United Keys now shipping OLED gaming keyboards
By Laura June 
posted Dec 11th 2008 11:11AM
posted Dec 11th 2008 11:11AM
We heard about a United Keys OLED gaming keyboard quite a awhile back, and we were a little skeptical of its chances of coming to fruition, but here it is, in reality, ready to simplify your life. Well... it's ready to try, anyway. The keyboard features 103 regular old, everyday keys, and boasts nine monochromatic OLED display keys on the left side which can be custom mapped and identified by text or images -- really giving the Optimus Maximus a run for its money, huh? This bad boy is 20.5-inches long and 7.25-inches wide, but the good news is that if you don't want the full keyboard (and who can blame you?), you can order just the keypad of nine OLEDs. They're taking orders now, and apparently shipping within two weeks. The full keyboard is going to run you $259.99, while the OLED keypad is $199.99. Shocking photo of the keypad after the break.
leave this to logitech
stop making keyboards
so what would you recommend a company named "United Keys" make?
Keys that are glued together... maybe?
airlines. oh wait... they suck too
this looks like a stock Dell keyboard with a couple of chunks of crap slapped on it.
Leave this to us
Stop commenting on Engadget
so.. u could ...
1.buy a touch screeen monitor..
2.lay it next to your key board..
3.fill it with limitless icons..
4. $$$$PROFIT$$$
What a rip off!
$200 for a keyboard?
I think I will stick with my $9.99 multimedia
+ magic marker $0.88
+ roll of blank square stickers $1
The optimus Maximus is $1600.
@ Kris120890
More like the Optimus Maxoutmycreditcard.
multimedia keyboard $9.99
magic marker $0.88
roll of blank square stickers $1
realising you are creative and intelligent and don't need to buy a damn $200 keyboard, Priceless.
This is a pretty lousy deal. By their own math, they're saying the 104-key part of their keyboard is worth $60, and based on those pictures, it lacks both the ergonomics and build quality to deserve $60 unto itself.
So I'm guessing a good price of about $1,000?
Oh this isn't Art Lebedev?
Sorry, wrong post then..
while i think they're both inane, the maximus is pretty good looking but this is really, really ugly
Yeah, but the Maximus is almost 8 times as expensive.
@ Ignatius
Hey man, this is America. We value the look of stuff FAR more than we value it's functionality.
I did get quite a shock after glancing at the photo of the keypad.
I'll stick to my G15 keyboard with... umm... ohh yeah all of the same capabilities for $200 less.
Bloggers wake up, dont you know something good when you see it? This is real; made by Foxconn; a fraction the price of Optimus; looks way better; and the OLED's are on top of the key not way down inside & unreadable like Opti's. It will vastly improve productivity.
Anarchy in the United Keyngdom!
Now Mac support?!?!?! :'(
I think so, check aisle 13, it's right next to "flying pigs"
I got more of a shock with the price!!! I could get another Xbox 360 for that much!!!!
Ok, so this keypad, right?
I can see it has pictures with text under them that you can press to access applications.
How is this better than simple desktop icons?
Cuz you only have to move your left hand instead of your righ--
Ohhh. I see what you did there.
Yeah, I will lay down that kind of money for a shoddy standard wobbleboard ($60 for the keyboard part, apparently) cuz it haz ze Bl1nk3nl1ghts!
NO!
LOL what a waste of OLED!
( extra keys...whoa, I dont know what i'll do with those. They gave these to the gaming community? what games? Solitare, or perhaps something more taxing.... Checkers, ONLINE!
What a joke. Almost 300 for this board. I'd save 3 times as long as I would for this keyboard and get an OPTIMUS board, a FULL OLED COLOR keyboard.
Even then, the OPTIMUS is gimmicky, costly, and very fragile. So, tossing it into a bag and heading to that LAN party will cause you to think twice.
Also, people will steal your OLED keys every chance they get... just to see you sweat over the loss of your $15. "W" key. (we gave it back afterwards)
The best bang for buck keyboards available for any hardcore gamer is the Logitech G15 series. Ver.1 (blue[more G keys than you know what to do with]) and Ver. 2. Orange, 1 third the amount of G keys, but fits in your keyboard drawer at your desk.
I have both, depending on the games I'm playing, Ill use one or the other.
If you think for a moment the Optimus keyboard was made for LAN party geeks who just shelled out $20 to put some UV dye in their liquid cooling setup, think again. The Optimus was made for people and business with workstations where navigating a large number of different programs with ease and efficiency is necessary. Those are the people who are earning money off of their computer work, and those are the people who earn back the cost of the keyboard just by using it every day.
Perhaps, but the HOURS AND HOURS of videos of people on YouTube at game conventions testing the OPTIMUS board with the DESIGNER (!) must have been mistaken? Or perhaps the people that made the OPTIMUS made huge editing mistakes on their website claiming that this was a great board for games like the upcoming Diablo? Hmmmm.
I will agree that this board is best suited for people at a workstation... using CAD or some other program with tonnes of shortcuts and macros.
However, next time you try to prove to be "smart" with your comments, take a look into what your going on about. To say that the designers of the OPTIMUS didn't have gamers in mind, just shows your a "smart ass" with an obvious bur up his/her ass about gamers. We are the ones they made this for. Gamers will spend 300 times more per annum for peripherals than any office working shmo.
Actually, the Optimus is greatly suited for people like me that need to type in multiple languages. Being able to put all the Hiragana on the keyboard would be amazing for me (but not $1600 amazing).
Seem like a cheap knock off of the Optimus Keyboard
Dang that thing is like 31 feet long! Believe it or not, the Apple Aluminum keyboard is great for gaming. I have one for work and one for home.
edit: the words:
"mac", "great for", "and gaming"
are not suitable for use in the same sentence. Please adjust accordingly.
Welcome to Engadget. Where the editors like Macs, and the readers will vote down anyone who says something good about one.
*Waits to be voted down for pointing out the voting habits of Engadget readers.*
Wow. This thing is really, really ugly. Going blind from the massive ugly rays doesn't seem like a productivity increase to me.
It looks like it should control the servers that powered Robocop.... in 1983.
More targeted to the CAD, ID and vertical markets than PC gamers for now. It is a start, not an end. Lots of room for improvements which means a long roadmap for longevity. Cannot wait for the major OEMs to embrace this technology. They will bring the pricing way down and usability sky high.
"giving the Optimus Maximus a run for its money, huh?"
Really?
This thing looks like junk, and if the pictures are accurate, it's only got one color on the keys.
Granted, the Maximus is out of price range for 99.9% of us, but who cares.
It'll be cheaper as soon as OLED tech gets cheaper.
I think I'll wait for that too happen.
This actually looks decent imho. I might consider buying it. I'd like to see some hands on reviews first.
Are they just yellow or color changing? I like yellow though.
@ markyb
"monochromatic OLED display"
A monochromatic image is one whose range of colors consists of shades of a single color or hue. In this case, yellow.