Those crazies over at Art Lebedev are starting work on a new Optimus mini 3.0 device, which will likely include Bluetooth for wireless operation and possibly Tactus-esque touchscreen capability. The plan is to have one display divided into three or possibly more zones, but right now it sounds like they're still planning on having the device be AC-powered (boo, hiss). Apparently the current Optimus mini is getting a lot of use as a PowerPoint controller. Who knew? Pictures will be forthcoming, says the official blog.

Scott Hanselman might not be the camera man of the century, but he does apparently have the coding chops to get some choppy video playback going on those teensy Optimus Mini Three screens. He set his Mini to watch his baby son's webcam (which he inexplicably swapped for a plane landing vid for demonstration purposes), and conjectures you could use all three buttons for watching live video if you so choose. After that he gets a tad bit nerdy on us all, but managed to get in the words "I think I'll do a Vista SideShow driver at some point" before we passed out from all the coder jargon. Please do, Scott! Peep the video of his video-enabled Optimus after the break, or check out the read link to see how it's done.

While Art Lebedev's Optimus mini three keyboard hasn't exactly been a runaway success, it certainly has picked up its share of fans, among which Canadian company Epiphan Systems can count themselves as a card-carrying member, even going so far as to resell the device. Not content with simply being a provider of the peripheral, however, the company's now taking their Lebedev fandom to the next logical extension, going all out and integrating the mini three into one of its own products. Exactly what that product is, however, seems to be a bit of a mystery, although judging from the other devices company offers, it would seem to either be a frame grabber or a recording or broadcasting device of some sort. Those keeping track of all things Optimus may also be interested to know that the company's let word out that production on the custom OLEDs for the long-awaited Optimus 103 keyboard has started, which supposedly keeps the keyboard on track for a release sometime this year. Given the history of the device, however, we'd advice taking a wait and see approach.

[Via Slash Gear]