Optimus Maximus keyboards for less than $500?
updated 04:25 pm EST, Wed November 7, 2007
Sub-$500 Optimus Maximus
Cheaper versions of the Optimus Maximus LED keyboard will be available, says the Russian design firm Art Lebedev. Starting next week, customers will be able to place pre-orders on models below the $1,000 and $500 price marks, a dramatic improvement on the standard keyboard's cost of $1,564. Some 200 units of the latter went up for pre-order in May; following delays, these should finally ship in December and January, but in white instead of black, and with limited functionality that will expand through firmware updates.
The Optimus Maximus is unique for being the only keyboard in which every key is its own OLED display, allowing labels to change on the fly for different programs and languages. This may make it extremely appealing to the likes of artists, editors and programmers, who may no longer need to memorize keyboard shortcuts for the diversity of applications they use.
