Hasta La Gadget!

Adesso is looking beyond the office with its latest keyboard: it wants to take over your living room and conference rooms, as well. The Adesso WKB-4200UB has a slim shape so you can easily tuck it away, perhaps between the couch and wall, when it’s not in use. It also communicates wirelessly (with 2.4-GHz RF connectivity) at a 30-foot range. That should be more than enough, right? At 30 feet, you couldn’t see the screen anyway.

If that was all it had going for it, the WKB-4200UB would be indistinguishable from dozens of other wireless keyboards, but there’s more. It includes a touchpad on the right side, so you can mouse around the screen without an actual mouse, and an LCD that shows the time and date. The Sleep mode prevents you from draining the battery too quickly, or you could just use the On/Off switch. The keys on this full-size keyboard are pleasantly soft. Sadly, it only works with Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000 systems. It’s available now for the slightly steep price of $119.99.

Have any idea what a SureType keypad would look like if it were removed from a BlackBerry and (barely) enlarged? We’re guessing it’d look a little something like this. Designed by Mobience, the smallQWERTY keyboard is meant to give you a more tactile option when it comes to texting or inputting characters into your phone, MID, UMPC or pretty much any other handheld device. There’s no mention of a price, and we’re not told exactly how long it’ll take to master this thing, but we’re bubbling over just thinking of the fun we could have from hacking into the text input fields of nearby devices with this. Shh… you didn’t hear that from us.

Mobience smallQWERTY keyboard saves the lives of touchscreen detesters originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This one’s for the PC gamers, especially those who have trouble with multi-button key presses. With some keyboards, pressing multiple keys at one time (to execute a special move, perhaps) causes a problem where not all the key presses are recorded. The unreported key presses are called “ghosts,” since the computer doesn’t see them. The just-announced Microsoft SideWinder X4 is built differently, so that gamers can press up to 26 keys at once and the computer will recognize each key. Now that’s a move I’d like to see.

Besides anti-ghosting, this SideWinder lets players manually toggle from standard mode into one of two gaming modes, automatically switch profiles, program macro keys (up to 18 per profile), and record macros during a game. It also offers backlit keys and quick-access media keys.

The SideWinder X4 works with Windows 7, Vista, and XP (excluding XP 64-bit) systems. Look for it in March with a list price of $59.95.

Apple didn’t give us a great amount of time with its newly unveiled iPad today, and as you’ve likely seen, we spent the bulk of our allotment touching the unit itself. Lost in the proverbial shuffle were a number of the unit’s launch accessories, including the admittedly intriguing keyboard dock ($69), case ($39), iPad Dock Connector to VGA adapter ($29) and camera connection kit ($29). Each of these doodads seem to look and feel exactly as you’d expect ’em to, though we’re still baffled by Apple’s decision to make you pay extra for access to the world’s most widely accepted connector. We’re also somewhat appalled (but not surprised) by the $39 price tag purportedly attached to the stripped-down case, and while the $69 MSRP on the keyboard dock is apt to cause some grumbling, at least there are a few iPad-specific keys on there to make it (marginally) worth your while. Dig in below for more on each.

Read – iPad keyboard dock hands-on
Read – iPad case hands-on
Read – iPad Dock Connector to VGA adapter hands-on
Read – iPad camera connection kit hands-on

Apple’s iPad keyboard dock, case and other accessories get the hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If only every keyboard had the helpful extras of the Adesso AKB-520. One side holds a data card reader capable of reading SD, MMC, and Memory Stick Pro cards. You’ll also get two extra USB 2.0 ports, something that’s always in short supply. That makes mounting digital cameras and flash drives much faster.

The button layout also has some extras, including seven dedicated multimedia keys and seven Internet keys. Use them to quickly call up favorite programs or control music or video playback. This low-profile keyboard offers a built-in wrist rest, but otherwise lacks a hand-friendly ergonomic shape. It would be a good buy for Mac owners who could use a multi-card reader, but, alas, it only runs on Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000 systems. Pick one up for a low $29.99.