01-05-2004, 11:32 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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iBIZ Corp. Is Nominated for 'Best of Show' CES Award for Virtual Laser Keyboard
"iBIZ Technology Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: IBZT - News), a leading manufacturer and distributor of accessories for personal digital assistants (PDA) and hand-held devices, is being considered for the "Best of Show" CES award in the "Mobile Computing & Wireless" category for their Virtual Laser Keyboard. The iBIZ Virtual Laser Keyboard attaches to PDAs and projects the image of a full-size keyboard onto the surface of the desk where the PDA is placed, making it easy to input text without a physical keyboard...
...The Virtual Laser Keyboard is compatible with Palm, Pocket PCs, laptops and desktop PCs. The Virtual Laser Keyboard will be available for $99.99 from major retailers, e-commerce sites, and iBIZ Technology's own e-commerce site in 1st quarter 2004. An upcoming version for cell phones will be available in 4th quarter 2004."
It looks like the virtual keyboard is finally more than virtual - and I have to admit, it happened much quicker than I thought. Wasn't it just early 2002 that we first heard about this? Less than a year to go from concept to production is impressive, and if it's nominated for Best of Show at CES, it must work pretty well. Hopefully there will be a video at CES so we can see how it really works.
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01-05-2004, 11:35 PM
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,998
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Any chance they've managed to reduce the emitter size? I know I'm asking for a lot out of the gate, but it would be nice they could get it down to something small that attached to the top of the device. That would be the most portable of portable full size keyboards. 8)
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01-05-2004, 11:46 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 437
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Wonder what the battery drain is like
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01-06-2004, 02:11 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 10,981
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Very cool. 8)
I think I would have to wait to try it out before I bought it. It's something that I would welcome, as it's much smaller than the foldable keyboards. But without a test drive, I'm not going to drop $100.
__________________
"I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein |
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01-06-2004, 02:42 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 30
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Ouch
This is a really cool idea, but the one thing that would prevent me from jumping in with both feet would be the tactile feedback. Or maybe lack of. Last time I tried "fake" typing on the surface of a hard desk, my fingers didn't like me very much. I can imagine that my fingers wouldn't enjoy banging on a hard oak desk all day long.
I must admit, though, that with some practice and re-training, I could learn not to press so hard which could reduce the amount of stress that my poor fingers had to endure. And, throw in something like a towel underneath the keyboard and that could really lessen the impact stress. Neat idea. Now I'm waiting for the holographic version where you don't even have to have a surface to use the keyboard on. 
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01-06-2004, 04:28 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 137
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Wow! This is really cool. But who's going to be the first to break a finger when they no longer have the physical keyboard to beat up and take their frustrations out on? :twisted: (*sigh* probably me :mrgreen: )
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01-06-2004, 04:59 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 164
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...or where do you bang your head? 
I have to admit I'll probably try this early on. Gets me closer to that MCP/Tron keyboard.  I'm certain the tactile feedback will be greatly missed, but who knows, $99 is a lot of money, but it won't break the bank. I bet there'll be a return policy.
*Phil
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01-06-2004, 06:55 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 50
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This is so cool. This is something that I have been watching for since I first saw them a few years ago. It looks like it would be pretty easy to get use to. I do like to feel the keys as I hit them, but as a keyboarding teacher definitely plan to try it.
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Cheryl
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01-06-2004, 09:45 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 54
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Who will be the first PPC manufacturer to have this integrated?
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01-12-2004, 02:56 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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I had a chance to give this a go at CES, and I was rather impressed. I found I could hover a finger over a key without response or very lightly touch the table and it would work. It is very difficult to see in a lit room without shade or dimmed lights. The size hasn't changed much. It looks slightly different now, maybe a bit slimmer, a bit smaller than a Bluetooth GPS unit. They hope to have units for most Ipaqs ready to go in about six weeks. In the future they plan to have IrDA, and Bluetooth models.
Dave
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Linear Mode
