Keyboard

Touch typing on the flat surface of a smart device can be somewhat challenging. Zack Dennis came to the rescue in 2012 with a chorded keyboard concept called ASETNIOP. Now that keying system has launched for iOS and Android tablets.​​

It may be best known for the iconic hand-wired amplifiers and shapely guitars, but Vox Amps started out as a keyboard manufacturer. In the early 1960s, an instantly-recognizable combo organ affectionately known as the Connie was released. Now, a new and improved Vox Continental has been unleashed.

Logitech has launched the Craft wireless keyboard at IFA 2017 in Berlin. Aimed at digital designers and creative pros, the peripheral features a touch-enabled multifunction dial that shortcuts to context-specific tools in software running on a PC or Mac.

Microsoft has unveiled a nifty new keyboard with a clever little security measure built into it. One of its keys is not like the others, instead housing a fingerprint scanner that can be used to unlock a computer. The Modern Keyboard with Fingerprint ID also packs in some other nice features.

British digital instrument maker Roli has announced a new addition to it Blocks modular instrument studio. The Seaboard Block kind of bridges the gap between its spongy keyboards and its modular music setup, while also making keywave expression available to players on a budget.

​A company called Lofree is betting that people will want to use a keyboard that closely mimics the feel of a typewriter. Based on the runaway success of its current Indiegogo campaign, that bet seems sound. But after getting our fingers on one, we're not so sure we feel the same.

​On cold days at the computer, we can rug up in sweaters or blankets, but by design our hands need to be free to bang away at the keyboard. The Envavo Heatbuff is a small heater that sits just above your keyboard and warms your hands, apparently without heating up your keyboard or the unit itself.

Aliaksei Zholner has crafted a functioning pipe organ made from paper, which gets its air supply from a balloon attached to its side.​ When a key is pressed the valve is released and the air shoots up the tuned pipe to sound the musical note.

A new study cautions against typing while Skyping. By analyzing the acoustic signals of key presses, hackers may be able to untangle typed text through the clickety-clack of a keyboard itself, with an alarming accuracy of over 90 percent.​​

​After using an oscilloscope to confirm that stepper motors driven backward produced an alternating current, University of Maryland senior Josh Sheldon decided to turn the resulting waveforms into audible sounds. The result is the magical Stepper Organ, and the output is just a little bit eerie.

The Kombos keyboard allows players to add or remove blocks of keys as they see fit, connecting wirelessly to mobile devices for music creation on the move without having to lug around lots of heavy or cumbersome gear.

​We first saw the Roccat Sova back at E3 2014. It was only a concept at that stage, but now the device is nearly ready for action, providing gamers with what the company promises to be a true bridging of PC gaming and the living room.