It's finally out!

... altough a bit pricey!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/9836/?cpg=71H

Seen it before on tweakers and it's a nice device, but it's too pricey indeed. For that price it should be full-HD. XD

Maybe this one; http://gizmodo.com/382570/bring-out-your-inner-tool-with-peripherals-pants

hehe :p

on the glide by it looked like it was a glass/shiny plastic keyboard and not a screen
it was clearly not when they started showing images on the side hotkeys

i liked the washing of red on the board being transfered to the keys
case mods are one thing having a naked lady on your keyboard as you type is another ;)

but it got me thinking
all those mini screens why not have one keyboard sized touch screen istead
one that could double as a graphics tablet
make it larger to include a switchable touch/palm rest so when typing you dont have anything going wrong but when tableting its a better size

im sure one keyboard touch screen costs less than all those mini ones (whats the res on each screen btw?)

esp considering that lg and apple have touch screen phones on the market for way less than that and as ive seen the lg one up close i know its a good sized screen (for arguments sake lets say its the size of the numpad minus one colum 3*5 keys in size)

edit:
and seeing as my hypothetical keyboard is a touch screen you could re arange the key layout within the software
numpad on the left bingo keys are layed out in a grid that can be off centre like the qwerty is or perfectly alligned

wsad-ing keyboards do this with that clip on / off qwerty / game of your choice lay out cursor keys (or re shaped wsad into cursor) with primary functions near by with nothing much else in the way for all the fat finger players out their

so it fits a few of my criteriors

its illuminated (i type in the gloom alot with just the monitor 5 foot away for lighting save for whats coming through the window over cast as i type)
so although i can touch type i never remember where certain symbol keys are and sometimes hit the right one after 3 deletions

it can be reshaped to match the program / game im using

it offers a graphics tablet with a near a4 drawing area (pretending that the keyboard is deeper to allow for a palm rest allowing for program keys to be where the numpad cursor end (and a special key that can activate the keyboard so you can type something like a file name then get back to drawing)

perhaps i should have patented this instead of posting on a public forum
oh well if such a keyboard comes out and it doesnt match my expectations i could always hunt down the 'designer' and dish out just deserts with an old ibm clicky kb which i recal to be very ouchie when hit with

48x48 @ 10FPS 65K colors over 10.1x10.1mm

Lol, this would have been a s**t load cheaper if they had just used a thin keyboard with transparent keys over a couple of 7.5" widescreens (or a single screen if such a size exists) :/

kinda what i said :)

but i pimped mine to touch screen

Yes, i like the sound of your idea more :)

When do you go into production ;P ?

Did anyone say Macs are expensive?

:O

Comparing Macs with Keyboards?

i could see in the future a touch screen keyboard / graphics tablet being built into laptops
they have the right aspect ratio for it to feel nicer than adding to the bottom of a normal one

this would just be a transitional phase till they just make more tablet pc's cheaper

If you had a touchscreen on the base of a laptop you'd basicalyl make a nintendo laptop ds... or something?! That could be quite cool!

I'm waiting for multitouch tablet pc devices. Apple could be first on this one. The keyboard is nice but it's just way to expensive (maybe for $150), i don't like how it's physically layed out and if they remain it might be interesting looking again at a third gen keyboard but at this price point it's either nerd stuff or only interesting for special software were each key hides a function like you have it for instance with CAD-, business software.

Touch screen would not be very good. You need the tactile feedback from the keys. It is like TV remotes. The all touch screen ones suck, you need hard buttons, so you know what button your finger is on. And feeling the button depress actually gives you feedback that something should have happened.

You like the greatest and latest stuff puki, get buying and tell us what you think :-)

You know, the Optimus is interesting in theory, but it sure doesn't appear very ergonimical -- in the photo's the tops of the keys look flat rather than the more hollow-topped shape of normal keyboard keys, and the shapes and arangements of some keys seem really off as well (e.g. the pairing of the function keys in twos rather than fours, and the shift/enter keys)

but it's kind of a moot point anyway -- there'll be few people that are willing to spend more on their keyboard than on the rest of their PC. :-?

Brilliant.

And I thought this post was going to be about a surgical procedure ;-)

i was thinking
shall i make a mock up in paint brush of how a full sized keyboard would look (including switchable palm rest / graphics tablet area)

or go straight to the laptop DS (assuming the 2nd monitor would be 1280*1024) but i dont know the average non wide screen size (but with software you can have it the size of your screen and aspect ratio changing the size of the buttons should the need arise ... it is after all meant to be totally customizable)

putting my kb up to the monitor i knew id have to do some jiggery pokery like they do on laptops (at a push you can get 18 keys along my monitor which is 17" thats esc all to pause break)
but instead of what laptops do re the numpad having it on lets say without having a lap top to hand 890iopkl;,./ and having to use a special key to activate the keys
have them down where the right wrist would be but checked off only active with said special key
you could also add a glide pad into the mix as laptops have these but perhaps stylus driven as its a dual gfx tablet and i really hate using glide pads as it is but a styus should work as a mouse subsitute better

i would avoid having buttons like sleep shut down etc as i dropped my kb once and picked it up on the hybernate button ... not nice
they would be hard wired buttons in the casing somewhere

i made a quick mock up at 1280*1024 using 64*64 cells
not got it online yet will do in a bit
it gives out 20*16 keys to play with

but im buggered if im gonna put my monitor on my lap to play with it ala startrek ;)

edit:
so not to push any gfx cards out their with 2 * 1280*1024 @ 24bit graphics the 2nd could only need 8bit gfx if you want it econonmcal or even not go to that res just still be a 1:1 for the physical size
monitor 1280*1024 @ 24 bit keyboard 800*600 @ 8bit
edit:
thinking about it limiting the kb resolution limits the graphics tablet aspect (or does it)

although this is all hypothetical im just doing this for a lark as id never have the dosh to make a working prototype let alone bring it to production ... nor am i in the market of switching jobs to shop this around
and as ive already posted in a public forum ive kinda wavered most if not all of my ip rights away (mind you im stealing ideas knicked from sci-fi shows so its probably patented by some tv exec already ;) )

true touching glass or transparant plastic or whatever gives off no feed back
but someone posted a yahoo clip by the wii-mote guy doing a force feed back thingie and he used this pen device on a touch screen ... i thought it would break tbh
so modify that to 10 force feed back finger tips and you could have the optional ffb glove
myself id prefer an illumination of keys hit

i dont know the sensitivity of touch screen as ive only ever used the one in hmv (when its not BSOD) but iir you could rest on the home keys without asdfjkl; coming up all the time
all you would lack would be the f and j ridges designed to let you find the home keys with ease (a tacky overlay perhaps?)

edit:
i looked at the pc pants
who in their right mind would type on their crotch?
i know i have my kb on my knees but thats just bloody rediculous

i was going to post this this morning but my connection decided to go pants

if you've ever seen the flikr page about transparant monitors you'll understand this one
laptop ds touch screen monitor with keys overlaid a pcb image of a 'generic' laptop for the geeks i guess ill stick to my reclining lady ;)