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Das Keyboard II with blank keys reviewed
Those of us who type for a living are perhaps more attuned to keyboard minutiae than the average computer user, so any 'board that promises to improve our WPM without resorting to a frustrating realignment of the keys naturally piques our interest. The Das Keyboard II includes several "enhancements" that may or may not improve your typing speed by up to 100%, most noticeably the keys themselves, which, while arranged in the traditional QWERTY-configuration, are completely blank. Supposedly the lack of even a single symbol keeps the user from "cheating" and looking down at his/her hands, but Extreme Tech instead found themselves habitually mistyping and wasting time referring to character maps. Ultimately, since the letter-less keyboard only improved the seasoned typists' speed by about 10%, it's the other features of the Das II that may entice consumers, including high-end,"clicky" keys rated to 50 million keystrokes which are differently-weighted to compensate for variable finger strength. Overall, ET gives the blank 'board a seven out of ten, harshing on the rather steep learning curve, but suggesting that first-time typists might benefit from practicing without the traditional "crutch" of illustrated keys.
Firefox Quick Add extension for Google Calendar
Elias Torres has put together a most excellent Google Calendar Quick Add extension for Firefox. If you aren't familiar with gCal's Quick Add feature, it's in the upper left of gCal (or just hit 'q' on your keyboard), and it's great: you can create a new event simply by typing it as a sentence, such as: "dinner with Jane May 1st 6 pm." No tabbing or clicking around to chose numbers and fields. Nice.Elias' Firefox extension does a great job of enabling this slick Quick Add ability from any other window/tab in Firefox, and so far it works flawlessly, though I have a couple of tips for you. First, make sure you've already opened gCal at least once during your browser session for this extension to work; it re-uses your session cookie instead of prompting for your password. Also, if you open this Quick Add window but decide you don't need to enter an event for one reason or another, simply hit esc to get rid of the window, as its close button doesn't work.[via Hawk Wings]
Apple Keyboard Update 1.0
An odd headline, I know, but it's true: last night Apple released Keyboard Update 1.0 for their Intel-based Macs including the MacBook Pro, iMac (Early 2006) and Mac mini (Early 2006). From Apple's site: "The Apple Keyboard Update 1.0 addresses reliability of keyboard and mouse functionality."You can grab the update either through Software Update or from Apple's Support Downloads.
WoW Insider QuickTake: Nostromo n52
The Nostromo n52 Speedpad was listed by several readers as an essential WoW tool, so we're putting it to the test. I'll be using the n52 for the next week's play, and will return with an updated take on the peripheral; here's a quick first look at it. For some reason the n52 Speedpad seems popular with rogues; to get a feel for its functionality, in the first day of play I've tested it with a druid performing every role from tanking to group healer as well as soloing.Setting up the n52 was easy, although substantial changes were made to its default WASD-style setup. With fifteen buttons as well as a directional pad, scroll wheel and orange thumb button, the most obvious mapping seemed to be to assign the numbers 0-9 to buttons 1-10, with the other keys reserved for shift, information panes such as map and bags, and jump.By spending some time tinkering with both the n52 Profile Editor and WoW's keybindings, the pad was ready to prove its worth in real combat.
Widget Watch: xCuts - a Mac OS X shortcut reference
Now here is a widget that everyone can enjoy: more better keyboard shortcuts. xCuts is a reference widget for Mac OS X's keyboard shortcuts, organized by Category, Scope and Object, allowing you more control over which kinds of shortcuts to browse through. You can even live-search the database, and the widget allows you to copy and paste the shortcut text into documents. Nice.
HP provides deets on gesture keyboard
HP just let loose with some more info on that gesture keyboard the company showed off in India a couple of weeks ago. According to HP, the keypad, which was developed by the company's Bangalore-based research team, can reproduce the script used in Hindi and other Indic languages, a process that would require up to 1,000 keys using a traditional keyboard (though most keyboards designed for such languages rely on keystroke combinations, rather than actual 1,000-key layouts). HP has begun selling the keypad in India for about $45, including software. The device is being manufactured in India by a company HP declined to name. HP sees the potential market for the keyboard as comprising up to 1.5 billion non-English speakers in India, Nepal and other South Asian countries. At $45 a pop, that could make the keyboard a pretty lucrative product for HP.
Kensington brings that portable keyboard feel to your desktop
I need to come clean: I thoroughly enjoy working on my PowerBook far more than my iMac G5. Why? Other than the obvious portability factor: it's the keyboard. Aside from an ergonomic (where'd those go, anyway?), the PowerBook's keyboard is about the best darn keyboard I've ever laid hands on. Every standard desktop keyboard just feels big and clunky, and the keys have a lot more travel to them. I can type much faster on my PowerBook's keyboard, and nowadays it's gotten so bad that I stumble and trip up on regular desktop keyboards. When you blog for a company like Weblogs, Inc. who revokes one day's lunch privileges for every typo they find, this can become a serious problem (just kidding about the lunch thing, but let's just say I'm missing a toe or two).If you're nodding your head in agreement to any of my keyboard obsessiveness, I think Kensington has a good solution for all of us. I found their SlimType Keyboard for Mac at a CompUSA last weekend, and wow did it feel like my PowerBook. Its layout is slightly different from both a PowerBook and standard Apple desktop keyboard, as the Home/End and Page Up/Down keys are lined vertically on the right of the Delete/Return side of the keyboard, but its keys have the same low rate of travel and a very similar, solid feel. I haven't grabbed one yet, but they retail for $40, and some of the online retailers that Kensington's product site link are selling it for as low as $30.If you pick one up or already own one, feel free to sound off with your thoughts.
TUAW Tip: keyboard shortcuts during Mac OS X startup
For today's TUAW Tip, I thought I'd cover some of the basic essentials for starting up your Mac, especially for recent switchers who feel naked and lost without their BIOS. I compiled the list I have here from Magical Macintosh Key Sequences (which Dave mentioned last September), Apple's own keyboard shortcut documentation and personal experience: X during startup - Force Mac OS X startup option - (eventually) brings up a screen with startup volume choices Option-Command-Shift-Delete - Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk) C - Start up from a CD that has a system folder N - Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot) T - Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode (very handy for plugging your Mac into another as an external hard drive) Shift - start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items and non-essential kernel extension files (Mac OS X 10.2 and later) Command-V - Start up in Verbose mode. Command-S - Start up in Single-User mode cmd-opt-p-r - Zap PRAM. Hold down until second chime. cmd-opt-n-v - Clear NV RAM. Similar to reset-all in Open Firmware. cmd-opt-o-f - Boot into open firmware hold mouse click - force eject a CD/DVD While this by no means is a definitive list (and I'm not sure if every one transfers over to the new Intel Macs), it should get you started with what your Mac is capable of on startup. Feel free to add your own in the comments. One word of caution, however: some of these shortcuts aren't meant to be used on a daily basis. For example, Apple doesn't recommend (and neither do I) that you use the Zap PRAM or Clear NV RAM shortcuts any old time your Mac starts acting funny; those are mainly for situation-specific troubleshooting circumstances.
PSP keyboard and cellphone patents surface
A pair of PSP patents recently went public via the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We've heard rumor of keyboard and cellphone USB attachments for the PSP before, so it comes as no surprise that these patents were officially filed back in November 2004. While the keyboard is still a possibility, given that an email function is on the way, the chances of a phone extension hitting retail are slim.
Coming Soon: Keyboard with iPod Dock
Via XYZ Computing comes this interesting tidbit. The popular gaming peripheral maker, Razer, will soon be releasing a keyboard with a built-in iPod dock. It's likely to cost $99 and will have a number of programmable keys and will almost certainly be USB 2.0.I generally don't like most of the 3rd-party keyboards on the market, which I think are universally ugly and uncomfortable, but I do like the idea of a having an iPod dock in my keyboard. Should be interesting; this is one I'll be watching.
Zboard version 2: the MERC
While you're waiting for the Infinium Phantom or Optimus OLED Keyboard, here's another peripheral that may pique your interest. Zboard have been making gamer-focused keyboards for some time now, but the compromise between QWERTY and separate WASD keys has forced some gamers' hands into unusual contortions (ours included). Fortunately, their all-new, all-singing, all-dancing MERC does away with the problem--it features a side WASD pad, with more programmable keys than before as well as a full QWERTY keyboard. No need for separate keysets this time; although the older model is much easier to clean thanks to its hot-swapping keys, we prefer comfortable typing every time.[Via Opposable Thumbs]
Optimus mini three OLED keyboard
There's still no sign of the full-sized OLED-keyed Optimus keyboard, due to drop in 2006, but the Russian design firm Art. Lebedev Studio have announced the "Optimus mini three keyboard." They describe it as "an auxiliary keyboard with three keys, each complete with an OLED screen displaying the current function... Optimus mini is a blank sheet. It’s hard to say what a usual monitor is worth until you open an image on it."Using the above example of Half-Life 2 for "game control," I have to question the value of the $100 peripheral. Sure, it's an attractive enough piece of kit, and the OLED screens are muy cool, but they offer little functionality above and beyond what any three keys on a regular old 104-key USB keyboard could.However, if you've got $100 burning a hole in your pocket... the Optimus mini three is set to arrive May 15. [Via Primotech]
Optimus Keyboard shipping February 1st?
Patent controversy or no patent controversy, it appears that Russia's Art Lebedev Studio is pushing forward with its plans to introduce their new buzz-crazy Optimus Keyboard on February 1st. They're a little oblique about what exactly they're introducing -- their site now says "Good Things Come in Small Packages -- February 1, 2006". To jog your memory, the Optimus is that keyboard where each key has a customizable mini OLED display that allows you to tailor the layout -- with color graphics, if you'd like -- so that it's optimized for use with different applications. Still not entirely sure that they'll be able to pull it off (at a price that real people can afford), but we'll have our credit cards primed on February 1st. [Thanks to everyone who sent this one in]
Shortcut Roundup: NetNewsWire
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a nut for getting things done quicker through the beauty of keyboard shortcuts. I'm also a nut for NetNewsWire, and after a week of giving a few online newsreaders like Bloglines and Google Reader an honest try, I have to come back home to my comfortable, productive, plugin-able and del.icio.us-friendly NetNewsWire. Why, you ask? Well, to put it simply: it's those gosh darn productively intoxicating keyboard shortcuts.Since I find these shortcuts so handy and since you have to dig for some of them, I figured I'd share my favorites in case anyone was wondering how to leverage the power of NNW. These shortcuts are based off a couple of assumptions: 1) You're using the regular NetNewsWire, not the Lite version; I've never used Lite, so I don't know what shortcuts and functionality are present, and 2) you have at least a group (folder) or two of feeds instead of just one big flat list: tab - shifts selection/focus from the feeds list to headlines to articles themselves. Handy for invoking other shortcuts. space bar - scrolls the present article, then selects the next unread article, not just the next one in the list k - marks all articles in a feed or group as read. Oddly, the shortcut for this action under the News menu is cmd k u - mark as unread. While k can mark an entire group as read, u will not perform the opposite on an entire group; only an individual headline. Not sure why. d - delete read items from a group. Handy for customized housecleaning if you have a boatload of subscriptions (I have 252) and set the preference to hold on to articles. b (or right arrow) - open in browser. Again, under the News menu this option is cmd b. Again, not sure why. . (the period key) - when a group is selected, this will expand the group , (the comma key) - collapsing a group ' (the apostrophe) - expands all groups ; (semicolon) - you should be able to figure out this one a and z - when the focus is on the subscription list, these select the previous and next subscriptions, respectivelyNow you have a few more shortcuts to help breeze through your mounting pile of news subscriptions. If any NNW ninjas out there want to toss in their thoughts on handy shortcuts, fire away in the comments.
