Razer Announce New Keyboards

Razer have announced two new keyboards, the Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition and the Razer Arctosa. The Lycosa and Arctosa fuse "both form and function into an ultra-sleek gaming keyboard. Both gaming keyboards retain the stylistic appeal and main features of the Razer Lycosa, with subtle differences to appeal to different gamer segments." The Lycosa Mirror features a mirror like finish, with backlighting on the keys, which will make the keyboard smudge happy, whilst the Arctosa will do away with the backlighting and rubber finish of the original Lycosa.

The Saitek PK17U Cyborg Gaming Keyboard

Talk about tech for the Terminator, but this keyborad from Saitek looks totally the part. A keyboard designed for hardcore gaming and it is definitely not for the weak of heart. The bezel above the keys is illuminated and provides feedback on audio and mode settings. The keyboard has 3 different backlight colors, which are adjustable and can even be mixed in different color combinations. Key features include: Multi-colour backlighting with Tru Vu illumination through keys (mix shades from Red through Amber to Green) and adjustable brightness. Touch-sensitive, backlit dashboard control panel WASD, cursor, ‘Cyborg’ and NumPad keys can be lit independently from the rest of keyboard to highlight commonly used gaming keys Cyborg Mode – instantly disable the Windows keys and configure the colour and brightness of your gaming keys at the touch of a button Set and forget – persistent key illumination settings ensure colours remain even after a system reboot 12 programmable ‘Cyborg’ keys Hard wearing, metal-plated key caps in key gaming areas Pass-through USB, audio and microphone sockets Enhanced multiple key presses in gaming areas for complex in-game commands Adjustable wrist rest and keyboard rake angle (front and back) Gold-plated connectors for USB and Audio The keyboard is USB 2.0 compliants and is compatible with Windows XP, XP64 and Windows Vista. The PK17U can be preordered from amazon.com today... SRP of Approx $80.

Logitech Wave Keyboard

Logitech have announced a new ergonomic keyboard in the form of the "Wave" the curvilinear keyboard comes in a cool black and looks like it would indeed be very comfortable to use ... though I'll save my final thoughts on this unit until I've had a chance to try one. The Wave is available in both wired and wireless editions and is set to be priced around the $90 mark for the wireless with mouse combo. It should hit stores sometime in August.

Spotlight On . . . Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

These days plenty of doctors are prescribing ergonomic keyboards in an effort to alleviate the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and other injuries caused by unnatural typing positions. The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 is decked out in black, with a soft palm rest made of very durable and washable synthetic, plus an array of system control and web browser navigation keys positioned above the F-keys. Professional keyboards such as the Kinesis Maxim offer adjustments for keyboard split angle, lateral angle, vertical angle, and tent angle. The Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 offers only vertical angle adjustment using hinged feet, in addition to the fixed split key layout and moderate fixed vertical tenting. The supplied Intellitype keyboard driver installs a configuration tab in the Windows Control Panel keyboard applet so that you can assign and configure the extra control and navigation keys. The gently curved key split reduces wrist pronation and the tent angle provides a noticeably more natural wrist and forearm position. The key layout conforms to Microsoft's standard which pairs Insert/Delete, Home/End and Page Up/PageDown in a double row. The numeric keypad is on the right side. An F-Lock key is provided to activate alternate key functions. Indicator LEDs for Caps, Num, F and Scroll Lock are located between the split key layout. Most of the key caps are concave, so strikes feel generally accurate. But the Ctrl keys are flat and the space bar and Alt keys have slightly convex tops which are disconcerting to some users. General home users, general business users, students and gamers should get good use out of this one, but medium to heavy duty typists still need a professional keyboard such as the Kinesis Maxim or the Goldtouch. 3 out of 5 stars

Cool Steampunk Keyboard

Reading both Engadget and Gizmodo, I was fascinated by their coverage of a garage based project to create a keyboard that looks like it belonged in a Steampunk world. The Keyboard looks very cool and is only let down by the soft backing and the poor implimentation of the spacebar. The keyboard was created by The Steampunk Workshop, and the process of creating it from an IBM Model M "Clicky" keyboard, is detailed here. The above images are from their final unit. Below I have re-engineered the image in photoshop to reflect what I think the unit should have looked like with a spacebar to match.