Optimus Keyboard Starts Shipping

Tom's Hardware is reporting that the Optimus keyboard that everyone was so anxious for (although maybe less so when they saw the price tag) started shipping this week. "According to an announcement made on the Optimus project blog, keyboards are now shipping to customers who pre-ordered the $1564 keyboard nine months ago. Keyboards with passive keys are delayed and will be shipping in about a month, the manufacturer said. [...] Earlier this month, one of the first Optimus Maximus keyboards was sold for $2750 on Ebay." Engadget even got the chance to test one of these expensive toys out.

Review summary

[Smackheid (1217632)]

-LEDs are bright and clear
-Key Image Editing is quick and painless (use your graphic editor of choice)
-Still some quirks to work out with Macs
-High-quality parts and construction
-Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes.

Re:Review summary

[CRCulver (715279)]

Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes.

Don't a lot of old-timers say that the keyboards of old, where you actually got some resistence from the keys, were more comfortable to type with than the yielding keyboards of today?

In any event, it's interesting to see that advances are still being made in keyboard technologies. The input model of, say, the film minority Minority Report [amazeon.com] , where you have to wave your arms around would in reality prove highly exhausting. Voice input isn't anywhere near ready, especially for people like me who are entering a different language in each window on the screen. And unless Kurzweil is right after all, I'm sure we're still a long ways off from direct neural input.

Re:

[PopeRatzo (965947)]

I'm also glad to see that keyboard technology is still evolving, but I'm not sure Optimus is the right direction. Instead of an extremely expensive new keyboard that needs lots and lots of delicate tech and will slow down my workflow, I wouldn't mind having a little less hardware sitting under my fingers. Button-pushing seems to me to be so 20th century. Because of the type of work (and play) I do with my computer, I'd like to have ways to interact in much more subtle and complex ways than just "click cl

Re:Review summary

[0100010001010011 (652467)]

You mean something like TouchStream [fingerworks.com] from Finger Works [fingerworks.com]? This [fingerworks.com] is just a sample of the input commands for text editing.

Apple bought them and incorporated their tech into the iPhone, iTouch, & MacBook Air. I suspect 2 finger scrolling and right click on the Intel laptops also came out of this.

You can find iGestures on eBay, but they're fetching a pretty penny last time I checked. They even have a macro editor and such so you can assign any finger gesture to almost anything.

Re:Review summary

[snoyberg (787126)]

You can find iGestures on eBay, but they're fetching a pretty penny last time I checked. They even have a macro editor and such so you can assign any finger gesture to almost anything.

Any finger gesture? I have a finger gesture I'd like to map to "send nasty e-mail". Could be useful.

Re:

[SatanicPuppy (611928)]

For someone with a musical background, who may have the subtlety of touch required, that would be fine. I personally prefer something a bit less responsive, as I have a tendency to slide my fingers across the keyboard which leads to a lot of typos on more responsive keyboards.

If I'm doing a lot of typing I prefer a heavier keyboard; I find accuracy and action of the keyboard more than compensate for the increased "work" of typing.

That being said, I can't imagine paying for a keyboard with the LED picture ke

Re:

[SatanicPuppy (611928)]

Way ahead of you...Check this one: Das Keyboard [daskeyboard.com]. When I hit a coding run, people come from down the hall to see where the hell all the noise is coming from. The blank keys are also good for the whole alpha geek thing, and forget having your boss ever try to type anything on your keyboard.

I used to use a Deck [deckkeyboards.com] keyboard; they've got a good heft, and though the keys aren't sitting on mechanical switches, they still have a nice solid action and a good sound, but the backlit keyboards have exactly the opposite ef

Re:Review summary

[ushering05401 (1086795)]

Having resistance and click-points on a keyboard was very helpful. When typing on such a keyboard I would never bottom out the key, thus expending extra force.

When using modern clickless (and mushy) keyboards I often find myself 'bashing' keys harder the faster I type. It has something to do with the lack of tactile feedback while touch typing.

Re:Review summary

[dindi (78034)]

On resistance keyboards:

Well, I thought so, and used IBM M-type (the old clicking type), than switched to multiple ergonomic ones, and could not understand why they are so soft and why they switch well known key placements...

Then the new Apple "keyboard" arrived. Same feeling as a laptop keyboard. Not much feedback, but very sleek feel.

I just wish someone put out a new keyboard which is as sexy as the apple, same feeling as a laptop, but ... but split. Just split the damn thing and make it connected via a ball joint, so you can turn it into any direction, or even separate them.

Hmm, I guess for now I live with the apple, and maybe someone comes up with something like that.

Now on the Optimus : great idea for gamers and maybe video editors to highlight stuff. For the typist/programmer/technical-technician: useless. I do not look at the keyboard too much, so for me that is really overkill.

just my 2c

Re:Review summary

[gEvil (beta) (945888)]

-Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes.

Phew! Good thing I wasn't planning on using my keyboard for that.

Re:

[gnick (1211984)]

Actually, I can think of at least a couple of applications for a keyboard like this where additional key resistance wouldn't be a big deal:

* A public terminal at the U.N. or other international agency. You wouldn't expect (or encourage) long use-times at public terminals and venues like the U.N. could really make use of a keyboard that can change character sets quickly and easily.

* Gaming. Now, most of my gaming experience is with FPSs and real-time strategy, but the keyboard use (although important) was

Re:Review summary

[ronadams (987516)]

I'm going to have to contend with your gaming point. In an RTS, a decent player can have an APM (actions per minute) from between 90-250, depending on the game. Granted, a good bit of mouse clicking is figured in there, but it's a whole hell of a lot of hotkeys. A super heavy keyboard would drive me nuts while I'm trying to order 200 zerglings [wikipedia.org] to bite your medics.

Re:Review summary

[eldavojohn (898314)]

Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes.

Assistant: Every student in the school's grades are still failing.
Principal: Well, what about all the super resistant Optimus Maximus keyboards we gave them to repress internet usage?
Assistant: That backfired and merely created a generation of hackers with super strong fingers. We've got them trapped in the gymnasium but you can only approach them in specialized suits with extra padding so they can't get their fingers around your limbs or any part of your body. Several teachers have had their arms and wrists broken after attempting to block all gaming ports ... things have gone from bad to worse, sir.
Principal: Damnit, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this ... *sigh* ... increase the creatine dosage in the locker room drinking fountains. And then ... release the jocks into the gym. Kill all power and lights to the gym and pipe loud Metallica through the speakers to hasten the process.
Assistant: But ... but ... sir how will we stop the overpowered jocks once they are done?
Principal: Simple, we just increase the depressants being injected into the goth kids and the problem will eventually take care of itself, we might even be on the news!

Re:Review summary

[sm62704 (957197)]

$1564 keyboard

-Still some quirks to work out with Macs
-Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes.

Erm, uh, the summary gives no indication whatever why this sucker costs more than a new computer. Is the damned thing made of gold and diamond studded?

Some people have too many dollars and no sense.

Re:Review summary

[cthulu_mt (1124113)]

I use the Hulk Method: Find 'em and Smash on 'em.

No thanks

[MonorailCat (1104823)]

according to Engadget, not only is it wildly expensive, but it's painful to type on. I wish form followed function a little more often in the gadget world.

Personally, I wonder....

[AltGrendel (175092)]

...how this would compare with the original IBM-101's.

You know the ones I mean.

Re:Personally, I wonder....

[Fx.Dr (915071)]

It would be much easier to bludgeon someone to death with the good old 101, but that's probably not the functionality you're referring to.

Re:Personally, I wonder....

[orasio (188021)]

Chuck Norris jokes, just like Chuck Norris himself, are old and tired. Please, let them rest.

Chuck Norris doesn't rest. He waits.

Re:

[prxp (1023979)]

Great! A keyboard that is no good for typing! How much more can they innovate?

Re:No thanks

[cnettel (836611)]

They did a showcase on their website, the key itself is not a display. You only move a transparent keycap.

Re:No thanks

[Dogtanian (588974)]

don't move when you depress the key.

Personally, I like to depress keys by telling them that they're worthless and no-one likes them.

Re:No thanks

[Pig Hogger (10379)]

Personally, I like to depress keys by telling them that they're worthless and no-one likes them.

If you weren't such an insensitive clod, you'd replace all the diodes in their left sides...

Re:

[Tetsujin (103070)]

don't move when you depress the key.

Personally, I like to depress keys by telling them that they're worthless and no-one likes them.

Ah, if only keyboards had Genuine People Personalities then you needn't bother... The keys would depress themselves.

Re:

[n3tcat (664243)]

Um, I think you could be wrong.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/optimus-maximus-at-long-last-we-bring-one-home/656819/ [engadget.com]

Re:

[wootest (694923)]

The latest official word on this [livejournal.com] that I can recall says: "The main idea behind the Optimus Maximus key design is that the part with the display is fixed, while the transparent cap is moving, pressing a Cherry switch underneath[..]"

Re:

[aesiamun (862627)]

the m5 will last longer than probably two beat up old tauruses.

That and they are more fun to drive...
is this keyboard more fun to use? Or is it just bling to look at?

Re:No thanks

[penguin king (673171)]

Or a program that tries to anticipate what the next character you type is likely to be, and lights that one up. Sounds like something MicroSoft would want.

I can just see it now... press ctrl, suddenly alt and del light up

Lawsuits?

[eldavojohn (898314)]

one of the first Optimus ...

I'll bet when Prime [michaelbay.com] saw this keyboard, he ran and got Lawyer-bot and they sued the ever livin' shit out of Art Lebedev.

... Maximus keyboards was sold for $2750

And then when Russel Crow [es-tu.com] saw it, he went and got Litigiosus Andronicus and did the same.

I think I have some good ideas for some more keyboard names:

• Neo Bourne
• Skywalker Castle
• Wolverine McBain
• The Incredible Thing
• Thor Rambo
• Rocky Terminator
• Frodo Potter
• Riddick Kenobi
• Walker Texas Bauer

I Shall Not Leave My Tin Foil Lair

[eldavojohn (898314)]

In fact, you can get on a plane...

Woh woh woh ... woh. Slow down. Are you actually suggesting I leave the basement and expose myself to natural light?

You must be new here. I know that that's right when the government satellites will get me, why do you think the planes fly at such a huge altitude when they don't have to?! Duh, so that its easier for the satellites to brain scan you!

But in all seriousness, I believe most of that movie (The Gladiator) was fabricated. Yes, there was a 'Maximus' (if that was his name) but the eve

Re:

[AKAImBatman (238306)]

The movie was a fabrication (perhaps loosely based on the Slave's Revolt), but the movie still has no claim on the word. Maximus was a fairly common word that means "great" in Latin. For example, the "Circus Maximus" was a large racing arena, the "Pontifex Maximus" was the high priest, and the "Cloaca Maxima" was a large sewer that drained away Rome's waste.

Re:Lawsuits?

[johnsonav (1098915)]

I hate to break this to you and the rest of the illiterates, but Rome and Latin really existed. (In fact, Latin still does exist.) It's not like Star Wars or Middle Earth. In fact, you can get on a plane, go to Italy and see remains of it.

Whoa there! The reason we don't find any ruins from Star Wars is because it happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Duh. And how many remains are there from Alderaan? I've got video proof that those societies existed, not just some books written by guys with weird names like Plutarch or crap like that.

Re:

[Paradise Pete (33184)]

Rome and Latin really existed. (In fact, Latin still does exist.)

I'm pretty sure Rome is still there, too.

Design flaws

[gilesjuk (604902)]

The DC supply plugs into the back of the keyboard, ugly for such a otherwise expensive and well designed keyboard.

Why couldn't they have a split end on the keyboard cable with the DC input and USB connections, that way you would have no DC cable in sight.

Re:

[tknd (979052)]

I think there are more serious flaws with this "customizable display on key" concept. One issue is if the keys are dynamic (they change function) then in order for the user to recognize the function of the key, the user has to look at his keyboard. Many typists no longer look at the keyboard when they're typing and even if they do, they don't "hunt" for keys. People can do this and type fast because they have built the necessary mapping in their brain to not have to process things like finding where each k

Optimus fails it.

[TripMaster Monkey (862126)]

From the Engadget article:

Okay, why does typing on the Optimus suck, you ask? Well, although the keyboard uses mechanical switches and a lot of high quality components (evident when we pulled off some keys), and there is some clicky tactility to keypresses, as a whole it just requires way too much force to depress keys. And the larger the key, the more force is required, so enter is easier than space, but harder than tab. Let's put it this way, we sit around and type all day long and this thing wore us out in about 30 seconds to a minute. Carpal sufferers, beware.

So, the keyboard is painfully inadequate at doing the one thing keyboards are suppodes to be doing: data input. Kinda like a solid gold mouse that won't track, or a 80-inch monitor that won't display better than 800x600. Pretty pointless.

Stupid

[jointm1k (591234)]

This thing is the dumbest thing ever. Even more useless than the display on the G15 gaming keyboard. Who fricking watches the keys while typing or gaming?! And according to the review typing sucks on this keyboard. WTF? A keyboard that does not allow you to type properly has no reason to exist. And what looney pays $2750 for it?

Made by idiots, for idiots.

Flame on!

Re:Stupid

[jointm1k (591234)]

Haha, I bet the one who modded me as a troll actually pre-ordered one. Poor schmuck.

Re:Stupid

[poot_rootbeer (188613)]

Who fricking watches the keys while typing or gaming?!

I know a WHOLE LOT of hunt-and-peck typists. Doesn't everybody?

The idea of having a customizable display on each key is a sound one. A modern keyboard has five or six different shift keys, but at most two or three different glyphs on each keycap. A user can only discover other keyboard behaviors from cues provided away from the keyboard (looking at shortcut hints in menus, RTFM, etc.).

But if the stuff printed on each key changed when you press the Ctrl key? The user will be exposed to so much more functionality! And that's not even mentioning Function keys, or modal software (like vi), or...

The decisions to use high-resolution full color OLEDs on each key, and require a external power source beyond USB's +5v, and cost twice as much as the computer it's hooked up to, and to make it suck at being a keyboard are all less defensible.

If they had made a keyboard that felt like a typical $20 OEM keyboard but had a 16x16 monochromatic LCD built into each key, and cost $100, I'd own one for each computer I use regularly.

Re:

[Reapy (688651)]

I agree, G15 is great when a game supports it. My two favorite uses of it include the clock for when I'm gaming so I can see that I actually need to get to bed on time (No clock on the wall in pc room) and the support for fraps so I can check my fps all the time without disturbing the picture.

There are even some miranda-im plug ins that show what people are chatting to you (so you can view while gaming) and I believe there is a teamspeak plug in that will show who is currently talking.

There are just a ton o

pwned keyboards coming soon...

[Will the Chill (78436)]

Since these things appear to be mostly geared toward Windows users (yes, I know, some Mac too) it's only a matter of time before somebody releases as script-kiddy utility for pwning your friends' and enemies' keyboard OLEDs.

I can see it now. Grandma is surfing for recipes and all of a sudden her nice new keyboards starts showing all sorts of inappropriate text and images.

And plus apparently it sucks as a keyboard.

-WtC

*** $!g +yP3d 0n 0p+!^^u$ k3Yb0@Rd ***

CmdrTaco sez:

[idontgno (624372)]

No wireless. More keyforce than an IBM Model M. Lame.

Article is dumb

[ianare (1132971)]

I like how the article confuses LED with an OLED display, thereby completely missing the point of the device. Any idiot can stick an LED inside a keyboard key, in fact there are plenty of LED back-lit keyboards out there. But putting in a completely programmable display in each key is something much, much more complicated (and cooler). This is why there has been so much interest in it, and why it so expensive.
Speaking of which, the full blown 103 programmable key version is $1564, but with less programmable keys it is cheaper. As follows [artlebedev.com]:

• 1 active key - $462
• 10 active keys - $600
• 47 active keys - $1000
• 103 active keys - $1564

We don't need no stinkin title!

[StikyPad (445176)]

Unfortunately, the G-15 does exactly what the Optimus will be doing 99.9% of the time, for $1450 less.

Also there's the Catch-22 that no geek actually looks at the keyboard whilst typing, so the demographic most likely to think it's cool is also the least likely to need it.

One of the three signs of the pending Apocalypse

[wowbagger (69688)]

One of the three signs of the pending Apocalypse:

• The Optimus keyboard ships
• The Phantom ships
• Duke Nukem Forever ships

Then the Destroyer will plug the Optimus into the Phantom, boot Duke Nukem Forever, and the universe will come to an end.

So I take it...

[RichPowers (998637)]

You're not supposed to run the Optimus through the dishwasher if it gets dirty and crusty? :) And unless you're filthy rich, you can't chuck it and buy a new one.

So you either:
Type with gloves on;
Use in a clean room;
Spend a painstaking amount of time cleaning it.

The Optimus is best at home among all those other impractical gadgets, usually found in HOUSE OF THE FUTURE! exhibits, that aren't used by real people...

Third hotkey down on the right...

[Sqweegee (968985)]

Am I seeing this properly? Are the hot keys in the second column in the engadget article as follows?

Firefox, Youtube link, Lesbian porn link!?

Re:

[dk.r*nger (460754)]

It looks like the TATU girls (russian pop, one red-head, one black-haired - and definitely hitting some lesbian notes in their videos and CD covers), although I can't find a cover that looks like that [amazon.com] - maybe it's for the musicplayer, displaying the cover of the currently playing song.

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

You need to read better, bud. The $462 price is for the keyboard with ONE programmable button.

hunt and peckers??

[Quadraginta (902985)]

If you have to look at the keys to figure out which finger to press down, you're typing way, way, way too slowly to be getting serious work done. You might as well use a mouse and an on-screen keyboard, I'd think.