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The Optimus Mini Keyboard
Zugok writes "We all remember the Optimus Keyboard from last year. Now Art Lebedev and his team have designed the Optimus Mini Three keyboard. The 'Mini Three' builds on the idea of those extraneous keys on modern Logitech and Microsoft Keyboards but like the Optimus Keyboard utilises OLED technology for visual customisation of keys.
This is not vapourware, pre-orders are being take now with a cut price until April 2nd. This is just a step closer to the Optimus Keyboard. They also have a mailing list for those who want to keep up with developments of the Optimus Keyboard. Happy salivating!" This is a far cry from the full keyboard, but it's still pretty nifty. Assuming it actually does ship.
But is it functional? I wonder to myself, "what will I put on those keys?" Pretty much just things that normally are an Alt-Click away anyways. I don't expect the keyboard of being able to handle serious macros, or anything.
I applaud them for attempting to release even three keys. I think they've got some guts. It isn't cost effective in small quantities, but if they can secure guaranteed sales in certain areas, they can bring the pricing down by bulk purchase so much.
Good luck to them, if they pull it off.
I can't really afford $100 on that right now... especially as I am 90% at my laptop. Ah well.
Just don't do it on your new keyboard, they are already disgusting enough, thanks!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Sadly many projects which have never appeared have also taken pre-orderes.
So this "justification" doesn't amount to very much. I'd love to have a look at the prices, but sadly the site is down so I can't.
I know what I'm mapping my three keys to: CTRL, ALT, and DEL
This guy's the limit!
Heres a review (with pics) from engadget
liqbase
I think it's an absolute pure luxury right now, and you can tell that they are aware of this, but to think that one day - maybe in 5 years - these really will be a viable purchase is exciting to myself. If the keyboard is good, this isn't a gimmick... it's a really really good way of working. I know I could do with easily seeing what every key on MY keyboard does on a long days slog in Discreet Combustion.
I think that for personal use, this is pretty much nothing but eye-candy. However, I can see some pretty decent commercial uses (note not necessarily in it's current configuration). Keyboards that are able to adapt to the application their running in a kiosk environment (where the core qwerty keys remain fixed, but the others change as needed) for example. One BIG use would be ..... the keyboard as a display. Imagine one of these keyboards in a kiosk where it's actually displaying content as it treats the keys as a miniature multi-segmented display. It would be quite catchy and you could drive a significant bit of content through it. Picture the main interface display being the keyboard (say something simple like some type of ATM), with the standard display containing other information, or perhaps a "guide", or showing more details.
Well, news was spreading quickly through Digg and elsewhere hours before this story was posted.
I don't know where you got that $300 figure from. If you're extrapolating it directly up, it'd be $4000; but Art Lebedev are still claiming that it will cost "Less than a decent mobile phone"; which would then give you $300. Did I just argue myself in circles? ^^
But, for people interested in getting the full keyboard, I can't see any of them forking out an extra $100 for these 3 keys; which don't have the greatest of practical applications.
I applaud them for attempting to release even three keys :)
The only there keys keyboard you will ever need is this one. Of course with this technology you could remap them to CTRL+ALT+^H for Unix/Linux freaks
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
That's "Piece of History" pricing right there. It sounds like they need the cash in order to make it through to production of the full keyboard. So they took a prototype, sized it down to something they could afford to manufacture and finished the software they need to make it work. They can use this piece to test the market and work out any problems in their manufacturing process. Sounds like a really good move to me.
For those complaining about the site being down without a mirror of a picture.... a little googling does help
Where did you get $300 from? If the mini keyboard has 3 keys and costs $100, and if the full keyboard keeps to the original design it will have 123 keys. 123/3=41, 41*100=$4100.
Obviously it isn't costing them the $33/key that they're charging, but it was never going to be cheap. They've always said it would be the same price as a decent mobile phone, and if that's a few hundred dollars, I'm sure they'll find a market. I'd be quite tempted, although not if the screens only last the 5000 hours I saw mentioned - even with my computer off half the time each day that would only last a year.
Think I'll stick with my £3 dabs.com keyboard for now.
I use so many different keyboards over the year and I wish the industry had a different label for each layout design. Some have large backspace keys with small enter keys, others have tiny backspace keys with mammoth enter keys. I think I've seen 3 or 4 layouts over time, which is crazy considering that typing becomes more efficient if the keys are in the same place. I figure the best way to get manufacturers to conform a little better is to name the layouts, and once you have your preference, you'll tend to buying the ones you're familiar with. That way manufacturers can see what consumers want and don't want. I'm sure there is a market for different layouts, but it frustrates me when I can't recall what keyboard I am used to without actually buying a new one and then finding out a day later that I'm used to a different sized "any" key.
"ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward."
Cool. Then you can't see me calling you a cock faced sheep felcher!
They don't get your money until the thing ships. What pre-orders CAN do, is give them a somewhat accurate guage of demand, which can help them negotiate volume discounts with the component suppliers, and help them secure loans. But they don't get money from the pre-orders, they can't charge your credit card until the product ships, it's illegal.
What kind of 'they can't charge your card until product ships' crap are you spewing. Video games stores take pre-orders every day. Sears and Tweeter charge you TODAY for the TV that's shipping next week. There's no law that says receipt of good or shipment of goods must take place before charging can.
Now, if they fail to deliver the product EVER, that's a crime.
Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
From the FAQ, the expected lifetime of these displays is 5000 hours. That's a little over 200 days. Even with a "key saver", this severly impacts the usable lifetime of this device. I'm as excited about this keyboard as anybody else, but I think I may have to wait until people have had one on their desk for a year to see if I'm going to plunk down a significant amount of coin to buy one.
I wouldn't buy it to actually *press* the keys. I'd be more interested in programming the displays to show something useful. That would be pretty cool.
The 3,5 and 7 keys, making this my optimus prime keyboard.
I'm so sad.
When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
This whole discussion of cost came up on one tech forum when they last released plans to sell the full keyboard.
They said then the famous "as much as a good cell phone", which could be what? Some people are happy with the $50 phones, but the latest PDA-style computer with mobile service? That could be near $1000.
So how about this:
A few of us looked around, and the cheapest backlit OLED displays we could find for sale were displays for cell-phones, and each display cost roughly $75 (for the cheaper ones, in bulk). Those displays were big enough for about six keys. Bulk isn't OEM pricing of course, but that would figure to around $12 per key (for a 32 x 32-pixel display only).
Now even if you are willing to cut that cost estimate in half, that still means that these displays would cost roughly $5 per key. For around a hundred keys, that's $500 alone. OLEDs certainly will get cheaper over time and this may take them a year to get together, but they won't get that much cheaper. By far the main products they are used for is mobile phone displays.
Plus there's a good-sized piece of work underneath to run the pretty pictures. I'd be very surprised if they could get this thing out for less than $500-$600. There are other companies that produce customised-key boards of the normal type (just with different physical key shapes and positions) and they get $200-$300 for those.
~
This seems a little slim to me. I'm not up on the expected lifetime of OLED tech but I hope it has a nifty sleep function. Because 5000 is just over 200 days of contiuous use. How many of us keep our computers running all the time....
no sig yet
Then, you pack up and make the order ready for shipment. When you have the stuff assembled in a box and ready to ship to the customer, you "capture" the payment. This is when you actually get the money, and things can fail at this point too (e.g, if the card had been stolen.)
Capturing the money before you're shipping the order is definately against the agreements used - I'm not sure if it is illegal or not.
There's also some maximum amount of time you can keep the funds reserved - I think this vary by agreement, too.
So, you don't get the money until you're shipping the order, unless you use a factoring company or similar. A factoring company (usually) lends you money against the right to collect on your bills, and cancels the debt as the bills are paid. They're often also collection agencies, and they're normally in the black, so they can grab tax credits for losses etc - thus making the bills more worth to them than to you.
Eivind.
Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.
fresh vapourware in the morning. Come on - this is a scam. If it isn't a scam than at a minimum it won't be as good as the pictures they are currently showing. The display will fail within a year, the keys will be heavy and nasty and the API will suck.
OLED technology just isn't good enough for this to be viable yet. Maybe, if you were NASA, you could get this keyboard to work but then howmany of us have unlimited piles of cash? To anyone that does happen to have piles of cash to burn please send some my way - thanks.
I used to have a better sig but it broke.
Make a version with a long-life OLED colour (not 5000 hours because of the blue) monochrome display.
... well, that might be mouldy cake between the keys.
Looking at my keyboard, woo, look, black on white. No reds, purples, greens
I'm sure that monochrome would be cheaper for a start, require less bandwidth to update, and for keyboard uses, just as useful.
Currently it is three pressable displays.
Stick a 64x64 monochrome/greyscale OLED into a key-sized key, and make a keyboard from that. Leave the full colour version until the technology is better - both on the OLED side and on the keyboards with display side.
Hey, guys, April fools is in two months!
In all seriousness, I'm curious what anyone would do with a keyboard that has only three keys on it. And who would buy it for $100?
It might be useful for embedded applications, like some mall kiosk where you push buttons to get through a menu. But it's still a bit pricy and short on keys.
get this thing out for less than $500-$600
Sounds good. Where can I get one?
Seriously, the thought of having each key what it's current action is is intoxicating. Imagine pressing the CTRL key, and having all the key caps show their CTRL-? action.
So the key C would show "COPY" when CTRL is pressed (for a text editor) or "Break" if at the command line.
- - - - - - - - - - -
I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
Wow, someone who actually uses the Insert key for something!! Amazing. I tend to rank it as one of the keys that I personally wouldn't mind losing, since all it seems to ever do is annoy me by switching to overwrite mode. Not that that happens often, heh. Just for your information, there are other keyboard shortcuts that are more well-known for copy and paste: control-c (copy) and control-v (paste). These are typically "advertised" in application menus, even.
main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
The true programmer's keyboard only needs 3 keys: 1, 0, and backspace (and the old types will tell you you don't need the backspace).
- sig? who is this sig of which you speak?
For those who bitch 3 keys are useless: These are 3 choices at a time, not 3 fixed choices all the time. You can create any menu-based user interface using it. Most have 4 keys ("up", "down", "OK/Enter", "Cancel/Leave" (usually found in cell phones). Still it can be done with 3 keys, if you give up "Cancel" and replace it with a menu position - My beeper had an interface like that, worked fine - or leave out "Up" and just cycle through the whole list with "Down" every time.
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