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Category: Hardware Review

New iPad/iPhone Keyboard

New iPad/iPhone Keyboard

mobile powerhouse

Jorno turns your compatible mobile device into a powerful, convenient, pocket-sized laptop. When unfolded, Jorno locks into a rigid surface giving you the flexibility to use it in your lap or on a nearby surface.

pocket size

Jorno provides the ultimate level of mobility. It easily folds up to the size of a deck of cards so you can put it in your pocket and go.

bluetooth connectivity

Bluetooth connectivity allows you to connect Jorno wirelessly to your mobile device so that you can place the keyboard anywhere you like. This connectivity even works with your desktop or tablet computer.

detachable cradle

The compact and detachable cradle that comes with Jorno securely holds your device in either portrait or landscape orientation and adjusts to any viewing angle, enabling the set-up that is most convenient for you. It also features a stowable kickstand for use with tablet devices or when detached from the keyboard.

easy input

The keys on Jorno are just 15% smaller than standard keys. These nearly full size keys offer ease and accuracy in long form typing, word processing, blogging, emailing, and note taking.

More details and to pre-order at Jorno.

New Backlit Keyboard

New Backlit Keyboard

Logitech today introduced the rechargeable Logitech® Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800, delivering bright, precise illumination – day or night. The newest Logitech keyboard features ambient light and motion sensors, ensuring that you have the right amount of backlight when you need it, while conserving battery life when you don’t.

"The Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 is perfect for someone who values both form and function," said Denis Pavillard, vice president of product marketing for Logitech's keyboards and desktops. "The Wireless Illuminated K800 keyboard includes features that make it a standout - smart backlighting, Logitech® Unifying technology, our PerfectStroke™ key system and Logitech Incurve keys™ - and presents it all in a very stylish and sleek package that's sure to please."

The Wireless Illuminated K800 backlighting automatically adjusts based on the amount of light in the room using ambient light sensors. Motion sensors detect your hands as they approach to turn the backlighting on and to turn it back off when your hands move away. As a result, you’ll enjoy bright, precise illumination and more battery life – up to 10 days of battery life without recharging. (Actual battery life will vary with use, settings and environmental conditions.)

The Wireless Illuminated K800 is always ready when you need it thanks to the micro-USB cable that lets you recharge while you type. Due to the fast, flexible recharging, you’ll never need to replace the batteries. Instead, you can simply plug in the universal micro-USB cable to recharge the onboard batteries.

Because a good keyboard needs to deliver a good typing experience, the Logitech Wireless Illuminated keyboard includes the PerfectStroke™ key system and Logitech Incurve keys™. The PerfectStroke key system helps make every stroke comfortable, fluid and whisper-quiet. And the concave design and softly rounded edges of the durable Logitech Incurve keys position your fingers properly and invite your fingertips to glide from key to key, hour after hour. Additionally, the letters and characters on the keys are very durable and won’t wear off.

The Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 is also the latest in a line of Logitech® Unifying-compatible mice and keyboards that feature the tiny, leave-in receiver – so small you can leave it in your laptop. Unifying-compatible keyboards feature Logitech® Advanced 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity, virtually eliminating delays and dropouts.

Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 is expected to be available in August for a suggested retail price of $99.99 (U.S.). You can learn more about the Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800 on our blog or you can visit www.logitech.com.

New Microsoft Arc Keyboard

New Microsoft Arc Keyboard

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arc-keyboard
The home office is changing; it’s no longer one room but is
constantly evolving as people use their laptop computers all over the house. To
fit this trend, Microsoft Corp. announces a redesign of the keyboard as we know
it - the Arc Keyboard. Small enough to move easily around the home and so
attractive it fits seamlessly with chic home accessories, this product looks at
home wherever it’s used.

Microsoft’s best-selling Arc Mouse shares its design language with the Arc
Keyboard for a beautifully curved profile, clean lines, light weight and
portable shape. The Arc Keyboard is all about the home, and Microsoft Hardware’s
industrial design team drew its inspiration from modern home accessories such as
flatware, lighting fixtures and vases. The result is a keyboard that looks and
feels like it belongs with other objects in the home; it is as much a part of
the décor as the chandelier in the dining room and the vase in the kitchen.

"The design tenets that we looked to for the Arc Keyboard were simplicity and
crisp softness, creating an aesthetic for this product that is casual and
sophisticated at the same time," said Monique Chatterjee, industrial designer
for Microsoft Hardware. "We drew our design inspiration directly from the places
where we envision this product will be used so it perfectly blends with existing
home accessories."

Style That Works

Weighing in at less than a pound, the Arc Keyboard is easy to move from room to
room throughout the house, and its domed keyset comfortably rests on the lap so
people can kick back on the couch or type away on the kitchen counter. It
includes a snap-in Nano transceiver that is so small it can remain plugged in to
the computer at all times, or can be magnetically snapped in the bottom of the
keyboard for storage. With its unique, compact design, the Arc Keyboard becomes
a functional and stylish part of any living space.

More details from Microsoft.
Innovation in Time

Innovation in Time

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This is QLOCKTWO, the fourth dimension squared. A clock that tells time in words. It has a quadratic matrix of letters, where some of the letters are illuminated. The time is displayed as text in five minute intervals. If you need to have a more exact time, look in the corner at the illuminated dots. QLOCKTWO has a brightness sensor; with its help the illuminating power of the letters is automatically adjusted.

  • Typographic time format in 5 minute intervals combined with four-minute dots
  • Front: Acrylic glass polished edges, Body: Wood, four layers of lack
  • DCF-77 time-signal receiver for to the second accurate time-telling without manual setting
  • Automatic summer/winter daylight-savings time
  • Light sensor for automatic adjustment to ambient light
  • Manual brightness control
  • Including wall brackets for mounting
  • Including massive acrylic glass holders for stand version
  • Dimensions 450 x 450 x 20 mm, Weight approx. 4 kg
  • Electricity supply 220V, low energy consumption due to LED technology (less than 2 Watts)
  • Handmade in Germany
Baby PCs

Baby PCs

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How powerful if your office PC? In the not too distant past every couple of years in keeping with Moore’s Law we all dutifully upgraded our computers to enable us to run the latest versions of our favourite software, or to use the latest peripherals that needed more processing power.

Today, however, we seem to be seeing somewhat of a plataeu effect in computing power. For homeworkers a computer is essential, but do you really need a very powerful machine humming away under your desk? Many homeworkers use laptop computers as their main PC. Today, every the smallest notebook PC can be just as powerful as its desktop counterpart.

Also, micro computers are becoming even more popular. PC’s like the ASUS Eee PC 4G, the Samsung Q1 and even the HTC Shift can all be used to run a small businesses. There are also the so called small form factor computers that cram all the pocessing power of a full-sized PC into a very small box. Good examples are the Shuttle series and of course Apple’s Mac Mini.

With more applications now available online such as Google Docs, Adobe’s move to the Internet with its PDF format and online word process or Buzzword, you PC just needs to be powerful enough to connect to the Internet and have a browser installed.

Clearly if space is a premium in your home office a PC with a small footprint is a great buy, but the good news is you don’t have to compromise on power these days. With a massive range of computers to choose from, we’re all spoilt for choice, but the same criteria when choosing a PC for your business still remain. Match the PC you buy with your business’s core needs. If you need masses of computing power, or simply a notebook PC to check email, there’s a PC for you, and what’s more it won’t break the bank.

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000

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The latest in a long line of ergonomic keyboards builds on its predecessors, but is let down by a less than ergonomic mouse

Love them or hate them, the ergonomic keyboard has been an alternative to the standard QWERTY variety for several years. Microsoft has been the market leader in split keyboards, offering their Natural and Desktop ranges that have moved through several incarnations. The latest is the Ergonomic Desktop 7000 that basically takes the previous desktop 4000 combo and makes the keyboard wireless.

Like its predecessor the keyboard is designed to promote the best possible positioning for your hands as you type. The padded wrist rest has been maintained, with the detachable base enabling a more acute angle to be achieved. Experimentation is the key to deciding what is the optimal typing angle for you. This reviewer found attaching the base made the whole keyboard too high. Just using the pop-out feet at the rear of the keyboard was more than enough to obtain a comfortable typing angle.

The so-called ‘gull wing’ split keyboard has been retained for this version of the ergonomic desktop. The centre of the keyboard contains the zoom rocker switch that you can operate with your thumb. The slopping design of the keys is the feature that promotes more ergonomic typing. The keys closest to the centre of the unit are slightly larger, but all the keys are of a good enough size to ensure you can hit them without overlapping another key. For none touch typists the slopping keyboard can promote a better typing style that can aid any RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) that dogs many users of traditional keyboards.

The keyboard is fitted with the usual array of F keys that double up as addional function keys to reduce the number of times you have to reach for your mouse. What was disappointing was the lack of multimedia controls that have still failed to appear on this version of the Microsoft Desktop. On this model only volume and play/pause are available. Also, Microsoft’s designers have seen fit to remove the LEDs that indicate if the caps lock or F key lock are activate. There is no visual indication on the keyboard when you hit the caps lock, either intentionally or by accident. These indicators have been replaced with s single batter life indicator. Removing the previous array of LEDs is a glaring omission that you can cure with additional software, but diminishes the overall quality of the experience when using the keyboard.

Five customisable buttons sit over the central section of the keyboard. You can attach functions to these with the IntelliPoint software. A separate button to launch the Widows calculator and dedicated buttons for accessing the web, search and mail round off this bank of buttons. As this is a Microsoft product many of the keys are for Windows users only, but Mac afictionardos can also happily use this keyboard as this reviewer does, but you have to be prepared to lose some of the built-in functionality. The high price may well make that decision for you.

Turning to the bundled mouse, this is the component that is least successful in this wireless desktop package. Looking like a sculpted tennis ball, your hand does wrap around the shape quite nicely, but the large size of the mouse means that your wrist is bent up at an angle – not the most ergonomic use of mouse technology. To cure this problem the addition of a wrist rest brings your hand back into alignment. In use the mouse is accurate, but it’s large size does feel like you’re pushing a large ball around your mouse mat. Accuracy could be a problem if you’re used to more traditionally shaped mice. This is a mouse you’ll either instantly love, or instantly hate.

The IntelliPoint software has gone through several incarnations over the years. Now at version 6.1, you have complete control over every aspect of your keyboard and mouse. Customisation is the name of the game to give you the input devices with the functions you need. Complete control over key settings, options and zooming is available including the innovative Instant Viewer that enables you to mark a section of your screen for magnification.

Overall, if you have the previous USB version of the Microsoft Desktop and would like to banish the USB cable for good, the Desktop 7000 is ideal. The USB 2.4Ghz wireless USB transceiver is reliable and easy to install. If you’ve been using Microsoft’s previous split keyboards, you’ll have zero adjustment time with this latest model. The accompanying mouse is, however, another matter entirely. It’s a leap from a more traditional mouse to this latest design that you’ll either take to, or abandon very quickly.

Features & Design 4
Performance 4
Usability 3
Value for Money 3
Overall 4

Price £65 (best price)
Web: http://tinyurl.com/3v73t7
Supplier: Amazon