Hasta La Gadget!

Logitech has outed a new keyboard, the UC Solution for Cisco 725-C, complete with dedicated VoIP controls and a caller ID display. The new ‘board – which Logitech says pairs up neatly with its C920-C webcam and M525-C wireless mouse – is designed specifically to work with Cisco’s Jabber service, allowing users to throw out their desk phone and instead handle incoming and outgoing calls, voicemails, and more from their PC peripherals.

Dedicated buttons for answering/ending calls as well as muting are present, with illumination so that you can be alerted to an incoming call even if you have the volume shut off. The voicemail button also lights up when there are new messages.

As for the other companion peripherals, the M525-C mouse comes with one of Logitech’s Unifying receiver dongles, which can plug directly into the K725-C keyboard, and has a scroll wheel and rubberized grips. The C920-C webcam can handle up to 1080p video at 30fps, and includes stereo microphones and onboard H.264 encoding for reducing computer processor strain.

Obviously you’ll need a Jabber system in order for the bundle to be any use to you, but we can envisage Logitech developing another version of the keyboard targeting home users instead, perhaps with Skype controls instead. As for the K725-C, that’ll land in March 2013 priced at $269.99, complete with both webcam and mouse, while the C920-C webcam will also be sold separately at $109.99.

Logitech K725-C keyboard adds VoIP Caller ID screen and controls is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Fleksy, the new mobile keyboard that debuted on iOS back in August, was showing its stuff at CES this year. The trick of automatically predicting what you’re typing without requiring much more than your relative tap position and word length is no less impressive than it has been in the past, but Fleksy now has a new trick up its sleeve, too: an Android version that can actually replace your stock keyboard, something that isn’t possible on iOS.

Fleksy also adds a space bar to its default, extremely sparse UI as part of making the move to Android, which can be optionally hidden if the user so chooses. Likewise, you can actually make it so that the entire keyboard chrome itself disappears and you can type using the trademark Fleksy no-look method. The Android version is still in limited beta, however, so you’ll have to sign up and wait to get let in by the Fleksy development team.

The tech takes a little getting used to, but only because it’s so intuitive  I found myself typing nonsense to see what it would come up with instead of just trying to make actual words. It’s also almost like you can’t quite bring yourself to trust Fleksy to get things right, which makes you slow down, but after a little while it’s clear this is much better than your standard input methods and predictive text engines.

On iOS, Fleksy is really little more than a tech demo, since it can’t be used to replace the default keyboard. Android is the platform where it’ll really shine, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of response the beta receives from users.

I’m hoping future iPhones will be equipped with Tactus’ tactile touchscreen, but until then those of us who need physical keys will have to settle for iPhone keyboards. The EX Hybrid Controller seems like a good option for iPhone 5 owners.

Despite sounding like an arcade stick for consoles, the EX Hybrid Controller is actually made of three pieces. There’s a keyboard, a gamepad and a back cover. Both the keyboard and gamepad attach to the back cover via magnets. They also both use Bluetooth 3.0 and are a mere 2mm thick. Supposedly they can last for up to 40 hours (160 hours on standby) and can be recharged in just one hour. According to the seller iPhone5mod, the gamepad module works with all games that are compatible with the iCade. That’s a little disappointing, but in its defense we know that no controller on the market works with all iOS games, and the iCade is the closest to a controller standard we have for now.

This definitely has some neat features, though it’s hard to tell if such a flat keyboard and gamepad will really help, since there’s really no tactile feedback. If you’re already sold on the idea, you can order the EX Hybrid Controller from iPhone5mod for $60 (USD).

[via Fancy]

You may be familiar with Syntellia’s Fleksy — its predictive touch typing solution has already been available to iOS users since last July. But as we recently learned at CES, the company’s gearing up to offer Android and Spanish-language versions. It’s not something you’ll necessarily see in the Google Play store, however, as we were told the company intends to license the platform out to various Android OEMs. We pressed CEO Kostas Eleftheriou for more details on possible partnerships, but he remained tight-lipped, only assuring us that talks were in progress.

So, how does it work? For starters, the Android version offers two keyboard options — a simple QWERTY-only and one with a space bar — that can be toggled on or off with a two finger swipe down. Text corrections are also controlled via gesture control, with your seemingly garbled input transformed into the closest possible word match via a right swipe. Users can even browse through a list of suggestions by highlighting text and then swiping up or down. Admittedly, word prediction seemed to fare better for the company’s (well-trained) reps than it did for us, but we’ll chalk that up to a learning curve. Punctuation is handled by swiping twice to the right and the symbol menu can even be accessed by a swipe up from the right edge of the full keyboard.

Since its announcement this week, Fleksy for Android’s managed to notch around 5,000 beta testers and Kostas expects that number to continue growing. If you’re interested in taking the mobile keyboard alternative for a test drive, we’d recommend you head to the company’s site now to sign-up. Otherwise, content yourself with our gallery below and a brief video demo after the break.

Continue reading Fleksy for Android beta hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software

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When Corsair introduced its Vengeance line of PC gaming accessories last year, it made the odd choice of creating the K90, a mostly mechanical keyboard marred by a collection of out of place membrane keys. The keyboard was a little less expensive for the effort, but was nearly universally reviewed as a “really weird decision.” Corsair got the message, and is now releasing the Vengeance K95, a black anodized brushed aluminum take on the K90, but with fully mechanical Cherry MX Red switches on every single key, including 18 dedicated macro toggles. In addition to normalizing the keyboard’s tactile pleasures, Corsair has also upgraded its backlighting, allowing each key to individually enable or disable its illumination. Eliminating its predecessor’s cheapo membrane keys does kill their savings, however, giving the K95 a $150 price tag.

Corsair’s filling out its pointer line-up too, trotting out the M95 and M65 gaming mice. Both of these rodents feature an 8200 DPI sensor and an aluminum unibody chassis, but veer off wildly when it comes to toggles. The M95, for instance, features 15 programmable buttons and onboard storage for six switchable profiles, whereas the M65 is a more modest clicker — featuring little more flair than a DPI dropping sniper button. Choose your weapon in a variety of colors for $79 and $69, respectively.

Continue reading Corsair unleashes second gen Vengeance gaming peripherals at CES, goes fully mechanical with K95 keyboard

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

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