I bet most of us used typing programs back in school to help us learn to type. If you have a kid that is to the age, where they are starting to type in school and are surfing the web it may be time for them to start learning to type correctly as well.
Nintendo has unveiled a cool new typing tutor program that uses Pokemon and a cool Bluetooth keyboard that will also work with the iPhone and iPad. The program is called Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS. The DS game will ship with the keyboard and the dongle needed for BT on the portable since it lacks that capability.
The keyboard will also apparently work with Android devices as well. It might be the perfect little keyboard for your Galaxy Tab. The catch is that the game and keyboard are only announced in Japan right now and pricing is unknown.
Thermaltake has taken a dive into the gaming world with their new set of peripherals with the Tt eSPORTS series. This week I got to use the Thermaltake MEKA G1 Mechanical keyboard, which is one of two keyboards currently in the series. The MEKA is a great keyboard, with excellent response time, USB 2.0 inputs, and my favorite feature – “clacky” mechanical keys. Let’s get to the review.
The MEKA G1 comes equipped with two mounted USB 2.0 ports, as well as onboard headphone and microphone jacks to make connecting your peripherals faster and more efficient. The keyboard comes with a removable palm rest, which I found very comfortable and stylish. Another great feature of the G1 is the heavyweight military-grade 1.5m braided cable that leads to a PS2 connector, as well as a USB connector. These features alone make the MEKA G1 more than a standard mechanical keyboard right out of the box.
Weighing in at just a bit over three pounds, the MEKA G1 won’t budge when under pressure. The keyboard has seven multimedia keys that make it perfect for controlling any videos, music, or PC volume as easy as a button press. I was very pleased with the way the G1 performed, as its quick response made it great for my fast-typing fingers. The keys offered a nice “clacking” sound (which I have come to love), and have a resistance to them that makes typing more manageable for me, since I work with typing a lot.
Now I don’t necessarily see where the G1 would provide an advantage in the gaming world, except for the fact that the resistance put up by the keys makes it harder for your fingers to slip. I switched to the G1 from a Steelseries Zboard, and I do have to say that I prefer this one over the Zboard. Mechanical keyboards like the MEKA G1 just fit me better than the normal ones you can find everywhere else. I’ve found that I am quicker on the MEKA, which is good when it comes to games like WoW where you constantly switch between a chat window and controlling a character. The ergonomics and feel of the keys just seem to make me get around the board quicker than when I am using a normal keyboard, or one like the Zboard. Also, since the MEKA weighs as much as it does, I don’t have to worry about it sliding all over my desk while I am trying to use it.
My verdict is simple. The MEKA G1 is a perfect mechanical keyboard, and I think it will set the standard for more in the Tt eSPORTS series. The G1 is sitting at about $139.99 which is right in between some of the pro gaming keyboard out right now. With the price tag it has, the MEKA offers the same high performance qualities that you expect from a mechanical keyboard for a cheaper price. When put to the test, the MEKA does the job, and it does it well. If you’ve got the cash to spend and you’re looking, definitely consider picking up the Thermaltake MEKA G1 mechanical keyboard for yourself.
It’s been a while since we’ve marvelled at the display-keys from Russian keyboard specialists Optimus, but the company is keen to remind us that it’s only been delayed, not undone, by the recent economic unpleasantness. The Optimus Popularis – a more “affordable” version of the Maximus keyboard – has supposedly been pushed back until later in 2011, and before then the company will release a smaller version called the Optimus Mini Six.
As the name suggests, the Optimus Mini Six will have six keys and is presumably intended to sit next to the keyboard rather than replacing it. It’s basically a double version of the Mini Three, but will use the newer display technology Optimus intends for the Popularis.
Rather than the OLEDs of the first models, the Mini Six and Popularis rely on LCD panels, and technological advances mean they can fit higher resolution, 64 x 64 screens into physically smaller keys. That should make for easier typing and a more compact keyboard in general. No word on pricing or specific availability for the Optimus Mini Six, which is only expected sometime later this year.
So what’s this all about? Oh, just the BlackBerry Dakota which we heard about back in July, and which definitely seems to be real. This one, pictured above in a photo procured by BGR, looks like it’s going to boast that up top 2.8-inch (VGA resolution) capacitive touchscreen we’d heard about, with the BlackBerry Bold-style keyboard you’ve come to know and love below. Yes, this ‘Berry is quite attractive in the looks department, and spec-wise, it’s a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE device with tri-band UMTS. It also packs a 5 megapixel cam with HD video recording, 4GB of storage, plus 768MB of RAM. The phone will also have WiFi and be 3G hotspot-enabled, and it’ll run BlackBerry OS 6.1. Like we said, from the looks of it, this thing is legit, but there’s no word on pricing or availability as of yet.
SwiftKey for Android was one of the breakout stars in the virtual keyboard business last year, thanks to a unique predictive phrase system that learns how you talk (or write, as it were) and recommends entire words based on your personal style. It sounds weird, but it’s surprisingly helpful — and even if you don’t use the phrase prediction aspect at all, it’s simply a well laid-out, easy-to-use keyboard. The company has big plans for 2011 with talks of OEM deals in the pipeline, UI and functionality tweaks, new utilities for learning your writing habits by ingesting RSS feeds, Facebook posts, Gmail, and other sources… oh, and this: a new app customized for use on Android tablets.
Text entry on tablets is a challenge that manufacturers and software vendors have been trying to solve for a long, long time, and one look in a busy airport with dozens of people trying to type on iPads carefully-balanced on their laps will tell you that we’ve still got a long way to go. We’re not sure how SwiftKey’s new version will work on 10-inch tablets (take the Xoom, for instance), but we had a chance to check it out on a Galaxy Tab — and we have to say that it’s probably the best landscape virtual keyboard we’ve used on a 7-inch tablet so far. Swype and other tracing keyboards seem out of place on a screen this big, but SwiftKey takes advantage of the fact that your thumbs are so far apart by splitting your QWERTY into two parts and placing the lesser-used numbers in the center.
The keyboard isn’t ready for prime time just yet — SwiftKey still bills it as a prototype — but we imagine it’ll be available before too long. Follow the break for a hands-on video!
Also demoed today at the press conference was the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. Bringing an ultra-versitile option to tablet fans the Transformer will provide both a tablet and notebook experience for the user.
The device will feature a full size QWERTY keyboard with its Mobile Docking Station. The tablet itself is a 10.1-inch device with a 1280×800 capacitive touch screen and will run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) with ASUS’s new MyWave overlay and will feature the company’s WaveShare network media sharing system. MyWave looks very slick, and running on Honeycomb, it seemed incredibly responsive.
The device will sport two onboard cameras: one 1.2MP Video Camera on the front, and a 5MP auto-focus camera on the back. Communications and ports include Wireless N, Bluetooth, HDMI, USB and a built in card reader. With its NVIDIA Tegra 2, it is being promoted as “twice the performance while being even thinner than the iPad.”
You can pick up a ASUS Transformer for $399-$699 when it ships in April of this year.
If Piccard made Number 1 use an ergonomic keyboard, this would be it. SmartFish has unveiled the new Engage Keyboard that is claimed to the first automated keyboard ever. The thing won’t type for you, but it will adjust itself even now and again to help reduce the repetitive strain on your wrists and hands.
The idea is that the subtle change in positions will let you keep your hands from staying in the same position for too long and causing pain or injury. The Engage has the split key design that is common in ergonomic keyboards and the thing looks really cool
It appears that the adjustability of the device allows you to control the distance between the halves of the keyboard and the angle at which the keyboard tilts. This looks really cool and you can order one up now for $149.95. The automatic adjustments claim to be smooth and subtle to keep form bothering the user when the adjustments are made.
A number of iPhone keyboard cases have popped up lately, from the TK-421 flip-out case (which we reviewed) to the BoxWave Keyboard Buddy. We’ve spent the better part of 24 hours using an engineering sample of Nuu’s MiniKey QWERTY slider for iPhone 4 — expect “a few minor changes to be made” before actual launch — that the company was kind enough to send over. So, how’s it stack up?
Don’t need Chinese pinyin support? Well, Swype has a little treat for you: a new version available from the company’s beta installer on your handset reduces the size of the final installed package by a whopping 75 percent, down from 10MB to 2.5MB, simply by dropping support for languages other than English and Spanish — and for a platform where the app storage issue still isn’t fully resolved, every megabyte counts. On a related note, Swype has posted a note for EVO 4G owners stymied by Sprint’s recent inclusion of the keyboard in ROM: if you were already running the beta, you just need to uninstall it, reboot your phone, and let the official version take over.
While those interested in seeing a webOS-based tablet are going to have to wait a bit longer, at least you get to look at what some believe is one of the accessories for the upcoming, but still unofficial device. Engadget was just sent a picture of what looks to be, and is detailed as, a Bluetooth equipped keyboard. It was sent in from a trusted source, and its detailed as having not only keys for webOS-specific functions, but also a Windows key.
That last bit probably means that Palm will sell the Bluetooth keyboard as an all-around accessory, but one that makes the most sense as an add-on to their tablet device. As for that rumored tablet, it’s now being rumored to be codenamed “Topaz.” As for the keyboard itself, it won’t have any backlighting for the keys, but they are chiclet in design. There’s a battery door, and an On/Off switch, which isn’t surprising. There also won’t be a number pad.
The tablet, or Topaz for now, is rumored to not have any hardware keys on the front of the device. It’s also supposed to share similar design cues as the keyboard itself. There’s no release date for the keyboard, or the tablet, but we’ve hard in the past that it’s due in the first half of 2011 some time, and the source confirme this.
And finally, there’s a teen-phone coming, apparently. It’s codenamed “Castle” at the moment, and it’s rumored to be a successor to the original Palm Pixi. It’s said to look like a Pre, but without the keyboard. With 2011 right around the corner, it’s likely that Palm/HP are getting ready to release a good amount of new devices. Let’s hope that the Topaz makes an early appearance.
