2/1/2008 - CES 2008 - Optimus Maximus keyboard

The Consumer Electronics Show had its run last month in Las Vegas and boy, would I have loved to be there. I've never been at one of those trade shows before, but I can just imagine the atmosphere. The neon lights, the gambling, the booth babes, and of course, the gadgets! Even though I wasn't there, reading all the tech blogs and watching the videos from the floor was the next best thing. There were bigger and thinner TVs and smaller and more capable cell phones, and I'm sure the trend will continue next year.

One really innovative thing that made an appearance is the Optimus Maximus keyboard. When I first heard about this thing, I thought it was some kind of Transformers branded keyboard. While I was wrong on that, the keyboard is transformable in that it is infinitely customizable because its keys are actually little LED screens. That is, if you can make a picture out of 48 x 48 pixels, you can put it on a key. Like the representative describes in this video, you can make your computer keyboard as ugly as you want. And look: it works on a Mac!