keyboards

Hard-core gamers are always looking for gear that will survive the most merciless abuse under their sweaty palms. So needless to say, tough keyboards are frequently at the top of the list.

But it isn't often that a new version borrows a technology from the distant past. The first gaming keyboard in OCZ's new "Alchemy" series features keys made from "100 percent rubber-coating for no-slip comfort," according to PClaunches. And in doing so, the "Elixir" is taking a tack used by old Royal and Underwood manual typerwriters, which occasionally sported rubber caps … Read more

Logitech cuts the cord on its new keyboard for the Wii. The Cordless Keyboard for Wii (as it's called) is officially licensed by Nintendo, so you can be sure it'll be compatible with your Wii games as well as the Wii Internet Channel. The keyboard comes with dedicated Wii-centric keys, including Zoom In/Out, Forward/Back, Quit and Ok, and features a full-sized keyboard. And weighing in at only 1.5 lbs, it should be light and compact enough to fit comfortably on your lap. The keyboard goes on sale soon for $50.

Sometimes kitchen gadgets are expensive and innovative, and sometimes they're truly useless.

More often than not, the truly useless kitchen gadgets I come across end up on my "tell all of your friends not to waste their money" list. But sometimes, I find a useless kitchen gadget that tugs on my heartstrings just hard enough for me to really appreciate them.

We've all seen some variation on the heart-shaped waffle maker , but designer Chris Dimino took the idea a step farther to create a waffle iron that makes waffles shaped like--wait for it--keyboards.

I'm totally … Read more

Could Apple have a slider-style iPhone up its sleeve?

That's what The Register thinks, reporting Monday that Apple has shown off prototypes of an iPhone with a hardware keyboard to certain executives at wireless operators. The current iPhone famously comes with only one hardware button that returns the user to the home screen, with the rest of the buttons enabled in software.

The lack of a hardware keyboard is said to be a detriment for business users who are hooked on their BlackBerrys, and the iPhone's touch-screen keyboard certainly does take some getting used to in the first … Read more

It seems that our friends in the Middle Kingdom are getting some serious Razer love as the peripheral maker has just announced an entry-level gaming keyboard that will be sold only in China.

And don't let the term "entry-level" fool you. The Razer Aurantia is about as functional as one can get, with 104 macro programmable keys, special function buttons for gaming mode, profile switching, and 10 software profiles. The main differences from its more expensive Lycosa brethren are anti-ghosting capabilities and backlight illumination, features that are nice to have but not essential.

Priced at 399 yuan (… Read more

You start typing only to realize 10 seconds later that the focus is on the wrong window. You see a Windows notification pop out of the taskbar only to have it fade away before you can figure out what it means. You get distracted by all of Windows' pointless animations. You miss seeing keyboard-shortcut hints on menu entries and elsewhere in Windows dialog boxes.

You could spend hours hunting for the settings that will do away with these four Windows annoyances. At least Vista collects them all in the Ease of Access Center. These usability settings are spread far and … Read more

There were some important shortcuts left off the list I described a couple of months ago. I wanted to be able to use my PC without requiring a mouse or any input device other than the keyboard. Since I can't remember all the shortcuts I might need, I listed them in a text file I can open in Notepad using just two easy-to-remember keyboard combinations.

Unfortunately, some very useful keyboard shortcuts were omitted from the initial list, including those that let you move and resize windows by pressing Alt-Spacebar-M and Alt-Spacebar-S, respectively. (Note that the Move and Size options … Read more

Of all the computer gear that seems destined to be made of natural materials, the keyboard is first on the list. Versions in ivory, gold, and several models in wood are only a few examples.

But here's one that tops all of those, at least in its weirdness quotient: It's made of leather. Japanese artist Kazuharu Sakura has tried his hand at other unconventional designs, but those were made of more or less standard materials. This bovine version appears to be one of those art pieces created primarily for shock value--it's about as unattractive as it is … Read more

What I really want to do is add a link to Google Docs on the right-click (context) menu in Windows Explorer. That way, I could open a file in Google Docs by right-clicking it in Explorer and choosing Send To > Google Docs.

Well, I wasn't able to figure out how to do this. So instead, I created a shortcut to open Google Docs, and then I browsed to the file and opened it the old-fashioned way.

This won't save you a lot of time, but at least Google Docs makes it easy for you to transmit the … Read more