Technically Speaking: Gadgets

This futuristic keyboard is fact and not fiction. iBIZ Technology Corp. is preparing to bring their keyboard to market in the up coming months and it is listed at a great price, $100. I haven’t read any reports on its usability so I can’t comment on that, but the overall idea of this gadget may revolutionize the keyboard industry as we know it.

The Virtual Keyboard leverages the power of laser and infrared technology and projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface. As you type on the laser projection, it analyzes what you’re typing by the coordinates of that location.

Unlike many small snap-on keyboards for PDAs, the Virtual Keyboard provides a full-size QWERTY keyboard including Function keys. It is also smaller and more convenient to use than the folding-type keyboards made by some manufacturers and similar to them in functionality.

There are no mechanical moving parts whatsoever in the Virtual Keyboard. It provides a projected image that is the perfect portable input device for PDAs. It’s similar in responsiveness to regular keyboards, but extremely futuristic looking.

The Virtual Keyboard requires no special training. The light-weight device weighs only two ounces and is similar in size to a disposable cigarette lighter. The Virtual Keyboard includes a self-contained, user-replaceable rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. It provides the Virtual Keyboard with its own internal power supply, so it doesn’t drain any battery power from the PDA or PC. The battery lasts three to four hours, more than enough time to do some instant messaging and SMS messaging from the handheld device or to update calendar and phone book entries.

Quote Source

Some time in the fourth quarter of this year, BIZ Technology Corp. will be introducing a virtual keyboard that will work with cell phones. I am really looking forward to that model.