Whenever we or anybody else reports on developments in Art Lebedev’s Optimus Maximus camp, someone invariably pops up shouting “render!” Well, either the Optimus guys are getting a whole lot better with their Photoshop skills, or they really did show off a working prototype of the OLED-keyed ‘board yesterday in their Moscow store.
Look beyond the rubbish camera work and here we have the first live video of Optimus’ Maximus keyboard showing video on one of its OLED screens. And while whoever was filming didn’t tweak their focus well enough to give much of an impression of screen quality, at least the frame-rate appears to be reasonable – after all, you’re unlikely to be watching a full-length feature film on your F11 key!
My current keyboard has a total of 143 keys. Do I use them All? No, there are several keys that I never touch, unless it’s by accident. So what do you think I would do wit a keyboard that had nearly double the amount of keys?
The name just about says it all, its just a plain old USB keyboard, no frills or anything. There aren’t dedicated media keys, nor integrated hotkeys, just a play keyboard.
So why would this be at all important? The reason is as follows, it’s supported by the Wii Menu version 3.1.
The other day we saw an interesting gaming keyboard from Belkin that was an all-or-nothing setup. Basically, it was good for hardcore gamers, but you still needed to have a separate keyboard just for typing. Here’s a new one from Razer that goes to the other end of the spectrum.
I know, I know, we said we’d take it easy on the Optimus Maximus coverage, but Art Lebedev’s cunning OLED “all things to all men (as long as they’re rich)” keyboard is due to grab headlines again with some further good and bad news. The former is that in recent testing (as seen in this photo) the Maximus passed preliminary wireless interference tests required for CE and FCC approval; the bad is that a potential shortage of OLED controller supplies (it’s just like Optimus Prime all over again; there’ll be a lot of disappointed kids on Christmas morning) may push the release schedule back once again.
How often do you use your caps lock key? I honestly don’t use it that much, as it only comes up in product names, and those can generally be typed easily with use of the shift button. I’ve heard talk of people wanting the key removed from keyboards as it is pointless. I think that’s a bit far, as some people do use it (though some people abuse it). Apple has taken an interesting approach in their latest keyboard.
Perhaps it’s a slow Friday, perhaps white is the new black, or perhaps people just love renders of unreleased keyboards, but Optimus’ news that their Maximus OLED keyboard will have – shock horror! – a white casing, rather than the black or dark-grey so far seen in images, has flooded the internet.
Gamers are constantly looking for new gear that will give them an edge. While some prefer to invest their money in a better graphics card or a faster CPU, others will make sure that they have the very best keyboard and mouse on the market. If you are one of those people, maybe you should check out the n52te SpeedPad from Belkin.
I do my fair share of traveling, and due to my occupation, I do a good bit of writing while I’m on the road. Naturally, I can appreciate having a good keyboard on my laptop, however, I’ve never considered taking my full-size keyboard around with me. That’s why I’m not finding this next product to be the most useful.
SlashGear Japan
