Optimus mini
Ever sincevalosonthor pointed out the extreme coolness that is the Optimus keyboard, I have wanted one. However, the company that has developed the Optimus (Art Lebedev Studios), has been relatively close-mouthed about the entire deal. They did say that there would be an announcement on Feb 1, 2006.
On Feb 2, 2006, I started looking. Press release? Nope. So I started checking online blogs. Those blogs just complained about the Optimus, but gleaning tiny bits of information proved enough. If you follow the link to the Art Lebedev website, it has a new picture in the middle, called "Optimus Mini 3."
Apparently, their announcement is that they are beginning to take preorders for this three-button keyboard. All 3 keys have the amazing OLED technology that makes the Optimus so cool...but there are only three buttons.
The price tag for these three buttons is $100 (until April 2, when it will go up).
The company is apparently taking preorders because they couldn't afford to go into actual production on the keyboard. That's why they're only doing a limited run on these 3-button keyboards. They do say that the 3 keys are actually an unlimited # of keys, because you can program the buttons to respond to any combinations of buttons on your normal keyboard. So shift, control, shift+control, etc can all change the buttons on the Mini3. It's kind of cool. I don't know if it's $100 cool. Especially since they won't receive their order until May.
Ah the dilemmas that we techno-geeks face. To pay $100 for three buttons of ub3r-c00ln3$$ now--and support the company so one day we can buy a $1000 keyboard.
***
On a random note--does anyone know how to type on a Dvorak keyboard? I always wanted to learn, and with an actual Optimus I might just teach myself!
On Feb 2, 2006, I started looking. Press release? Nope. So I started checking online blogs. Those blogs just complained about the Optimus, but gleaning tiny bits of information proved enough. If you follow the link to the Art Lebedev website, it has a new picture in the middle, called "Optimus Mini 3."
Apparently, their announcement is that they are beginning to take preorders for this three-button keyboard. All 3 keys have the amazing OLED technology that makes the Optimus so cool...but there are only three buttons.
The price tag for these three buttons is $100 (until April 2, when it will go up).
The company is apparently taking preorders because they couldn't afford to go into actual production on the keyboard. That's why they're only doing a limited run on these 3-button keyboards. They do say that the 3 keys are actually an unlimited # of keys, because you can program the buttons to respond to any combinations of buttons on your normal keyboard. So shift, control, shift+control, etc can all change the buttons on the Mini3. It's kind of cool. I don't know if it's $100 cool. Especially since they won't receive their order until May.
Ah the dilemmas that we techno-geeks face. To pay $100 for three buttons of ub3r-c00ln3$$ now--and support the company so one day we can buy a $1000 keyboard.
***
On a random note--does anyone know how to type on a Dvorak keyboard? I always wanted to learn, and with an actual Optimus I might just teach myself!