keyboards

OS X Lion comes with a number of new and altered features, some of which, like Mission Control and full-screen options, can be avoided if you don't find them useful. However, Apple has also included a couple of alterations that cannot be quickly avoided and that new users might find a bit frustrating.

The first of these is the default scroll direction on Apple's multitouch trackpads. In prior versions of OS X the scroll direction mirrored that of scroll wheels on mice, which when rolled toward the user cause the page to scroll down. The trackpad likewise would … Read more

Here at Crave, we've seen some mighty impressive interior decorating from geeks over the years: offices inspired by "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," apartments and home theaters that are dead ringers for a "Star Trek" set. Well, if the "Thermosaurus" radiator is for real, it could make for some pretty hot "Jurassic Park"-themed abodes.

Design firm Art. Lebedev Studio posted renderings of the gadget on April 1 -- yes, that date gives us pause -- saying the device is a "heat exchanger" that "installs like your regular central-heating radiator" and "is highly efficient and energy-savvy, thanks to its complex structure that includes a skull, spine, ribs, legs, and tail bones." The studio also posted a nice page of sketches and other ephemera that supposedly went into the design of the Thermosaurus.… Read more

"It's not a keyboard, it's a movement," Jon Reynolds, the CEO of SwiftKey was telling me, as part of his pitch for SwiftKey 3, the latest version of the product.

No, it's a keyboard, I thought. It's a very nice alternative keyboard for Android that's even better than the built-in autocorrecting keyboard in Android or the one on the iPhone. But it's still a keyboard. And it costs $3.99. To replace a product that's baked into every single phone. Surely it's not much of a business.

"We have … Read more

If you're like me, you enjoy doing things faster. Using keyboard shortcuts can help you spend less time looking for buttons or menus, and more time enjoying music and videos. So take a moment to become a more efficient by reading over these VLC shortcuts:

Space: toggle pause/play

F: toggle full-screen (you can also use Esc to leave full-screen mode)

Z: change zoom mode

Ctrl + Up / Down: Adjust volume up/down (you can also use mouse scroll wheel for this)

M: toggle mute

T: display time remaining/elapsed

+ / -: play media faster/slower

S: … Read more

Using keyboard shortcuts to run various commands and application functions in OS X is one of the easiest ways to enhance your workflow and speed up how you use your system.

For instance, while you can always click the red button at the top-left of a window to close it, or even select Close from the File menu, you can speed this up by using Command-W (as seen in the File menu) to quickly invoke this function on the foremost window. By using this shortcut coupled with the mouse, you can move windows around and then click them followed by … Read more

In less than a year, I've gone from mocking e-books to never wanting to buy a print book again. Blame the Amazon Kindle. I've found it a great way to read.

A new generation of Kindles came out at the end of last year, including the Kindle Fire tablet. Here's how I've found them to measure up against each other, over the past four months or so.

Kindle's cool, but e-book high prices and limitations aren't Before I dive into the Kindles, let me get two issues that I hate about the Kindle out … Read more

On today's show, you'll learn how Apple is manipulating the naming devices of network technology to convince users they're getting "4G" speeds, the final sale of the original house in the "Home Alone" movies, and how something called "The QWERTY effect" can spot nuances in language.

We're also giving away five codes for the game Mighty Switch Force for the Nintendo 3DS. To enter, just add The 404, Jeff, and Justin on Twitter and tweet us your favorite 404 episode from 2012 with #4043DS. We'll select five winners at random on Monday!… Read more

Samsung has unveiled its new flagship control peripherals--the Smart Touch Remote and optional Smart Wireless Keyboard--at an event in New York today.

The new remote will ship with the company's Smart Interaction televisions, the ES7500 and ES8000 LED and E8000 plasma. The keyboard is an optional accessory ($99).

Last year, Samsung was one of the few manufacturers to offer a reversible QWERTY remote and despite Samsung's claims to its popularity at today's press conference, the company has decided to discontinue the peripheral. Instead, Samsung now offers the $99 Bluetooth Smart Wireless Keyboard, which it says will also work with smartphones and tablets.… Read more

I've got a really big secret here about the iPad 3. How do I know it's a secret? Because only 28 people have so far viewed it on YouTube.

By now, you will have probably chosen which of the 1,712 rumors about Apple's new iPad you will believe.

Until tomorrow, that is.

But, wait. Please take a look at this, because it claims to be channeling the spirit of Steve Jobs.

This video fell into my in-box, as if from the skies. It purports to show the iPad 3 with an indispensable component--a standalone keyboard that … Read more