ArtLebedev
Latest
Optimus 103 to be renamed
We all know how many keys the 103 key keyboard has, but it looks like Lebedev's long-awaited Optimus has been undergoing some serious retooling for its CeBIT coming out, and from the sound of it they may have dropped some keys from the board. We won't be sure until later this month when the Optimus takes home a new name and shows off its latest layout, but for $1200 we sure as hell hope they've managed to add some more of those sweet, sweet 2 x 2cm OLED keys -- or subtract some hard currency from the working MSRP. Oh yeah, and in case you hadn't noticed, they've got yet another mouth-watering photo of some yet-untainted shapeshifting keys.[Thanks, Nicholas M]
Optimus 103 to be shown at CeBIT
Art Lebedev and company have apparently been pretty busy with the Optimus, readying it for show at CeBIT this month. According to Art's LJ, they've been hard at working optimizing the key sizes and shapes for interchangeability; they're now down to three size, which should come in handy when keys start dying off and you don't want to run to the store for another $1200 keyboard. That late-2007 deadline is still in effect, so ogle at the potential, and cross your fingers for the waiting to come to an end.[Thanks, Nicholas M]
Optimus-103 Configurator looking good, still without its hardware
We know it's only the software precursor to what looks like it might still be the ultimate interface device, but holy hotness does the Optimus-103 Configurator just completely re-whet our appetites to get our hands on one. Of course, besides your selection of languages, there are also plug-in macro sets which change the keys based on the app currently being used, and the context in which you're using it. We know we should never get our hopes up, but who can help gnoshing on pics like these?[Thanks, Nicholas M.]%Gallery-1870%
Optimus 103 keys to be swappable
After some rough times a few months back in Art Lebedev land, all seems to be as it should be of late: they feed us hype, we eat it up, everybody wins! We're particularly partial (read: brainwashed) by this latest development on the Optimus 103 keyboard front. Apparently those spiffy OLED keys will come swappable, and Lebedev is planning on offering several configurations of the keyboard to cut down on price, letting you replace standard keys with OLED versions as your pocketbook allows. There might be three types of keys to choose from when all is said and done: OLED keys, backlit keys and standard "dumb" plastic keys. Configurations could include just OLED function keys, all letter keys getting the OLED treatment, and full-on OLED craziness for the big spenders. Seems a reasonable compromise, now let's see it in action![Via SlashGear]
Art Lebedev intros Verbarius electronic clock
Art Lebedev may be best known these days for its various display-ridden peripherals, and the delays and uncertainty surrounding each, but the prolific design firm's got plenty more on its plate, to which it's now added the Verbarius electronic clock. As you can see above, the clock does away with the usual time-telling tools in favor of spelling things out, in five different languages no less. What's more, it changes up its verbiage each time you ask it the time, displaying variations like "forty-five minutes past four," "fifteen minutes to five," "four forty-five", and "a quarter to five." This being Lebedev, of course, they're also taking their time to build up anticipation in the device, with the clock supposedly set to only begin shipping in November. You can get your pre-orders in now, however, with a discount price of $158.25 available to those who order before September 1st, after which it'll set you back about $180.
Art Lebedev gets campy Tersumus eraser
It's campy and silly and so Art Lebedev -- but seriously, who writes in pencil anymore? We haven't picked one up in, like, years. But you know that if we did, we'd be hot to use the Tersumus deleter to kill that GOTO 10 loop right fast.
Lebedev's 'Superbitus' bomb bank proudly displays your love of war and money
You know how sometimes you come across a new product and wonder why no one had ever thought of it before? Well the latest creation from Art Lebedev Studios -- a single-use, bomb-shaped piggy bank -- is definitely not one of those products. Lebedev, best known for the eternally-delayed Optimus keyboard, the petite Mini Three, and the uncomfortable-looking Mus2 "pointer" mouse, must have decided that what the world really needs now is a way to store its change in a ceramic container modeled after World War II era munitions. The idea here is that you use the included marker to write your savings goal on the outside of the so-called "Superbitus" (or a pinup girl, if you want to keep the meme going); then, after you've accumulated the requisite loot (we assume that you need to tabulate that separately), you're supposed to destroy the bank not with a hammer, but by "dropping the bomb." Yeah, we know, this is probably not the best way to store or spend your hard-earned money, but if you're the type who likes to show off "artsy" trinkets to your friends, this product might be right up your bomb bay alley.[Via Chip Chick]
Enterprising hacker gets video playing on Optimus Mini Three
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.
Optimus mini three finds a new, mysterious home
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]
Owners of eyeballs, rejoice! Optimus swaps back to color
After a whole lotta public outcry, not to mention our own fair share of whining over here on Engadget, the Art Lebedev peeps are Doing The Right Thing and switching the Optimus 103 back to color keys. It's naturally going to take a bit longer like this, since this new no-compromises model -- or, at least not that compromise -- will be based on some not-quite-ready-for-prime-time OLEDs. Right now the new plan is for pre-orders to take place in February 2007, instead of December 12th, and the price is still up in the air, but we get the impression Art Lebedev could've either cut features until they had an overpriced hunk of plastic nobody wants, or taken this tack, which involves a few more months of waiting, and most likely a few more dollars, but should be worth it in the long run.[Thanks, Jimmy D.]
Optimus 103 keyboard demands $1,200 pricetag -- yes, you read that right
For as much feature slashing and resulting public outcry involved in getting this thing out the door for a "reasonable price," it sure didn't amount to much: Art Lebedev just announce its uber-hyped Optimus 103 keyboard will debut in May of 2007 for $1,200. That's twelve hundies, for those keeping track at home, ten times the current price of the Optimus mini three 1.5. Sure, nobody expected this thing to be cheap, but $1,200 might be asking a bit much. Luckily, prices will be dropping to a "mere" sub-grand in September of 2007, and at that rate we'll be able to afford one of these things right around the time that thought-based typing becomes the input method of choice. Well, at least our dreams of keyboard heaven were fun while they lasted. If you're just crazy enough to try it, you can pre-order the keyboard on December 12th.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Optimus 103 keyboard to feature B&W displays
More like Let-Down-imus. The danger of running such a hype-fueled organization as Art Lebedev is that if you find you can't deliver, you're pretty much screwed. After sparking a bit of a public outcry a couple of weeks ago when they chopped off those 11 "launcher" keys (pictured) on the left of the keyboard, and then again when they chopped the actual screen size to just the top half of the key, Art Lebedev has delivered what could be a knock out blow to its flagship Optimus 103 keyboard by announcing the keys will be merely black and white. Right now we're going to assume the worst and figure that these keys -- which might feature some OLED tech after all -- will be straight monochrome, not grayscale, and we're sure they're going to be about one tenth as shiny as they started in those beautiful concept pics of yore. We suppose it could all come down to the price, which will be announced on December 12th, but we're already thinking about just holding out for the color 113 version, which is still slated for eventual release.[Via SlashGear]
Optimus-103 keyboard pre-orders start December 12
Reporting on the Optimus-103 keyboard is rapidly becoming one of our guilty pleasures -- guilty because the Optimus guys seem averse to giving us anything more than tiny nuggets of information at a time, and pleasure because... well, we shouldn't have to explain why the Optimus-103 is intriguing to us. The latest piece of news from the Optimus project is an announcement that the company will be taking pre-orders for the Optimus-103 on December 12. That will hopefully also mean an unveiling of the price, and if we're lucky, some specifications for the keyboard. We're not getting our hopes up though, because these guys could reveal nothing and still fill their pre-order slots.[Via Slashgear]
Art Lebedev Studios' unveils artsy Sonicum 2.1 speaker set
While Ben Heckendorn and Soner Ozenc have definitely mastered their own forms of art, Art Lebedev provides soothing, aesthetic, and eye-tingling creations second to none. While his Optimus keyboard (and mini three as well) were flattering enough, the Mus2 pointer-shaped mouse was pure genius. Design freaks take heart, as Art Lebedev Studios' has an uber-sleek Sonicum speaker system up for pre-order, and besides eliciting all sorts of geekish lust, the 2.1 computer-minded setup boasts dual 5-watt NXT speakers, a 15-watt subwoofer, and a few design cues that set it apart from the rest. The satellites bear a striking resemblance to a speaker cone silhouette, the subwoofer's bass knob is cleverly marked with a textual smiley, and each simplistic piece is branded with Art's own barcode logo. For just €106.17 ($126.60), you can claim your Sonicum rig now, but unfortunately you'll be waiting until next April to hear (and see) Lebedev's latest masterpiece in person.
Optimus 103 Keyboard: driver free for portabilitee
It's hard work to keep the juices flowing for a product whose design struck our Pavlovian bell more than a year ago. Especially when all we're getting is a picture of a single, non-OLED prototype key released just last week. That (LCD?) key will hopefully, someday, replicate itself a la the grey goo and become the Optimus 103 keyboard, you know, the wireless slab which features 113 103 contextual keys which can be mapped to different functions within applications or simply act as animated, informational widgets. We've just learned that the device will appear to your system as a USB mass storage device with all those custom mappings stored right in the keyboard. That should allow you to take the keyboard anywhere, to any PC, with your application specific layouts in tow without the need to install any pesky drivers. Promises, promises. *blots mouth* [Via SlashGear]
Here comes the Upravlator!
While we haven't quite managed to whip ourselves and others into quite as much of a frenzy as the Optimus series has previously garnered, the Upravlator still is looking pretty hot, and now we know exactly how it's looking thanks to an exclusive pic of the device we just got in our inbox. Like we said yesterday, it's a 12-button device, with a top-left button that switches context for the rest of the buttons. We've gotta admit we're a fan of this color swatch idea pictured above, and we're guessing there should be plenty more fun uses for the unit once some developers get ahold of the SDK. Of course, there's still no word on price or availability, that would be way too easy, but we have to say this little thing is shaping up quite nicely. Be sure to peep a couple more functions after the break.UPDATE: Good news, folks. Art Lebedev finally updated their main site with the full low-down on the Upravlator. Turns out the unit is a whole 10.8-inch, 640 x 480 LCD, with the 12 transparent buttons slapped on top. Every button has four contacts, and can be activated left, right, up or down, or pressed in the middle for a fith function.
Art Lebedev explains Upravlator to five year olds, no one else
Art Lebedev is in full-on tease mode for their upcoming Upravlator, which they will be announcing next week. Their blog is replete with cute little teasers posts, which include that "Explaining Upravlator To A Five Year Old" diagram up above. The input device, which will take over a whole monitor port, will feature "ultra-large" keys, which are pictured after the break, along with the rest of Art's smarmy hints. The Upravlator will require a USB and power plug, along with that precious VGA port, and will work with an optional folding stand. Other than that, we're still in the dark as to how this thing will be a help to video editors and graphic designers, but hopefully a few of our five-year-old readers out there can enlighten us in the comments.[Via DV Guru]Update: an anonymous source has let us know the Upravlator is a 12 button device indended to be the successor to the Optimus [mini] three, with customizeable buttons that react to one another. We're still a little unclear, but our tipster mentioned clicking on a corner button and the others will change in context. We're sure it's going to be cool and all, but we're just not able to get the buzz machine started on this one.
Optimus starts blog to track progress of keyboard development
We just got word from Artemy Lebedev about the new blog they've posted to keep us abreast of the Optimus keyboard development process. The Optimus "mini three" is already on sale and the "Upravlator" is "coming soon," along with the product I've been waiting for - the full sized Optimus keyboard. While none of these products currently have Mac drivers available, Art emailed to tell us "Mac support will be added later." And indeed, the blog does show a screenshot of testing being done on OS X. Check out the Art Lebedev site for more product details.Unfortunately, one of the most recent posts on the Optimus blog indicates that they have made a decision to not use OLED displays for the keys of the full-sized Optimus (aka Optimus-113) as originally planned, but it still sounds like it will be pretty cool, albeit expensive. We'll be keeping tabs on this one.
Upravlator inbound and Optimus update from Art Lebedev
Art Lebedev, creator of the Optimus concept device, Optimus mini three, etc. has had some news to churn in the past couple of days, so let's get started: the big Optimus is still on track, but will no longer use OLEDs. Instead, it will use 32 x 32 displays (presumably LCDs), and they're aiming to keep the cost "within the range of a good mobile phone" (i.e. presumably under $1000). Art also showed off the Mac version of the mini three configurator, which we'll be happy to give a go when it's ready. Finally, Art. Lebedev Studio is preparing to announce the Upravlator this week. "A completely new kind of input device," it will apparently plug into a second VGA port and "will be a single best friend of any music engineer or video editor." Confusing as to how it'd be an "input device" per se, but stay tuned for more info on this mystery device.[Thanks, Daniel P]
Rozetkus power strip just made yours look lame
Heck. Yes. Sure, we might have absolutely zero use for a powerstrip chock full of CEE 7/16 europlugs, but we just chucked all our current powerstrips out of our 4th story windows anyways -- even those cute little PowerSquid units can't compete. The new Rozetkus strip comes to us courtesy of those Art Lebedev design crazies responsible for the Optimus line, which has had us drooling for years. Of course, there's no word on any production plans for this unit, and a US version seems quite out of the question given the basic design idea of 12 low-power plugs pluggable in any configuration you see fitting. Oh, Art Lebedev, you taunt us so! One quick note before we split to remedy our newfound powerstrip situation: Lebedev would like all of you geometrically disinclined folks out there to know that these plugs don't work diagonally. You never can be too careful.
