Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Ever wondered what the tech savvy world would do without a thing called the keyboard? For all the ardent techies, a brand new designer keyboard is soon to hit the market. Optimus maximus keyboard, previously referred to as optimus, is a keyboard being developed by the Lebedev studio by a team of experts headed by Artemy Lebedev. No other product must have ever received so much of fanfare and publicity while its production is still in the pipeline. The product received attention when it was first featured on the official website of lebedev and technical website Slashdot on 14 July 2005.

Well intended to suit the diverse needs of typographer, translators, graphic professionals and gamers, the keyboard aims to be one of its kind in terms of user friendliness and efficiency. The main advantage of this product is that it enhances user interaction by dynamically displaying the current function of the keys. To cite an instance, when a user hits the shift key, the pictures change to upper case versions. Thus it makes switching between different keyboard lay outs easier for the user. Compared to the ordinary QWERTY keyboard, optimus also ensures easy switching to alternative layouts.

A few characteristics of this keyboard are; enhanced service life of displays and their ribbon cables and easy replacement and cleaning of the buttons on the keyboard. A specialty of the optimus keyboard is that the key tops and the screen embedded in them are motionless with only the transparent caps being moved. Yet another feature is the configuration software that allows for programming every button to reproduce a sequence of symbols and editing the image separately for each layout.

The initial reviews of the product have been mixed. Though the introduction of optimus is awaited with much eagerness, the product is also not free from criticism. There are widespread apprehensions about the downsides of the keyboard like inordinately high CPU usage, slow response time, and buggy configuration software. The matter of pricing the keyboard is still open to debate. The company is marketing the product with limited production runs in order to test market the product. The market entry of this product would be limited to a meager 200 keyboards per month for November and December, and 400 keyboards are scheduled to be made next January.

As of now, the tentative date fixed for the launch of the much awaited optimus maximus keyboard is November 30th and is tagged at for $1536 US. Pre-orders have started pouring in well in advance to the introduction of the product in the market. With all this and much more, the possibilities that an optimus keyboard offers is simply endless! Grab one when it hits the stores and experience a keyboard with a difference!