Optimus Popularis Keyboard Might Actually Ship on Time

Posted 06/30/2010 at 8:19am | by Paul Lilly

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Art Lebedev Studio's design team introduced the world to the Optimus Maximus, an OLED keyboard that suffered through nearly as many delays as Duke Nukem: Forever, and for a long while looked as though it was going to suffer the same never-ending fate. But give them credit for finally bringing the Maximus to market when everyone -- including us -- had written the eventual $2,400 plank off as vaporware.

The design team is back at it again, this time drumming up hype for their upcoming Optimus Popularis keyboard. Like the Maximus, this new version replaces standard keys with display-equipped ones, only not OLED this time around. Even still, Art Lebedev Studio says the keys will be full color.

They'll also sport larger displays than the Maximus, measuring 64x64 pixels compared to 48x48 pixels. The plank itself is more compact than the Maximus and doesn't come with a Numpad, but does have a special Fn key in the lower left corner that transforms the right portion of the keyboard into a virtual Numpad when needed.

In a blog post, the developers say the Popularis will ship "at the end of this year / beginning of next year for less than $1,000." Such open-ended release dates make us a bit leery, but without OLED keys, this one has a legitimate shot at shipping on time.

Image Credit: Art Lebedev Studio