The Optimus Keyboard has a date!!

willie92 said:
I think they should incorporate force-feedback into the keyboard as well. A key could vibrate when you got e-mail or for a FPS the direction key could vibrate from the direction you got hit...

:p
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Lol and if your hand isn't on the key?
 
Or the screensaver could be incorporated onto the keyboard :D , like a matrix screensaver that flows onto the keyboard :eek: .
 
Emission said:
Or the screensaver could be incorporated onto the keyboard :D , like a matrix screensaver that flows onto the keyboard :eek: .
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Cause, ya know, I didn't metion that two pages ago :rolleyes:
 
Here's some real content for you guys to chew on, this is what's being released first...
optimusmini5bw.jpg


Hopefully people will be supportive so they can release more stuff later on :)

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting
 
I'm guessing simulated pictures on those buttons as well. The real displays will likely be a bit less sharp.
 
cool. tnx for the pic.

reminds me of the pertelian lcd display except supposedly with buttons. Looks neat, hopefully the API is simple enough that individuals can release cool mods for games/IM, etc so we dont have to wait for artlebedev.

Maybe the biggest question is if the system cpu is going to have to drive those displays or if there is onboard processing and controllers that you upload the software to. hmmm
 
Looks pretty nice, I would not mind having one my desk at all. Hopefully they can keep the cost down.
 
BladeVenom said:
$169.00 for a two switch kit. A bit expensive.
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Agreed. But products marketed towards industrial control use usually are. Nonetheless, it makes you wonder how the Optimus could be offered for any reasonable price - even at $500 that would only be about $5 per key. I don't see a programmable display keyswitch selling for $5. If people are paying $20 - $30 for a Bulgin led switch, what do you think a product like this will command?
 
agent420 said:
...even at $500 that would only be about $5 per key.
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It's not as high as you think. The bill of materials for this keyboard is estimated at $1-1.50 per key. That would put a retail price in the $3-4.50/key range.
 
masher said:
It's not as high as you think. The bill of materials for this keyboard is estimated at $1-1.50 per key. That would put a retail price in the $3-4.50/key range.
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I think that price is overly optomistic, but that's just my opinion. Even now, simple surplus lcd displays command more than that.

Also, if I understand this company correctly, they are an artistic design and concept company, not a technology r&d firm. If that's the case, then for this keyboard to be made available this year the oled technolgy they desire to use would already have to be available to manufacturers, and I would have to suspect that there would be sources or at least development kits available now. I have not been able to locate any such product other than the links I provided earlier. And those products are just coming into the market, even though they are based on a mature technology with support chipsets and software readily available.

Although I would like to be wrong (because I'd love an Optimus), I suspect we won't see anything like it for at least another year.
 
agent420 said:
Even now, simple surplus lcd displays command more than that.
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Bear mind mind these are OLED displays, not LCD.

Although I would like to be wrong (because I'd love an Optimus), I suspect we won't see anything like it for at least another year.
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I agree...if Lebedev hasn't abandoned the concept entirely.
 
masher said:
Bear mind mind these are OLED displays, not LCD.
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...which only further underscores the kind of prices such a device could command, if it ever gets off the ground.
 
xonik said:
...which only further underscores the kind of prices such a device could command, if it ever gets off the ground.
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I think you may misunderstand OLED technology. They're lighter, thinner, and easier to produce than LCDs...but they don't have the lifetime of an LCD display.
 
I think you might misunderstand development and tooling costs that come with the introduction of a nascient technology such as OLED. These investments need to be recouped before customers can reap the cost benefits. Also, OLED doesn't benefit from the economies of scale that LCD enjoys. I challenge you to provide price quotes from actual manufacturers which show that OLED technology in its current stage is more cost-effective than LCD for this application. I don't care what some scientist says about what OLED will become when mature(!), because that doesn't apply right now or any time soon.
 
xonik said:
I think you might misunderstand development and tooling costs that come with the introduction of a nascient technology such as OLED.
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I do not. In this article, Jagdish Rebello estimates the cost per key of an OLED display as $1/key. He's a Senior Industry Analyst and LED expert for iSupply. What are your credentials?

As for OLEDs not benefitting from economies from scale, I assume you don't realize that the OLED market nearly doubled last year alone. For small-display applications, OLEDs now control almost 40% of the market, or pretty much on parity with LCD.

Now, pull that foot out of your mouth.
 
It's a pity, then, that a niche product like the Optimus will not allow the manufacturer to take advantage of the large-volume pricing described by the analyst, unless some sort of other arrangement can be made.
 
masher said:
I do not. In this article, Jagdish Rebello estimates the cost per key of an OLED display as $1/key. He's a Senior Industry Analyst and LED expert for iSupply. What are your credentials?

As for OLEDs not benefitting from economies from scale, I assume you don't realize that the OLED market nearly doubled last year alone. For small-display applications, OLEDs now control almost 40% of the market, or pretty much on parity with LCD.

Now, pull that foot out of your mouth.
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Not that I disagree with you, but those estimates appear to be based on "LED" technology, not "OLED". I only saw references to "LED" in that article. Odd.
 
xonik said:
a niche product like the Optimus will not allow the manufacturer to take advantage of the large-volume pricing...
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Large volume would be 100,000+ units. But from a BOM perspective, the cost for medium volume (1,000+ units) would only run about 100-120%% higher. That makes it roughly $2/key...still far more cost effective than LCD, the point you originally disputed. Hell, I can buy a 1" OLED graphical display (larger than what would go on these keys) in SINGLE unit quantities now under $30.

Arkham said:
Not that I disagree with you, but those estimates appear to be based on "LED" technology, not "OLED".
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O-LED = Organic LED. When the analyst says LED display, he's referring to OLED's, not semiconductor-based LEDs.
 
masher said:
That makes it roughly $2/key...still far more cost effective than LCD, the point you originally disputed.
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Okay, but at $2/key times ~115 keys, that's already $230 for the displays alone, so it's kind of a moot point in the first place...
 
masher said:
O-LED = Organic LED. When the analyst says LED display, he's referring to OLED's, not semiconductor-based LEDs.
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Yes, I know what OLED is, but there is no reference in there to "OLED", "O-LED", or "Organic" at all. I don't dispute that he may mean OLEDs, but that stand-alone text only refers to "LED". Was there more to that article than was found in the above link?
 
xonik said:
Okay, but at $2/key times ~115 keys, that's already $230 for the displays alone, so it's kind of a moot point in the first place...
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Yes, its my belief Lebedev was looking at prices for large-scale OLED manufacturing, and based his business plan upon that. Once he started getting actual quotes for his production numbers, he was seeing a BOM in the $250-$300 range, which puts the retail cost at triple that.

So he punted, and used some preexisting OLED displays to build this tri-touchscreen jobbie.
 
Sounds like a fair assessment. I'm glad to see that this conversation ended on a pleasant note :)
 
masher said:
Yes, its my belief Lebedev was looking at prices for large-scale OLED manufacturing, and based his business plan upon that. Once he started getting actual quotes for his production numbers, he was seeing a BOM in the $250-$300 range, which puts the retail cost at triple that.
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What do you think about basic backlit monochrome LCDs of a similar resolution? Wouldn't they be considerably cheaper?

I'd be happy with that.
 
Arkham said:
What do you think about basic backlit monochrome LCDs of a similar resolution? Wouldn't they be considerably cheaper?

I'd be happy with that.
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monochrome is so 80's :p it's like saying youd rather have the original gameboy rather than a psp
 
Techx said:
monochrome is so 80's :p it's like saying youd rather have the original gameboy rather than a psp
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Well, I already have a PSP, and a blue back-lit keyboard with image keys would still be higher-tech than this Logitech Elite POS.

Do you read books with only black & white print, or just stick to Maxim? ;)
 
Arkham said:
Do you read books with only black & white print, or just stick to Maxim? ;)
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Lol. Well, back onto topic. Mono LCD would be slightly cheaper I'd assume...but then again, you can already buy keypads with mono lcd faces.
 
masher said:
Lol. Well, back onto topic. Mono LCD would be slightly cheaper I'd assume...but then again, you can already buy keypads with mono lcd faces.
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But I don't think there are any keyboards with LCD key faces. Are there?
 
Arkham said:
But I don't think there are any keyboards with LCD key faces. Are there?
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Keypads only that I know of-- not PC keyboards. A link was posted to some earlier in the thread.
 
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