The Optimus Mini Keyboard 282
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.
The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2, Funny)
Ctrl, Alt and Delete ?
Re:The concept is very cool, and very EXPENSIVE (Score:2)
Granted, it's probably cheaper to produce a larger amount, but then again the complexity increases, and the number of production faults will increase, eating up that advantage. And remember that the $100 for three keys is a "cut" price.
If they get the full size Optimus keyboard out the door, I predict it will not be a
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:5, Interesting)
*ding* You are correct, sir!
I have my home computer setup to switch between english and russian cyrillic. It's a real pain to have all those stickers on the keys. Not only do they fade and occasionally stick to you instead of the keyboard, but playing video games (such as Quake III) is a guaranteed way to shear the suckers right off. The result is that you end up with spotty coverage of the keyboard.
Some people use a keyboard overlay (a piece of plastic that is molded to the shape of the keyboard), but those are much harder to come by, don't always fit your keyboard, and interfere with typing.
Now with the Optimus, a switch from english to russian would result in the key glyphs themselves changing. No more worrying about stickers, just *BAM*, there you go. And if my father-in-law is over and wants to type in German for some reason (he's quite good with the language), he can switch the keyboard layout without having to hunt and peck for the keyboard layout.
As a nice bonus, games can finally tell me what keys I'm supposed to press instead of going through the config screen and trying to memorize all the combinations. (Or worse, get out one of those stand-up cheatsheets. Like I have the desk real-esate for that!)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:3, Insightful)
Getting operating system support (probably through drivers or plugins) is a sufficiently "killer" feature to promote these. Just imagine what can be done without individual program support:
*) Changing language layouts remaps the glyphs on the keyboard
*) Holding down a modifier key (shift, caps lock, alt, Windows, etc.) changes all the glyphs to show what you'll actually
If I was going to buy it.... (Score:3, Insightful)
You need an Apricot PC from 1983 (Score:2)
This was my first experience with PCs; my dad [aston.ac.uk] had one, issued to lecturers by Wolverhampton University. British built by Brummies, fact fans. Just like those lovely Mini cars. Bostin'!
Re:If I was going to buy it.... (Score:5, Funny)
Imagine the possibilities...
Imagine having a girlfriend...
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
I'd like it if it were smart enough to be able to...
- Close any applications not on a list.
- Start applications specified on a list.
- Open specific files in these applications.
It's be nice to be able to switch between different desktop configurations with this.
Another nice idea might be for a family PC with 3 accounts; click the persons' face to switch to his/her account.
But in all honesty, I can't think of any killer application, nor does
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
Wearable computing.
Work out not just chording but also sequences of presses of individual keys, chords of keys, and rolling sequences upon the keys and you could have a very small interface on the back of your left hand or wrist upon which you type with your right, and it doubles as a display so if you get lost in the UI it can report its state.
Think of Homer Simpson's dream invention from 2F14, but with a display.
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
That's just it: eventually you don't remember it, you just do it. You may not be able to quickly recite the series of turns you make on your commute between home and work, but you know it when you drive it. You know it so well that when your job relocates to a new building in the same city that a couple times you find yourself automatically driving to the old building, or when you move to a new house you find yourself driving to
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
Taking turns on an FPS and having to switch the mouse in between is a pain.
Scriptable keys that did 'escape, down, down, down, enter, down, down, enter, escape, escape' would be useful for me.
My Microsoft GameVoice can do it, and I guess there is already something else somewhere that does it. I've not even been arsed to look =)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The concept is very cool, and very cute (Score:2)
A screenshot of each of my virtual desktops (updated periodicaly), map the buton to switch to that desktop. Likewise, any of the buttons/icons/notifications that currently reside on my screen taking up valuable real estate. You could even dynamicaly map the button to a notification. Imagine an email comming in, the daemon grabs the next available button, displays the email notification image, waits for the user to touch it, opens the email client, removes the mapping. You could even have a so
Happy salivating! (Score:5, Funny)
Hope their keyboards (Score:2)
Re:Hope their keyboards (Score:4, Informative)
Not vapourware? (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:Not vapourware? (Score:4, Insightful)
Dude, it's just a pre-order, not a pre-purchase... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Dude, it's just a pre-order, not a pre-purchase (Score:4, Informative)
Now, if they fail to deliver the product EVER, that's a crime.
Re:Dude, it's just a pre-order, not a pre-purchase (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re:Dude, it's just a pre-order, not a pre-purchase (Score:2)
Re:Dude, it's just a pre-order, not a pre-purchase (Score:2)
According to this FTC article [ftc.gov], "Many credit card issuers have policies against merchants charging a credit card account before shipment" and "By law, a merchant should ship your order within the time stated in its ads or over the phone. If the merchant doesn't promise a time, you can expect it to ship your order within 30 days."
Re:Not vapourware? (Score:2)
Re:Not vapourware? (Score:3, Informative)
From the Art.Lebedev website:
It should also be noted that Art.Lebedev is a well known art studio, and that it works and has worked with many world-class industries and corporations. Definitely not the kind of guys who'd bet the (well established) respectability of their name and studio with vaporware
Re:Not vapourware? (Score:3, Insightful)
That's very simple: because when they unveiled the Optimus design as an art concept a year ago the response was overwhelming, geeks everywhere got mad and started frothing at the very idea of owning that think and being able to type on it.
They started doing hardware design because people were damn interrested in owning a physical version of their conceptual design, and they thought "well, if it can work why not doing it?".
They're more than likely doing it in partnership with a HW maker too (I think they s
In production already... (Score:2)
"The keyboard is in production. The first lot is set to arrive on May 15. Retail price of Optimus mini three is $100 (subject to change after April 2).
The keyboard will be available for pre-order this week."
3 keys? Perfect! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:3 keys? Perfect! (Score:3, Interesting)
I got to the site a day before it was Slashdotted (thank you, Digg) and that will be one of the possible combinations. There was also a "Any" key configuration where all of the keys literally switched to the word any. There was one where you could control iTunes and another one where you could control picture or PowerPoint slideshows (the keys actually showed mini previews of the next and previous pictures/slides). Really cool, but at $100 for 3 ke
Re:3 keys? Perfect! (Score:2)
If its $ 100 for 3 keys, just imagine what a 101 key keyboard would cost....
$ 10,100 - Yikes...
No wonder they're releasing this one first
Cool commercial applications (Score:5, Insightful)
McFastFood (Score:2)
Getting them to correctly make change, OTOH, is beyond what the technology in the keyboard can offer.
Chip H.
Re:McFastFood (Score:2)
It didn't look particularly new, either - anyone else seen such things?
Re:Cool commercial applications (Score:2)
Re:Cool commercial applications (Score:2)
Re:Cool commercial applications (Score:2)
Re:Cool commercial applications (Score:2)
I'm very mono-lingual and I have enough uses for this (full keybd) that I'll likely get one simply as a custom macro input device and retain my old bashable keyboard for normal typing.
-nB
Money (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:$100 not $300 (Score:2)
Re:$100 not $300 (Score:2)
$100 for three keys (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:$100 for three keys (Score:2)
Re:$100 for three keys (Score:2)
Re:$100 for three keys (Score:3, Informative)
I first saw this over two years ago. They accepted pre-orders a year ago. I was sufficiently interested to get in on the deal. I finally got my unit last week (my wife called it a "valentine's present" so I can't get my hands on it for another two weeks, though).
The AlphaGrip is innovative, but not as technically challengin as the Optimus. But things like this do happen.
But the Optimus looks cool. I hope they don't wait a year to
Picture (Score:5, Informative)
Keyboard Layout labels (Score:5, Insightful)
graphics on that page.. (Score:2)
at first I thought it was a video load or something..
then realized it was a display graphic of some girls (who are those girls?)
seems they just restarted the server, don't think they quite know yet they are slashdotted.
Re:graphics on that page.. (Score:2)
5000 hours? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:5000 hours? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:5000 hours? (Score:2)
Didn't we have enough problems with dead pixels on things like the handheld consoles and LCD screens? Why would you want to run 101 (or however many) seperate screens, all of which could fail or degrade at any time just for an (extremely) expensive keyboard?
I thought we'd got rid of screensavers when CRT's became burn-in immune but apparently not only do we have to use them again for things like digital projectors but also for LCD screens and now even our keyboards!
I know what to use those for (Score:5, Funny)
I'm so sad.
Images, my bandwidth WILL DIE (Score:2, Redundant)
http://www.ringdev.com/images/3Button.jpg [ringdev.com]
http://www.ringdev.com/images/optimus-mini-34.jpg [ringdev.com]
-Rick
Correction, Bandwidth not dieing. (Score:2)
-Rick
Integrate with Chording techology? (Score:2)
OK, with the given 3-key keyboard, one has up to 8 possible modes, with [0,0,0] being the default mode with which no action is assigned. With a 2-key chording configuration, one can generate 6 distinct modes: 0+1, 0+2, 1+0, 1+2, 2+0, 2+1. With 1-key chording configuration, one can generate only 3 distinct modes: 0, 1, 2. Three-key chording would provide the same result as two key chording (for obvious reasons.)
Suppose this
'5000 hours of continuous use' (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:'5000 hours of continuous use' (Score:2)
I love the smell of... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:I love the smell of... (Score:2)
Re:I love the smell of... (Score:2)
I was under the impression that they hand't fully soved the instability problems with the blue emitter (and to a less extent the green) and were therefore relying on encapsulating OLEDs in glass or other oxygen excluding material. Even then I thought the expected life was max 3 years.
Sod the colour screens (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Looks like someone's 59 days early. (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
More pics and prototype (Score:2)
RadioShack? (Score:2)
Wouldn't electronic ink be better for labels? (Score:2)
Way to go Cmdr Taco (Score:2)
Seems like an interesting concept but like the Wankel engine in the 50's and 60's, the technology to make it work properly just isn't there yet. The measley lifetime of the OLEDs is laughable...I mean
Market quotes are live! (Score:2)
-russ
Hardcore programmers KB. (Score:5, Funny)
Menu-driven interfaces. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Hmm... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Hmm... (Score:2, Funny)
Cool. Then you can't see me calling you a cock faced sheep felcher!
Re:Hmm... (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Re:Hmm... (Score:2)
Still really freakin' cool, though.
Re:Hmm... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hmm... (Score:2)
Re:Hmm... (Score:2, Informative)
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
Re:Hmm... (Score:2)
I do hope it's succesfull enough for development on the line to continue, so it can be eventually affordable for the poor geek (AKA me..
Re:Hmm... (Score:3, Funny)
The only there keys keyboard you will ever need is this one [flickr.com]. Of course with this technology you could remap them to CTRL+ALT+^H for Unix/Linux freaks
Re:Hmm... (Score:2)
They've already thought of that [hylobatidae.org]...
(Screenshot because the site seems intent on dying horribly. Wonder why?)
Re:Hmm... (Score:2)
Must.... organise.... home....network... properly.
Ugh. It'd be nice ON a laptop setup if the thing lasted more than 5000 hours....
Re:What It May Cost?..... a LOT!....... (Score:5, Informative)
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.
~
Re:What It May Cost?..... a LOT!....... (Score:2, Interesting)
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.
Re:How about... (Score:2)
The point is, they suck, because there's no feedback. You NEED *keys* to suit the majority of people. I know I'd hate a keyboard that didn't give me a decent amount of travel. I have a hard enough time getting used to my laptop keys half the time.
Re:How about... (Score:2)
Re:It's not vaporware... (Score:2)
Re:It's not vaporware... (Score:2)
Re:their portfolio (Score:2)
at the ends of the blades.
(ps I know it's a one off for an exibition)
Re:$100 to help get the full size to market. (Score:2)
Re:qwe (Score:2)
I belive that what you're looking for is:
http://www.babbage.demon.co.uk/morseabc.html [demon.co.uk]
I was originally just going to put some random morse coded text, but the lameness filter got in the way
Re:Only three keys? (Score:2)
how about if you configure Button one to display the album art for your currently playing song in WinAmp, that does a pause when you hit it. Perhaps a second that shows you the next track's name, that skips forward when you press it. That leaves the last to show you unread e-mail totals, that opens mail when you hit it.
Re:Only three keys? (Score:2)
How far away will you be able to read that from, maybe 5 feet max? Doesn't make a very good remote status display if you have to be right next to it (and it's not even wireless). The use they seem to be pushing is having it sit right next to a PC where the keyboard is. Right next to a *full size monitor* an
Re:Only three keys? (Score:2)
Ok, don't buy it. No one is forcing you to buy anything. They are still planning a full keyboard by the end of the year. RTFWS
"the friggin atari 2600 had a directional joystick and a single button and it was more useful than this!"
If you are only interested in playing Space Invaders then I guess you're right.
Re:keys (Score:3, Informative)
Re:This is not Vaporware... (Score:2)