These new Tactile Pro 3 keyboards are built from the same technology used in the original Apple Extended and Extended II keyboards, complete with lovely, long-throw, clicky ALPS mechanical switches. While the key switches may be decidedly old school, the design of the Tactile Pro 3 has been updated to be more ergonomically friendly than retro Apple keyboards. It’s got a sleek, curvy form factor, and is built for durability. The keys are each laser etched, and the case is designed to keep crumbs and dirt from getting in-between the keys. And Matias has included a special technology that prevents missed key-presses if you’re a smokin’ fast typist. There’s also a built-in 3 port USB 2.0 hub, and it’s even compatible with PCs if you don’t have a Mac lying around.

While $149.95 (USD) might sound like a lot for a keyboard, it seems like a worthwhile investment if you spend all day sitting at your keyboard like I do, and want to type at the highest speed and accuracy. Want one? The Tactile Pro 3 starts shipping in January 2010, and Matias is accepting pre-orders here.

[thanks for the tip, Kenny P!]

The question mark key is a silver-toned  adjustable ring with a black laptop computer key on a glass tile. The ring comes with a black gift box and a gift bag.

You can get the ring for a mere $16 (USD) at Etsy. You can also choose a different laptop key, and if a ring’s not your thing, capitolagirl also sells bracelets, earrings, hairpins and cufflinks. Want to get out of a relationship? Wear the Esc key ring and let your partner get the hint.

Each clock measures in at about 10-inches square, making it about 175 times larger than a regular computer key. While you won’t be able to spell out “CTRL-ALT-DEL” if you hang three of these on the wall, you could buy all four and spell out “CTRL-ALT-ESC-ENTER”, which I believe makes flames shoot out of PCs running Windows XP or Vista – so don’t try this at home.

Computer key clocks are available from (the unfortunately named, but still cool) PHAG (that’s Philadelphia Home and Garden) for $18.50 (USD) each.

[via Design Milk]

That’s the receiver right there, wearing pink skin and a gray shirt. Of course it’s the tiny thing in the man’s hand, the man being Logitech Senior Product Manager Wim Vanheertu. Watch as he explains his home computing habits, clumsily advertises Logitech devices and finally segues into the Unifying tech.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Some of the Logitech devices that are compatible with Unifying tech include the Wireless Keyboard K350, the Wireless Keyboard K340, the Marathon Mouse M705 (EMEA) and the Wireless Mouse M505. I hope this technology becomes standardized and then built into all computers soon. Lord knows size won’t be an issue. More details on Logitech’s blog and website.

[via I4U News]

If you’ve seen the real ASUS Eee keyboard – which incidentally will be available this month – you know that it doesn’t look anything like this mod. But even though the mod is chubby and faceless, it’s every bit as useful as the real thing: just attach it to a monitor via VGA and you’re good to go. The keyboard also has USB ports, a headphone jack and a built-in mic.

FYI, an Eee PC 900 netbook is equipped with a 900 MHz Intel Celeron M and 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. Here’s a naked look at the mod:

Funny how there’s still quite a bit of space left on the keyboard. You know, space for something like a screen. But maybe that wasn’t in the modders’ plan, which you can view in detail – and in Russian – here. Don’t even attempt to run the page through Google Translate, as the resulting “translation” only adds random English words, not sense.

[via Engadget]

It may be useful for really old people, but otherwise I think this is a bad idea. How will you learn to type like everyone else if you don’t use a normal keyboard? It’s kinda like learning how to drive using a car that has its gas and brake pedals reversed. But we at technabob are staunch defenders of democracy and of your right to a keyboard with alphabetically arranged keys, so if you want a Hunt and Peck keyboard, be my guest. firstStreet – makers of the old-people-friendly go computer – is selling the Hunt and Peck Keyboard for $30 (USD). Weirdly enough, the go computer’s keyboard layout is QWERTY. Go figure.

[via Likecool]

Ah what the hell. It’s a wearable keyboard! You know, the one that you pretended to have when you were a kid while pretending to be a spaceman or maybe spy? All it needs is a built-in 2-way radio and it’s that exact same imaginary toy! Except it’s real! Pricing and availability are still unknown, but if the AK-39 is indeed for soldiers, spacemen and spy, then we probably won’t be able to play Laser Tag while dual-wielding wearable keyboards anytime soon.

[via Engadget]

Like a lot of USB products today, the Air Keyboard is a plug and play device; no software needed. I’m usually unimpressed with dedicated media control buttons on keyboards, but since this one is wireless it’s easy to imagine setups where the controls will actually be used. Cideko claims that the Air Keyboard has an effective range of up to 50 m (164 ft). The company also says that the device can last about 50 hours on 2 AA batteries.

The two shoulder buttons serve as the left and right click mouse buttons. Makes sense right? Sadly the click wheel has no proper counterpart in the Air Keyboard; that little fella is so useful. But let’s look at the bright side: unlike the fugly Combimouse, with the Air Keyboard you can actually use the mouse and the keyboard at the same time!

The Air Keyboard is compatible with both Mac (10.2 onwards) & Windows (98 onwards) systems. Unfortunately we don’t have details on the Air Keyboard’s pricing and availability yet. I hope the mouse sensitivity isn’t crap because if it is and there’s no software to go along with it we’re screwed. And of course I hope it won’t be too expensive. Because I WANT YOU, Air Keyboard.

[via gizmo watch & AVING]

That’s the Mac version. As you can see the iConnect also has the requisite multimedia control keys. It also has a couple of USB ports – but since the keyboard connects via USB you’re really only gaining an extra port – and dedicated buttons to launch certain Mac apps such as iTunes, Mail and Safari.

And that’s the Windows version, which is similar to the Mac version but without the dedicated app buttons. Personally I think they’re hideous, but if you’re interested, iHome promises that both versions will be out “this summer” (I guess that’s early September at the latest) for $150 USD.

[via cnet via ipodnn]

Seriously though the Combimouse apparently performed well in a test conducted by Wichita State University; the test concluded that the Combimouse works as well as a conventional mouse and actually fared better than trackball mice, but as you may have expected, it wasn’t as good as normal keyboards because of the awkward placing of some of the keys.

While I can see how easy it would be to shift from using the right…thingy as a keyboard and then as a mouse as opposed to moving your arm away from a keyboard to grab a conventional mouse, I think the design is too biased on its mouse aspect. Aside from the unusual layout, the right shift and enter buttons are way too small for my taste. The keys that double as left- and right-click buttons are too small as well.

And the Combimouse is useless if you use your left hand to control mice. And it’s ugly. Sorry. It had to be said. The company behind the Combimouse is still looking for investors so they can’t say when – if ever – the device will be available. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong. I probably won’t.

Also, to the makers of Combimouse: dear sirs and madams, the next time you make a video “demonstration” of your device, please demo the thing in actual usage, as opposed to just showing a disembodied hand type on and move your gadget randomly. It makes for a funny video, but I don’t think you were aiming for that.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Check out the Combimouse website for more details. I bet the guys at Brando wish they’d thought of this first.

[via Slippery Brick]

That keyboard is adapted from the Xbox controller keyboard attachment, and the screen–which is fully functional as a flip screen, so the unit folds in half–has been installed in a PSP visor from Joytech so that it fits flush against the unit when it’s folded.

While the project isn’t quite finished, even at this point, it looks pretty incredible, and with all those repurposed materials, it might be a nice way to get rid of spare electronics.

[Acid Mods forums via HackNMod]

Unfortunately, however, in order to pull this one off, you’re gonna need more than just an old keyboard. While there’s a detailed tutorial available, it might just require materials or steps that seem foreign to you. If you have a dremel tool lying around, though, or are familiar with jewelry-making, then you’re a few quick steps away from your own keyboard earrings.

What keys to choose? Your initials? Arrow keys? A two-tiered set so you can use WASD? That would require some thought.

[Craft Bits via Crafty Crafty]

Micro Innovations’ wooden keyboard and mouse are made primarily from eco-friendly bamboo, giving them a natural look that you don’t normally see sitting next to high-tech equipment. And while the keys themselves are made from plastic, the main enclosure is all wood.

The 104-key USB keyboard and scroll-wheel mouse work with PCs, Macs and Linux PCs, and are really not that much more expensive than other peripherals.

You can grab a set that includes both the bamboo keyboard and mouse over at  Amazon for about $49 (USD).

These plush furry white keyboards are apparently designed for people who can’t get enough of their feline friends, but also happen to live in astonishingly clean houses. As a matter of fact, the makers of this keyboard remind you that even though it “looks like a mop, please do not use it to clean around the desk.” Because that’s what I always do with my keyboard – uh yeah, right.

And if you’re really, really, really, really crazy about your cat companions, you can add on this matching cat tail USB flash drive to round out the look:

As far as I know, no actual cats were harmed in the making of these fuzzy cat ear USB memory sticks…

If you just have to have these crazy catty creations, you’ll have to get out your Japanese-to-English dictionary, convert your dollars to yen, and head on over to the Actbrise shop over on Rakuten.

Etsy’s packed with bags made with the most adorable fabric ever, but this is really one of the cooler examples I’ve seen. This particular bag, from the capow shopfront, measures 7.5″ x 4.25″ and makes a good clutch or large wallet. The capow shop has some other geek-friendly bags, too, like this casette tape clutch (for the retro music lover in your life):

These and other capow bags are priced between $12 and $20, plus shipping.

[via Etsy]

Now Mac and Linux users can get in on the polychromatic action thanks to the new Luxeed U5 keyboard, which improves on the original Luxeed by adding multi-platform support. Now I picked up the original Luxeed over at Think Geek about a year ago, and am still enjoying my colorful keyboard every day. I’ve actually programmed a bunch of color patterns to suit my mood or the current season. Purple, green and gold for Mardi Gras, all red when I’m feeling mad, pure white when I actually want to read the keys.

The Luxeed L5 also makes changes to the LED system to reduce ghosting (this was a relatively minor issue with the original Luxeed, IMHO). They’ve also added a firmware updater utility and improved the overall responsiveness of the keys. Hopefully they’ll fix some of the issues with occasionally sticky keys too. Or maybe that’s just because of the crumbs I’ve dropped between my keys during lunchtime. But does it really matter anyway? You’re not buying one of these because it’s the most responsive keyboard out there. It’s all about the bright candy-like colors. And while I don’t have any video of the new keyboard in action yet, the original footage never gets old:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

No word on a North American release date yet, but Luxeed is taking pre-orders for the L5 in Korea for KRW 99,000  (just $77 USD).

Called “Text-ile”, the armchair was made by designers Dante Bonuccelli and Lamm for the 2009 UMUL (Use More, Use Less) project, a workshop dedicated to incorporating recycling in design.

The chair is made of 40 computer keyboards that were obtained from a company that makes laptops for blind people. I’m starting to think that this one’s no good as well; the keys would make too much noise. Do you think a trackball chair would be better? Perhaps an LCD screen chair?

[via MoCo Loco via walyou]

See that? That’s putting the fun into function. Or maybe the absolutely ridiculous, but really, those words don’t look alike.

As you might have already guessed, the keyboard gun brush is another product of Japan, also known as the land of utterly weird solutions to basic problems.

See? The packaging even warns that it was made in Japan. Seems a little self-deprecating to me, but hey—maybe that’s why I’m not in marketing.

[via Rinkya]

myKeyO takes advantage of the fact that today’s technology allows for very thin keyboards. The Keyboard Organizer adds functionality while only adding a tenth of an inch to the thickness of ordinary keyboards. That’s a small compromise for the convenience it provides. Plus, the internal storage isn’t just empty space beneath the keyboard; it’s compartmentalized and even has a disc holder.

The Keyboard Organizer currently has two models with different multimedia buttons. They’re both available in plain black or plain white, but myKeyO can also print an image on the keyboard. Ideally these custom keyboards would make for great gifts or even serve as a platform for advertising; however, most of the designs featured on myKeyO’s website obscured the keys.

You can get a Keyboard Organizer for $2o to $35 (USD), depending on the model and color. The pics here are of the $35 model, the MK-2100. It has 5 programmable buttons, a volume scroll and mouse scroll wheel, plus multimedia controls: play, pause, stop, rewind, forward and mute. A customized MK-2100 costs either $80 or $60, depending on the quality of print, while the lower-priced MK-1900 can be customized for $35 or $50 depending on the quality of print.Place your orders here.

[via walyou]

Gone is the dark, brassy look of most of the steampunk mods we’ve seen; Markus’s keyboard is old, battered and faded, but still noble somehow. There’s dignity in the prim script on the keys–and the “arrows” are lovely. This looks like the kind of thing that would be an antique even in an alternate Victorian era.

Doesn’t look very ergonomic, though. Suppose the prevention of CTS isn’t a big priority in a steam-powered world.

[Steampunk keyboard via The Steampunk Workshop]