Hasta La Gadget!

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Jeremy, who is desperately searching for a portable and malleable keyboard to take on the road.

“I love my little computing companion but I often find myself missing a full sized keyboard. I have been looking at several of these portable and flexible keyboards, but I can’t seem to make up my mind about which I should buy. I don’t want the keyboard to be overly expensive, but I want it to be good quality. Also, how difficult is it to type on these keyboards? Thanks!”

To anyone who has been forced to use a cramped netbook keyboard for over a few minutes, you know how dire the situation can get. If you’ve literally rolled a keyboard into your arsenal, let us know which one made the team and how it’s holding up.

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Peripherals

Ask Engadget: Best flexible keyboard out there? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

iKey’s churned out plenty of rugged keyboards in its day, but it looks to have really stepped up its game with its new AK-39 wearable keyboard intended specifically for military use. Among other things, this one conforms to full MIL-461 standards, is able to be used in environments with harsh electromagnetic interference and, of particular importance, it’s designed to be used with a glove, and in either left or right-hand configurations. As for the keyboard itself, you’ll get a basic 39-key layout, an integrated pointing device that uses Force Sensing Resistor (or FSR) technology, and some adjustable green backlighting that is, naturally, also available with night vision compatibility. No word on pricing just yet, nor is there any indication that iKey will actually sell these to the general public.

[Via Test Freaks, thanks Nicholas R]

Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables

iKey’s AK-39 wearable keyboard is about as weapon-like as it sounds originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

While some consumer notebooks attempt to attract the eye, Lenovo’s business-oriented ThinkPads take a more austere, simple approach.

But in all notebooks, there’s some serious design decisions made under the radar, that consumers and other customers don’t necessarily see. In a blog post, David Hill, Lenovo’s vice president of corporate identity and design, explained the evolution of one decision: a revision of the keyboard layout in the new T400s.

Hill and Lenovo installed keyboard loggers (with permission) in a dozen or so keyboards within Lenovo, to gain a better understanding of what users hit what keys, and with what frequency. (Hill notes that one unscientific way to understand this is to simply look at your keyboard at an angle — the most frequently-used keys will be polished, whereas others, such as the ‘~’, or tilde key, appear rougher.)

Among the approximately two gazillion other things we saw at Computex this year, ASUS has demoed one of its Eee Keyboard PCs running Moblin. Currently just a prototype, it’s unclear whether or not this guy sports different hardware than the device we’ve been seeing (we’re guessing not), or whether this will become available when the XP version does sometime this month. That said, we’re hoping that you can sleep better at night knowing that such a beast exists. We sure can. Video after the break.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Video: ASUS Eee Keyboard running Moblin

Filed under: Laptops

Video: ASUS Eee Keyboard running Moblin originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Brando may be best known for some of its slightly off the wall products, but it also carries plenty of less fanciful gadgets, like this HTPC-minded keyboard with a still relatively uncommon built-in multitouch trackpad. As you can sorta see above, that also doubles as the numeric keypad, and you can switch between the two functions at the press of a button, but not a swipe, apparently. Otherwise, you’ll get a 2.4GHz RF USB transmitter that can be tucked into the keyboard itself if you don’t feel like actually using it, along with 18 presumably customizable hotkeys, and support for Windows XP and Vista, but not Macs. $69 and it’s yours.

Filed under: Peripherals

Brando offers up wireless HTPC keyboard with multitouch trackpad originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments