Peripherals

Optimus Maximus' Creators are Cooking a Three-Key Keyboard

Pretty useful, given the fact that it's the number for an Alt+Ctrl+Del cocktail

By Bogdan Botezatu, Hardware Editor

11th of March 2008, 14:15 GMT

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Remember the extremely beautiful and expensive keyboard from the Art Lebedev Studios? The glittering OLED-enabled keyboard has been delayed much more times than all the AMD products

together, not to mention that the users who had pre-ordered it in the past are still waiting for their beloved unit.

Many things changed since the keyboard has been announced for the first time, including the price. Yes, this is the most significant aspect, and shifted from the equivalent of a high-end cellphone to that of a high-end computing system. We have talked about the Optimus Maximus before, and we even had the opportunity to give it a try back at the CeBIT show.

Its high price made it less appealing to the general public, but fortunately, the number of OLED-enabled keys can be configured to suit your budget. That is, if you don't feel like giving away $1500 for a fully-fledged OLED keyboard, you can always opt for a single OLED-enabled key, that would set the price back to $499. Your enthusiasm will also be set back proportionally.

Art Lebedev Studios officials have announced that they have started working on a new version of the Optimus, called the Optimus Mini 3.0. The new model will come with just three keys, and I'm not talking about the OLED-enabled key count. The Optimus Mini has been announced to have just three keys of all, and each of them will come with a nice and shiny OLED panel.

The Mini 3.0 is in design stage already, and rumor has it that it will likely include Bluetooth for wireless operation and it might also feature touch-screen capabilities. According to the same rumors, the engineers at the Art Lebedev Studios are trying to have a single OLED display divided into more than three zones, which would add extra capabilities to the Mini 3.0 keyboard.

Just in case you were wondering how you can use a three-key keyboard, here's a tip: remember the magical key combination that opens the doors of any Windows system? If not, then you should check out the Alt Ctrl Del cocktail. Imagine how nice it would be to have some descriptive images projected on the Alt, Ctrl and Del keys, respectively, to suit your state of frustration.

Getting serious again, if the keyboard preserves its three-key layout, it would do a great job as a powerpoint controller, given the fact that it might include a Bluetooth transceiver for remote operation. We will surely find out in a few years now, when the device is expected to be ready.

TAGS:

Optimus Maximus | Art Lebedev | OLED | Optimus Mini 3.0

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