining HDD space ( a similar idea to the minature displays bein manufactured on the front of some laptops). Some of these ideas could be usefull, others pointless.

Who will use the device?

The main areas I can see this being adopted are….

1. The Design industry (Where Designers utilise many keyboard shortuts across many packages to increase productivity).
2. The Gamer (Who would appreciate the developer of the title packaging a specific keyboard “layer” with their game to make finding that all important rocket launcher much easier!!).
3. In a multilingual environment where people of different nationalities and languages share the same input device (perhaps in an airport or other public place).

Engadget’s Ryan Block shows us a little of the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard.