You may remember earlier this year Thanko, a Japanese company, released the imaginatively named “Thanko Cooler USB keyboard.”
For those that don’t, here is a brief recap: it is essentially a solidly build keyboard complete with three fans that are designed to keep your hands cool whatever the weather. So, what now? Well, in keeping with their unimaginative naming method, the new “USB Hot Cooler Keyboard” does exactly what it says on the tin.
This is an incredibly good idea, how often do you come in from the cold outdoors, turn on your PC and find yourself unable to move your fingers quicker than an asthmatic snail? This will gently warm up your hand increasing comfort and effectiveness of the hand, which on a cold day is very nice. The same can be said of the cooling function, which keeps your hand cool and thus less sweaty (which is really horrible if you have a long day in the office).
From an ergonomics point of view it looks incredibly sturdy and well made with a sleek almost industrial design. It has a switch to alternate between heating and cooling, and another to define how powerful you want the temperature change. Currently available in Japan, it is selling for 4,980 Yen ($51) which is well worth the money if you are the outdoor type.
It is also quite a competitive price for those who just like the extra comfort. The only two real downsides are that it is quite large (on a small desk it will be fairly overwhelming) and it is also fairly USB hungry, taking up two ports for power and data. Perhaps using a PS/2 for the data would have been a good idea, but apart form that it is a useful piece of kit.
Source [akihabara news]
oh what a keyboard like music system.
it is flat but there it should be some curve.