Optimus OLED Keyboard Pre-Orders Start Dec. 12

Jupix writes, "After almost a year and a half of public development, the Optimus OLED keyboard is nearing completion. According to the project blog, pre-orders for the Optimus-103 will start on December 12. The price is unspecified at this time, but Art Lebedev has said the keyboard will cost 'less than a good mobile phone' (probably about $400). Don't expect to see those 10 programmable function keys on the left on this first version, though, as they will not make their debut until the Optimus-113, released later."

What key switching tech does it use?

Does anyone know what kind of switches it uses?

At that price I'd expect buckling spring switches (like the old IBM Model M) or mechanical Alps switches (like the old Apple Extended Keyboard II). Although I think only Unicomp makes buckling spring keyboards anymore.

I'd be disappointed if keys that look so nice, just have a squishy feel to them like a cheap rubber-dome membrane Dell keyboard.

Re:

huh? The squishy feeling is a good thing(tm) Its called a quiet keyboard. I very much dislike the spring keyboards, esp if yo use them for data entry. With quiet keyboards its much easier to press the keys.

Re:What key switching tech does it use?

HERETIC!

Re:

I'd have said heathen! but I think you were closer to the mark ^^

Buckling springs have ergonomic advantages.

huh? The squishy feeling is a good thing(tm) Its called a quiet keyboard. I very much dislike the spring keyboards, esp if yo use them for data entry. With quiet keyboards its much easier to press the keys.

Although ultimately it comes down to personal preference, I think that the 'clicky' buckling-spring keys are actually easier to use and less fatiguing. Because there is immediate tactile and audible feedback when the key-switch is actuated, you don't have to press it as far down. When I use a 'soft touch' keyboard, I find that I hit the keys further and harder, because there's not that feedback; I slam each key all the way down instead of (with practice) only pushing each key down as far as is necessary.

The noise of the original IBM Model M's is definitely a downside; if you have to work around other people, I can see how it wouldn't win you many friends. In my opinion, the Apple Extended Keyboard II with the Altus switches is the best of both worlds. It's softer both in terms of pressure and sound than the IBM, but it's not as 'mushy' as a soft-touch (silicone dome).

Re:

"The best feedback is the letters appearing on the screen anyway."

You must type rather slowly...

dozens of lines?

Programmers need to type in dozens of lines of code to express a single idea sometimes

Yes, that happened to me once, when I really needed to use VBA instead of Perl...

E-Paper keys?

OLEDs are cool and all, and support color...

But if they used e-paper for each key, couldn't this be used in laptops and other low-power devices?

I've never really understood the obsession

With the old IBM keyboards. There seems to be this kind of reverence for them on /. and I don't understand why. I used to have one (had an IBM desktop). It was noisy and hard to press the keys. I much prefer my current MS keyboard which has easy, quiet keys. The only potential argument I've heard for the old keyboards is durability. Ok, maybe so, but what kind of stress do you subject them to that makes them break? I have, thus far, never managed to wear out a key on a keyboard. I use the hell out of my computer too, it's pretty much all I do with my time.

So what's the deal with the old IBM keyboards? Is it just some kind of geek-tough guy thing? "Back in my day our keyboards could cause hearing damage and by god we liked it!" I just don't understand what the problem with modern, soft, quiet keyboards is. They don't seem to have problems with breaking even under heavy use, so what's up?

Forced tilt?

Looks like the keyboard is force on an angle. Normally you're able to adjust the height of the keyboard. I generally like my keyboard as flat as possible and my desk/chair set to the right height so my wrists are in a comfortable and flat position instead of being tilted up. Too bad, looks like the keyboard has promise.

Re:

Just shim up the front of the keyboard. Problem solved. ;)

Re:Forced tilt?

One would hope after dropping a few C-notes on a keyboard you wouldn't have to shim anything.

Re:Forced tilt?

A real hacker always shims something!

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I agree. That said, I love my Microsoft ergonomic keyboard with the 9 degree reverse tilt.

Also, why does every fucking keyboard manufacturer in the world feel that they have to screw around with the enter key at every opportunity? You'd think they'd lear

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Speak for yourself, over here in the UK we have the vertical 2 row (upside down L) enter key. I think there should be various layouts to match the different standards around the world.

Functionality Display

Overall changes are one thing (ala Quake), but what I want is to have the display change when I press the CTRL or ALT key.

So that CTRL changes the C key display to COPY and so on. Including the function and specialty keys (arrows, PrtSc).

And an editor that allows me to customize what the keys show, so when I am programming I can set up the display to match my key mapping preferences. With smart focus management to whatever program is in the foreground.

Re:Functionality Display

And an editor that allows me to customize what the keys show, so when I am programming I can set up the display to match my key mapping preferences. With smart focus management to whatever program is in the foreground.

You shouldn't need an editor for this. Rather they should release a good API, so that is it is easy for every program to tell the keyboard what to display when that program is in focus. Since your IDE already knows your keymaps, you shouldn't have to tell the keyboard again (imagine what a mess).

This is beautiful technology, but as with so many other things, the difficulty will be in getting programs to support it.

Re:

Which is a great idea for grandma, who doesn't know how to use a computer, but really isn't that much of an advantage to an advanced computer user who never looks at their keyboard anyway. Anybody who users a computer more than 2 hours a day, should proba

Re:Functionality Display

As a hobbyist game programmer, I immediately began to think about what games you could write for the keyboard itself. My general idea is that you could make all the keys act as one big (low-res) screen.

You could have a Whack-a-Mole type game, where a mole would display on the keys and you'd have to whack him by pressing one of the keys the mole occupies.

Or you could make a Snake clone where you would maneuver the snake by tapping on the direction the snake would go.

Or some kind of piano game, á la Guitar Hero.

Best use for this...

I suspect that this won't be used a lot on home computer systems. Where it may be used a lot is in things like automotive dashboards and possibly non-critical systems on aircraft where space is at a premium and touch screens work poorly if you're wearing gloves and/or want some tactile feedback.

-b.

Minor question - How much?

I don't know about your credit card, but when I charge something, they require something a bit more concrete than "less than the price of a good cell phone".

NB: This keyboard does not use OLED.

Read the blog for details. They scrapped the OLED idea in favor of LCD screens to save cost.

Optimus Prime?

Did anyone else notice that the model numbers are primes?

Reminds me of an old joke...

Hey, You're using an international layout keyboard, aren't you?

zes, how did zou know?

BBH

Re:Staggered columns versus matrix keyboards

OMG! They "destroyed it" by supporting the keyboard design the overwhelming majority of people are used to instead of supporting a layout that only two companies feel is important. Those bastards.