Optimus Popularis Keyboard Offers Customizable Keys
Art Lebedev. Ever heard of him, or his studio? No? That's a shame. Art's
studio is one of the most impressive around, cranking out some of the
most unique pieces of art/consumer electronics that the world has ever
seen. Generally, the company comes up with more concepts than they could
ever make into a reality, but some of their keyboards actually do hit
the production line. A few years ago, the Optimus Maximus set the bar
for what a sophisticated keyboard could be, offering up OLED keys with
customizable graphics/macros and an insane $1000+ price tag. Needless to
say, not too many were sold, but a new version is finally creeping onto
the scene for those into buying the highest-end keyboards known to man.
The new Optimus Popularis keyboard is obviously just the next generation, but it's totally revised and loads better than the original. It uses a "chicklet" style layout that has become so popular in netbooks these days, and while there's no number pad, just pressing the FN key will enable the keys there to turn into a number pad. Yes, you heard that right. Each key has a customizable display underneath, so you really can make each one into anything you want. Need a key just to launch your own custom app? Done. And you can even put an icon there to remind you.
There's really no greater geek toy than a keyboard with keys that you can customize in any way possible, but it remains to be seen if it'll be comfortable to type on and really cost $1000 or less as promised.
The new Optimus Popularis keyboard is obviously just the next generation, but it's totally revised and loads better than the original. It uses a "chicklet" style layout that has become so popular in netbooks these days, and while there's no number pad, just pressing the FN key will enable the keys there to turn into a number pad. Yes, you heard that right. Each key has a customizable display underneath, so you really can make each one into anything you want. Need a key just to launch your own custom app? Done. And you can even put an icon there to remind you.
There's really no greater geek toy than a keyboard with keys that you can customize in any way possible, but it remains to be seen if it'll be comfortable to type on and really cost $1000 or less as promised.
