Optimus Maximus changes layouts on video
By Darren Murph 
posted Nov 12th 2007 5:42PM
posted Nov 12th 2007 5:42PM
Don't feel bad, we're getting just as tired of hearing all about the Optimus Maximus. Granted, all that will hopefully change once we actually get one in our hands, but we digress. The latest posting on the Optimus Maximus site shows the oh-so-admired keyboard (in black and white, mind you) changing layouts before our very eyes. Unfortunately, the clip is only bound to make you more frustrated with the wait, but c'mon, it's not like you're gonna hold off or anything. Check it out after the break. 
:( i need one
me too :(
Santa - who do you love?
productivity booster?... or hours wasted programming different keyboard layouts?
These keyboards are amazing... Are they just USB, or do they support PS-2 as well? (I'm a USB glutton, so I'm all out of USB slots)
You probably can afford a new USB-PCI card, if you have the money to buy one of these...
Think about it for a moment, how are you going to get that data over PS/2?
Ether get a USB2 PCI card (If you have the slots). They are not that expensive.
OR get a good quality USB Hub. I have 2 that are 6 port hubs, they are both full... And that leaves me with 3 free USB ports on my laptop!
Jeez. It actually looks nice and possibly worth the $1,500 price tag. Though can someone inform me what job would require consistent use of multiple keyboard layouts?
Someone who uses a lot of languages?
Gaming. ;-)
If you want to crouch in HL2 you'll have to press Ctrl. The same action in Bioshock is mapped to C. And, yes, you can remap keys, but it can be a pain - for various reasons. This thing is cheaper than a nice gaming PC, and it's üBercOol!!! ;-)
yes of course when you're gaming you spend all your time looking at you keyboard and not at all at your screen ?!
"If you want to crouch in HL2 you'll have to press Ctrl. The same action in Bioshock is mapped to C".
And that's about the extent of keys used for crouch. How hard is it to realize which game uses which button? Jeez, the most complicating switch I've come across was going from E to F for function keys (HL and Crysis), and that only required about four whole seconds to remember.
audio engineers and video editors would definately benefit from something like this. changing presets for apps and projects on the fly would be a great time saver.
Switching between mac and pc, using FCP on the mac and Chyron Lyric on the PC
3d artists... when i was using maya 7 it had 3 or 4 different modes and each one has its own keyboard hot keys.
Side note - will they just release the damn thing already! this is getting to be a joke. Let start pool to see how much longer this company can say they want to release it but keep putting it off.
10 years from now every computer will have an Optimus Maximus keyboard.
A virus will circle the internet that switches the location of the P and X keys.
That is not a half bad prediction, I'm sure it wont be this one perse but something close enough for it to be true.
A single touchscreen with tactile feedback seems more likely.
XIPs plz
that would never haxxen you are just trying to scare the xoox out of me..... wait..... AHHHHHH
Heh, there are no viruses on Mac OS P! Oh.
That's pretty crazy. Makes my Mac keyboard seem like a typewriter :S
you just had to go and talk about your mac, eh?
That's it! You, me, playground, lunch time, tomorrow. I'm gonna teach you a lesson!
Funny thing is I'm using a Mac keyboard with a Dell PC running XP Pro. I got it for cheap and it's nice. It doesn't have LCDs for keys but it's nice.
Will this work with my Mac Color Classic? (yeah I know, but everytime I think I want to upgrade, someone tells me 'something better' is right around the corner...maybe this year...)
When you are using a mac, theres ALWAYS something better.
ROFLMAO! It's probably the only Mac I've never owned... to think of all those high-performance cars I could've brought... sigh...
Totally a photoshop. The reflections are all wrong.
In addition, I've already seen this video for another company's keyboard.
its funny on /b/ but not here... gb2 4chan
Damn Rebbull, just damn...but you are right.
XKCD reference?
only nick saw it...
You people have no culture.
The Russians failed to get to the moon but at least now it seem like they'll take us to the height or gadget-orgasm.
They need buy themselves a camera with a higher caputuring rate than 7fps though.
Meh... I still think this is WAY overblown. I mean, yeah, it's cool to look at, but for the kind of money they are asking for, it's SO not worth it. On top of that, I can't imagine the software or hardware associated with this thing being reliable. There's way too many little screens in this thing, plus the software to set it up. I wonder what a Blue Screen of Death looks like on a keyboard?
It will be more like the red screen of communist USSR.
In Soviet Russia, Optimus keyboard type on you!
red? the soviets would never have built a luxury item like this. this is the decadent new "capitalist" russia, all the way. only an oligarch could afford one.
@m
in the worker's paradise, optimus keyboards are produced en masse, and every worker gets one to boost productivity.
...then the state collapses.
Each key should have an appropriately sized screen. The space bar especially looks a bit weird just with the little square in the middle.
After all this hard work, some other company is going to streamline the manufacturing and sell a version of this for a fraction of the cost. Not really a bold prediction considering that this sort of thing happens about 95% of the time.
Just imagine that you'll get a crash in the software driver for this keyboard. How are you going to press CTRL-ALT-DEL if the keys keep changing places?
LOL at that comment, but then I thought about it... They would probably add a reset button (like the ones on a PDA) at the back in case all else fails, and maybe a way to flash the keyboard if it gets REALLY F'd up, no?
Cool. Next generation virus.
I would like to see WoW action bar icons when i change hotkeys ingame.
By the time these guys come out with the actual product Apple, Toshiba, etc will already have these things in all their laptops.
while this gets amazingly cool points, it's not really all that practical...
Doesn't it look like it takes many moments to switch the layouts? As if it has to transfer all that information and is struggling to do it? Notice how he appears to be expecting the top keyboard to change to colors before it happens, then moves away as if he gives up, and then it lights up, finally. That, or something is randomly and slowly switching the layouts.
Yeah, if it was responsive enough, it would be quite nice to hilight all the active hotkeys in generic OS dialogue boxes. For example, hilighting Y, N, and Esc (perhaps also enter?) when you try to close an unsaved document. Would be completely pointless if there's any sort of delay though.
One keyboard overlay and I just saved $1500
Oh good, for a while I was worried I wouldn't get to see any solid blocks of color in this video, but they were in the last few seconds of footage.