Ginger Software is on a mission to become the go-to spell-checking tool for Android. This week, the Israeli makers of natural language technology designed to help native and ESL speakers better express themselves, released its latest free mobile app for Android, called the “Ginger Keyboard.” Simply put, the Keyboard is a straightforward, easy-to-use proofreading app that allows users to correct… → Read More
Nuance-owned Swype, which makes virtual keyboards for mobile devices, has released a new version of its software which adds the ability to backup and sync your personal dictionary across multiple mobiles devices — so you can take your slang with you. It also now offers dictionary updates for relevant trending ‘hot words’ — so you can take other people’s slang with you too. → Read More
Google just announced an update to Gmail that will make life a bit easier for those of us who often write emails in different languages. Gmail users can now easily switch between over 100 virtual keyboards and transliterations. In addition, you can use Google’s Input Method Editors (IME) to convert your keystrokes to Asian characters. This, says Google, means you won’t “find yourself limited by… → Read More
An IBM patent points to an on-screen keyboard that matches the user’s anatomy, changing to reflect each users “unique typing motion.”
The keyboard requires calibration in the form of various exercises. The system then senses various variables like “finger skin touch area, finger size data and finger position.” It then creates a unique keyboard based on a “set of averages.” → Read More
When we covered Tokyo-based Minebea’s so-called COOL LEAF keyboard in March last year, we said that Minebea was “considering” to commercialize the beautiful flat input device at some point in the future. Fast forward 13 months, and we have a press release (in English) in which the company says the keyboard will actually be rolled out in Japan on May 13. → Read More
While there are plenty of keyboards to choose from between Microsoft, Razer, Logitech, and SteelSeries, Sweden-based Mionix wants you to know that they’ve got a solid device too. Can’t say it one-ups any of these guys on features or price, but hey, it’s an alternative to the usual suspects. → Read More
Little-known keyboard maker Koribo has put out a unit called the Leira that looks like a couch potato’s dream. Indentations on the underside that fit onto your legs? Really, Koribo. How deliciously decadent. → Read More
Short version: A good keyboard for macro and shortcut lovers, but lacks ports and originality, making it fall short of a recommendation. → Read More
I can’t tell whether this is a good idea or not. On one hand, it seems perfectly logical: adding a “share” key to normal keyboards that would automatically send whatever page or image you’re on to your sharing service of choice. On the other hand, isn’t it easy enough to do this already? → Read More
Your guy is great, am I right? He’s fun, he makes you laugh, and he can, in a pinch, be counted on to do laundry. He even, occasionally, shaves! Why not reward this positive behavior the way Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, rewards an unruly dog: through forceful direction and, when the time is right, kind words and a treat.
Here are a few great items for your geeky SO this Valentine’s Day and… → Read More
There are quite a few stands and keyboards for tablets and smartphones out there, but Elecom‘s TK-FB023E (announced [JP] today) is an especially pretty stand/keyboard set. Elecom sells the keyboard, which supports Bluetooth 3.0, in two versions, namely with Japanese and English layouts. → Read More
Short version: This new mechanical keyboard from Razer is clicky and attractive, but some layout and design choices irk me, and this thing ain’t cheap. → Read More
My last post on infamous crap gadget maker Thanko dates from September. But that doesn’t mean the Tokyo-based online store has stopped offering silly products. Take their newest idea, for example: the so-called “Quiet Keyboard Cover” [JP]. What does it do? It essentially not only protects your valuable keyboard from dust but also covers your hands. → Read More
We’re, what, three weeks away from the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm? Yes… I have noticed the sun shining brighter, the air tasting sweeter of late. Right on cue, then, is the new the new MMO keyset for SteelSeires’ Shift keyboard. → Read More
Is Apple’s vanilla Bluetooth keyboard too minimal for your taste? Maybe this blinged-out one is more your speed. It comes with a bunch of stickers for assigning app shortcuts to this or that key — you know, in case you didn’t want to extend your finger to launch that app. → Read More
Hot on the heels of their first mechanical-key keyboard, the Black Widow, Razer has announced an MMO-orientated model they call the Anansi, named after the spider god of many tricks. That seems appropriate given its intended use: quick access to a huge amount of macros. → Read More
Remember a few weeks back when it came out that Microsoft had submitted a patent for a keyboard that looked suspiciously like the Optimus? Well, they’ve had a few made and, like the pressure-sensitive keyboard I saw at Microsoft Labs a long time back, they shipped a few to promising young students around the globe in an effort to save money on R&D give them a chance to work on non-traditional… → Read More
It seems that a year and a half ago, Microsoft applied for a patent for what appears to be a sort of hybrid between their own pressure-sensitive keyboard and the lovely but prohibitively expensive Optimus keyboard. The claims include “an adaptive-imaging engine to dynamically change a visual appearance of the key in accordance with rendering information received from the host computing… → Read More
I’ve never really taken to the “natural” or “ergonomic” keyboards out there, perhaps because I’m always reviewing really excellent traditional ones, or maybe because I work from my laptop and can’t get used to the other layout. Or maybe it’s because they’re all doing it wrong. That’s what TrulyErgonomic seems to think, and they’ve designed a keyboard they’re calling, unsurprisingly, the first… → Read More
“I back-type my thoughts.” Oh, do you? Pleased to hear it. → Read More
SteelSeries has a fancy new keyboard that might be worth checking out. It’s called the Shift, and its deal is that it has interchangeable keysets. So, you have one keyset for your FPS—yes, Kudo, people still plays FPSs on PCs—, one for MMOs, one for RTSs, and so on. → Read More
I was about to open a can of Samhain on this Brando Bluetooth keyboard until I saw what it looked like backlit. BAM! Great freaking pumpkin, Charlie Brown! → Read More
I’m not sure I buy the whole amBX deal. For one thing, they’ve chosen a bothersome capitalization scheme. For another, it seems… excessive. I’m all for immersion, but I’d take Eyefinity and surround sound over mood lighting any day. As for keyboard lighting, I can see that, as long as it’s truly game-related, like Razer’s StarCraft 2 stuff.
The occasion for this little trip down preference lane… → Read More
As you may know, there are three general types of keyboards: mechanical, scissor-switch, and membrane. It’s often asserted that mechanical keyboards are the most durable and comfortable to type on, but their construction is also more complicated, resulting in a higher price. I’m typing on one right now — the SteelSeries 7G — and the Das Keyboard is another example of a popular… → Read More
For your consideration: another Logitech keyboard. It’s the Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800, and as the name implies A) it’s wireless and B) it’s illuminated. Aside from the wireless-ness and illumination, it seems to be a pretty standard-issue keyboard. Nothing wrong with that. → Read More
The TRON gaming hardware we got exposed to at E3 are headed your way later this year, though you may be disappointed at the price. True TRON fanboys won’t buck at paying $150 for a keyboard and $100 for a mouse, but the average gamer might. → Read More
We heard tell of the Optimus Popularis in May, but it had a completely different look. The new one, with its dedicated display bar and lack of number pad, is in my humble opinion a vastly superior design. The LED (not OLED) keys are, after all, totally customizable, and this saves a ton of money — that’s 20 less displays they have to put on the keyboard. And they can pass the savings on to… → Read More
T-minus one month and counting till the release of StarCraft II, and we’re starting to see officially branded peripherals hit the store shelves. Here’s one such peripheral: the SteelSeries StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard. As the name suggests, it’s based on the company’s Z Board, except, you know, StarCraft-ified. → Read More
For the last six months or so, whenever I was on Razer’s site for whatever reason, I always would check the StarCraft II section for updates. There were silhouettes there for ages, teasing Blizzard-branded peripherals, yet aside from the messenger bag we gave away, we saw no more of said peripherals than we saw of the dark side of the moon. But E3 this year was the launch date, and I spent a… → Read More
I possess many faults, but to my great relief, sweaty palms are not among them. Maybe during a marathon Harvest Moon session, but that’s all. I just get so excited! Anyway, if you’re among the proud, the few, the sweaty-palmed, this keyboard may be for you. Its little fan will keep your digits dry all day long… and all night strong. → Read More
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