(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
If the Optimus Maximus keyboard is a little too over the top for you, the upcoming Optimus Pultius may be more suitable. Instead of a full keyboard, this one has only 15 keys, each sporting an individual OLED display which can be customized to show whatever graphic you want.
So, if you like what you see in the image above, you will be able to launch certain applications quickly or use some Photoshop shortcuts without memorizing the key combinations. The value of something like that is you'll have something cool on your desk--a great way to one-up your colleagues.
Though given the Maximus' $1,877 whopper of a sticker shock, one-upmanship won't come cheap. Look out for it at the end of this year or early next year.
Via OhGizmo!
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
The adventures of Art Lebedev's keyboards continue. We thought there might be a lull in news from the Russian design firm now that it has gone to market with its "Optimus Maximus," the most-hyped keyboard of all time. Silly us. Now the company is already onto its Next Big Thing, the "Optimus Popularis."
Although it's still very much a work in progress, Electronista says it differs from the Maximus by not using OLED displays, though some keys will have symbols that change with different software. The Popularis is also smaller, though don't expect the price to be tiny. All that's been said is that it will be under $1,000. Such a bargain.
(Credit:
ThinkGeek)
So it finally happened. The "Optimus Maximus"--the most-hyped keyboard of all time--is now for sale to the consuming public as promised. To which we have only one response: ThinkGeek?
We don't have anything against the gadget peddler, mind you--it was just a little surprising to see a $1,589.99 product being sold by a retailer that's better known for such products as USB rocket launchers. On its "What's New" page, for instance, the vaunted Maximus is sandwiched between a "Dueling Space Marines Copter Set" and a pair of "Speed Racer Mini R/C Cars."
Not that we have anything against such items, of course. We just thought that Art Lebedev, the uber-keyboard's Russia-based purveyor, might have opted for a higher-end distributor for its crown jewel. Which, by the way, is selling for around $25 more than the oft-quoted price for the version that allows all 113 keys to be programmed separately. Just to show we're paying attention.
(Credit:
SlashGear)
Now that the "Optimus Maximus" has been proven to be more than vaporware, interest is bound to rise for other products by Russian creator Art Lebedev--especially for those who want something a tad more affordable than the uber-keyboard, which can cost up to $1,564 for a fully customizable version. If someone just wants a few programmable buttons, for example, maybe something like the "Optimus Mini 3.0" might make a lot more sense.
Like its predecessor, the new version of the Mini will include three customizable OLED buttons (instead of all 113 keys on the high-end Maximus) but will also hook up to the computer through a Bluetooth connection, SlashGear says. Other changes could also be in the offing, according to the design house's blog, though it says the wireless feature will be significant because "a lot of people use Optimus Mini Three to control PowerPoint presentations."
Let's hope that the Mini, having only three programmable keys, means that it will generate commensurately less hype than its big brother.
(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
We're almost reluctant to post this because it's been promised (and not delivered) for so long. But, with our luck, the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard will come out on schedule, and we'll be lambasted for not having passed along the news.
"We begin shipping Optimus Maximus keyboards to those who ordered it last year," creator Art Lebedev announced today on its Optimus Project blog. To further show they mean business, according to Gizmodo, the first "Optimus Configurator" software is now available for download, for both the Mac and PC. All hail the most-hyped keyboard in the history of humankind.
(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
We really don't like posting about the "Optimus Maximus" keyboard. There, we said it. Despite our admitted fascination with odd keyboards, the hype over this one got out of hand long ago.
Still, we aim to please here at Crave. So even though we've resisted posting every incremental detail about this Russian-made peripheral, we feel obligated to pass along this report that the Op-Max can be had for much less than the original $1,564 price--$462.27 to be exact, according to Gizmodo.
The difference in functionality is more than cosmetic, however: Instead of 113 programmable keys, this stripped-down version has only one "active button," the space bar. You can apparently get 10 smart keys for more than twice the cost of the bargain model, at $1,000. (We're not sure how that equation works, but we flunked math.) That keyless "OrbiTouch" keyboard is looking better all the time.
(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
(Credit:
Necco)
There's a fine line, it's been said, between genius and insanity. And judging from its latest concept, Art Lebedev Studio has a foot planted firmly on each side.
The Russian-based design firm, a darling of technology circles, may have overdosed on creative license with its idea for the "Pultius" remote--which shuns the very notion of punching in multi-digit codes, according to Engadget, opting instead for 102 buttons that control 399 channels on a 20-inch-long bar. It would at least solve one problem: You'd never lose it between the cushions.
We think the designers got their inspiration from those old "Candy Buttons" from our youth.
(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
This might not be worth mentioning if it were any other product, but it seems that every incremental development involving the "Optimus Maximus" keyboard is followed in excruciating detail. So proving that Crave is a full-service gadget blog, we dutifully report that the famed peripheral will be shipping in white, according to its official blog.
And leave it to its iconoclastic designer, Russia's Art Lebedev Studio, to buck trends once again. As computer and electronics makers have fallen in love with glossy piano-black finishes or stuck with the conventional silver, the studio has taken a completely different route--going with no pigment at all. At least they didn't go back to the putty tones of the mid-'90s.
But don't expect any savings on paint to be passed along to the consumers. The vaunted OLED keyboard still commands a price tag of $1,564.37.
(Credit:
Art Lebedev Studio)
Just for the record, turntables aren't the only types of audio equipment that occasionally resemble heavy machinery. It's just hard to resist singling them out when systems start to approach $1 million.
The latest example of industrial chic is the "Eagle Neo-Retro CD Player," whose prosaic name really doesn't do justice to its unique design. We would expect no less from the site of Art Lebedev Studio, the Russian design house that's been a darling among technophiles for such groundbreaking innovations as its "Optimus" and "Upravlator" keyboards.
The turntable is apparently manufactured by Singapore-based CD specialist Loit, but we're sorry to say that we know nothing else about it at this point other than what we've seen on Luxurylaunches. We just figured the photos alone are enough to activate salivary glands among Crave audiophiles.
Yeah, we know--we're sick of USB drives too. But just when we were about to impose a moratorium on them, along comes Art Lebedev Studio with one that we can't resist.
(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
It figures that the exception would come from the celebrated Russian design house, whose avant-garde Optimus keyboards--the "Maximus" and the still-unpronounceable "Upravlator"--have been among the most lusted-after products in the gadget world for some time. Unlike those groundbreaking products, however, Engadget notes that the "Finger Folder" flash drive is notable for its whimsical simplicity.
It also solves a personal problem that we've often carped about. Because of our digital pack-rat tendencies, we often don't empty our portable drives as often as we should (say, maybe once a year). Now we can label this folder just like the manila ones overflowing from the boxes in all our closets. On second thought, maybe this isn't such a good idea after all.
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