14 DAY TRIAL // Wouldn't you like to have a universal keyboard, which you could use for more than just typing in a text on the computer? It looks like Microsoft has though of it as well, because it has launched a revolutionary device, a keyboard that is also a remote control.
Microsoft Remote Keyboard, as the device is called, is a wireless keyboard, with remote-control buttons in addition to the traditional computer keys, but also fitted with a mouse stick and backlit keys for using in the dark, and all of this packed into a case that is slim enough to fit under an armchair or couch.
This hybrid device has been designed in order to be used with the computers running Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition software. More precisely, with the Media Center PCs, which are the first step in unifying the concepts of television set and computer, an idea supported by the company from Redmond in its efforts to expand its flagship operating system into living rooms as entertainment hubs.
The remote control-keyboard hybrid addresses the fact that Media Center PCs can be used not only for watching television and other media but also for computer tasks, such as instant messaging. Such tasks can be frustrating to attempt with a traditional TV remote control, and awkward with a regular keyboard in the living room.
"It was really about convenience," said Wendy Apperson, Microsoft Hardware's product marketing manager. "We also wanted it to look cool enough to have it sit on the coffee table and not be a detraction."