In response to Apple’s millimeters-thick stainless steel keyboard, Microsoft’s latest announcement is the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000, their thinnest keyboard ever.  The entire keyboard is only slightly thicker than the AAA battery that powers it at the back. The stylish keyboard has Microsoft’s familiar ergonomic curved layout.

Something missing from most laptops these days is a number pad. For anyone who uses numbers with any frequency, an external keyboard becomes a necessity. The downside is that a number bad adds a great deal of bulk. Microsoft solved this but making the keypad a standalone product that comes with its own carrying case. Pair it to your computer when you need it, and stow it away when you don’t.

The Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 will retail in October for $90, while the number pad will be $45. Certainly not the cheapest keyboard set ever, but probably worth taking a look.

That said, the brand new Kensington Washable Keyboard looks and feels indescribably retro. The white 104-key device with full size and full depth keys feels like typing in a bygone era in computing. I even fired up Doom 2 for a little spin around the arrow keys.

The keyboard is no relic, however. That old Dell keyboard still types, but it also still sticks from the milky punishment.

You can immerse this baby in soap and water and scrub it down like a dinner dish and come out with a new, clean keyboard.

The board also has antimicrobial coating to prevent the growth of molds, mildews and fungi that can get you sick.

Let’s face it, the keyboard is one of the dirtiest surfaces you touch all day. In the newsroom, we often share old keyboards, and they’re just grungy. I read a study once that claimed that the average keyboard holds more bacteria that a toilet seat!

Try trying to rinse out your illuminated keyboard when it gets dirty. (You could try Cyber Clean though.)

I soaked the Kensington and put it through scrubbing and rinsing and then let it dry. Let me tell you, putting a computer keyboard under the sink is NOT a natural task. The whole time I felt like I was breaking some major commandment of computing. But lo and behold, once the keyboard sat for a few and dried, it worked perfectly.

My only complaint about the keyboard is that the folding legs at the top are a little cheap. I broke one of the little legs by accident, which is enough to prevent the keyboard from being a perfect “10.”

The keyboard is comfortable to type on. A lot of newer keyboards have taken a page out of the laptop world with shallow keys, but this is a regular keyboard that feels very traditional.

With that take on things, the Kensington Washable Keyboard is a winner. It’s a regular keyboard. It’s wired — no batteries to replace. It has all the standard, regular keys that a keyboard should have. It’s the perfect solution for an office or a computer user that just wants to clean up a bit.

The set works great with a Mac or a PC. Within two minutes of plugging in the USB receiver into a MacBook we were up and running smoothly with both the keyboard and mouse.

I was a bit skeptical of the thin design, as it sits very low to the desk, but once I tilted it forward with the tabs in the back, it was very comfortable under my hands. The keys are quiet and easily navigated. Running on only two AA batteries (included) the keyboard is very light. An indicator light is also set off when these batteries are at 10 percent remaining. Aside from a standard QWERTY setup there are several other features located above the keyboard and number pad. Eject CD, Internet search, email, web browser startup and media keys are all featured above the F1-F6 keys. A more involved set of media shortcut buttons is located above the number pad. These include the standard previous track, next track, play/pause and volume controls.

When the keyboard is not in use, a sliding plastic cover at the top center of the keyboard can be moved over the keys, which reveals a holster for the mouse. Placing the mouse in this holster powers the mouse off in order to save battery life. With the mouse in the holster, the keyboard and mouse configuration can be rotated 45 degrees away from the user to make it a standing picture frame. A clear sleeve in the center of the back of the keyboard allows for a 4 X 6 photo to be displayed when not computing — a nice touch.

The only way I could see improving the keyboard portion of this wireless set would be to offer back-lit keys, or a glow in the dark keyboard for easier nighttime use.

The mouse wasn’t a letdown either. I was concerned that it may be heavy, since it is battery operated, but the weight is very comfortable. It moved just fine on my desk, even without a mousepad, and it felt even more comfortable than my Microsoft wireless mouse (which cost about as much as this whole set). I had no problem with the response time of the mouse using it about 2 feet from the USB receiver. There is an USB extension cable included which will allow for greater distance if needed.

This mouse is nothing fancy but it’s everything a mouse should be: a lightweight, comfortable, two buttoned mouse with scroll wheel. As with the keyboard, there is a low battery indicator located between the left and right buttons on the top of the mouse. Not visible unless turned on, the light is housed beneath the two buttons and will come on once 10 percent of the battery life is left.Your browser may not support display of this image.

All in all, this set is a great value for the money. It can currently be had for about $70 through Amazon. We have used several inexpensive wireless sets in the past, but the Kensington Ci70 actually blows them away. With the Ci70’s comfortable design and unique features it’s an easy choice for anyone in the market for a wireless keyboard and mouse set.

Still, they had babes, and they had gear. Here’s what Nyko brought to the expo this year:

DSi Zoom Case

The Zoom Case provides protection to your DSi and includes an detachable camera lens with 8x optical zoom. We’re not sure how useful the external lens is or how practical it is, but there you have it.

Nyko Wand

The Nyko Wand is a Wiimote clone that works as advertised, mimicking the original remote’s actions like a perfect generic ibuprofen tablet. It also includes vibration and on-board speaker functionality.

The main differences come in the buttons, where the A, 1 and 2 buttons are enlarged for retro gaming, and the B/trigger button has a rubber grip. The Wand also comes with a padded silicone sleeve. Nyko’s Trans-Port technology also lets you map buttons to different places, which is perfect for the…

Perfect Shot

The Perfect Shot is already one of the best gun accessories for the Wii, but what really makes this gun shine is that you can combine it with the Nyko Wand and its Trans-Port technology. Now, you can make sure the right buttons are being used for firing and reloading, etc.

Type Pad Pro for Wii

The Type Pad Pro us as ugly as it gets, but it provides a full QWERTY keyboard that docks with your remote or the new Nyko Wand. The buttons feel like an old telephone, but are big enough to let you quickly run through it, chatting away. It’s just really big.

It also uses Nyko Trans-Port button mapping to map the A and B buttons to the keyboard. The Type Pad has a 25-foot range and requires no additional batteries.

The post from the man formally in the Broadway performance of Stomp reads:

“hooked now on Lost Planet for PS3. Bejeweled is on the side burner.”

With O.A.R.’s rampant tour schedule, the bands’ tour bus must be loaded with a PS3 among other machines depending on how Mr. Paris likes his Bejeweled.

Chalk another one up for the good guys (us video game lovers) as the medium continues to penetrate the drawn social lines of accepetance.  Now if only a proper video game song could be written, although I’m not sure O.A.R. are the bunch to do it.

[UPDATE] O.A.R. is featured on MLB ‘06 the show for PS3 with a song of the same name, “Of A Revolution”

Mikel Paris on Twitter

O.A.R. “Shattered” music video (in case you forgot who he is)

Mikel Paris on Myspace

Sony promises the keyboard will come out in late November in North America and by the end of the year worldwide.

We’ve expected this for some time now as Sony moves to social interaction in both its games and its PlayStation Home social network.

The keyboard attaches onto a controller, works standalone via Bluetooth or can be plugged into the PS3 via USB.

It also features a useful touchpad button that acts as a slider, moving around while performing tasks like web browsing.

One of the major titles this keyboard will be useful for is the highly anticipated LittleBigPlanet coming out at the end of the year.

Specifications:

Product Name: Wireless Keypad
Product Code: CECHZK1JP (For Japanese market)
Weight : Approx 60g
Voltage: DC 3.7V
Operating Temperature:
5 degrees C ~ 35 degrees C
Built-in Bluetooth(R) Ver.2.0
Keypad Layout: QWERTY layout
Battery: Built-in Rechargeable Lithium-Ion
Battery Capacity: 610mAh

I feel like I’ve seen this before. Before, like in the 90s, but a New Jersey company recently debuted a combination keyboard/scanner that lets you … type and … scan … things.

The KeyScan KS810 accepts documents from business card size all the way up to 8 1/2″ x 30″ and does a full grayscale page in about five seconds.

KeyScan hopes their product will have applications for business customers and medical offices that need to scan patient files and data.

It scans upto 4800dpi, does OCR and costs $159.

Here’s a thrilling video:

Especially when you can easily make free Skype calls from the privacy, security and solitude of your own computer keyboard.

Japan-based Buffalo has a product in their inventory that does just that.

The BKBU-SKJ109/SV keyboard/Skype phone juxtaposition is a full 109-key input device with a fully compatible phone. Just plug it in.

DVICE says it’s coming out in October, but Buffalo’s roughly and loosely translated website says the product has been available since 2006 in Japan for 6,600 yen, or about $61.50.