Gizmodo: Art.Lebedev

Next Gen Optimus Maximus Details: Sub-$800, One-Screen and Raised Keys

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:15:44 EDT

Apparently, when Jesus called Art.Lebedev's Optimus Tactus keyboard "Optimus Retardus" for its lack of physical keys, the design team listened. Or not. Either way, Lebedev's latest plan is to indeed make a visual keyboard with just one full-color screen as opposed to many tiny ones. But it will overlay physical transparent keys (like on the Upravlator). In the end, you'd actually have a hard time noticing that each key isn't its own display. The goal is to get this thing into production by year's end, and to sell it for under $800—a bargain by Art.Lebedev standards. Later, the dudes will move to E-Ink or e-paper for lighter, wireless keyboards. [Optimus Project]

Optimus Tactus Touch Keyboard Should Be Called Optimus Retardus

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:55:03 EST

While we love touch surfaces, as people who type hundreds of thousands a word each week we know that there is a limit to them: keyboards. Like this Optimus Tactus, an extruded shape/touch surface/keyboard concept by Art.Lebedev. We really like the soon-to-be-released Optimus keyboard Art but, seriously, how often do you type on your computer?

I can imagine that artists, musicians and video editors would like something like this... however, there are solid LCD tablet displays and Tablet PCs on the market already. Experience shows that, for the time being, it's a limited market. Further limiting it to a keyboard replacement could be economically impractical at best, never mind how practical this could be. The issue of the price is the other key here: by the time a touch surface keyboard could be a commercial reality coming from China via Moscow, touch computing from Apple and Microsoft would be so ubiquitous that it won't make sense anymore. [Art.Lebedev]

First Video of the Optimus Keyboard Actually Working and Looking Awesome

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:13:40 EST

We just got some hangtime with Art.Lebedev's non-vaporous Optimus keyboard at the Wired Store in SoHo, NYC, and it is as shiny, pretty and luxuriously pointless as billed. Enjoy the video, then check out our impressions and a gallery:

As you may know, each key is a mini OLED screen, one that can display any character you want (and even the icon of our worthy competitor). As such keys are slightly oversized, but placed together almost too closely, so that typing might get tricky.

Benny our NYC editorial assistant says the effect is subtle: it doesn't look pixelated from an appropriate distance. That said, they don't look like regular keys on a keyboard either, especially when a single key is showing an entire multicolored picture. Benny prefers the picture keys to the letter keys because they letters on black are almost too striking (though that surely can be fixed with a decrease in brightness). We were all disappointed that there were no animated keys. I mean, if you're gonna put tiny screens on every key, why can't I watch a bunch of teeny tiny movies?

Richard, our video pimp, says it feels big like it was "made for seniors" but admits his own zeal at having touched it: "I want one" is his final verdict. Wait till we tell him it costs $1,564. –Video by Richard Blakeley; photos by Nick McGlynn [Optimus Project]

Vilcus Plug Dactyloadapter, For Insane People and Those Who Hate Them

Charlie White — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 08:42:48 EDT

Art Lebedev studio, responsible for that spectacular Optimus Maximus keyboard with a video display on each key, has apparently gone nuts, now giving you a way to test electrical circuits by shocking yourself half to death. The creative design studio calls this a Vilcus plug dactyloadapter, and it includes adapters for European and US power outlets. Simply insert a finger in each hole, plug it in, and boom! You're in Electric Ladyland. This product might be popular with the Department of Homeland Security and their colleagues down at Gitmo.

Into shocking experiences as a group? Lebedev has also designed a power strip into which you can plug multiple Vilcus units. We're thinking these devices must be commonly used at the Art Lebedev studio, stimulating employees to continue striving to meet that impossible (and continuously floating) deadline for the Optimus Maximus keyboard. Surprisingly enough, this device of questionable sanity is on sale at ThinkGeek for $12.99. Or maybe this is something left over from April Fools' Day.

Product Page [Art.Lebedev Studios, via Think Geek]

Optimus Project Hits Yet Another Snag; We Feign Surprise

Adam Frucci — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:55:30 EDT

For those of you still interested in the fate of the oft-delayed, might-never-actually-exist Optimus Keyboard, I have some bad news. They've lost their OLED manufacturer, leaving them without anybody to make the little screens that make the expensive keyboard so interesting.

They're gonna keep on truckin' with the development while looking for a new manufacturer, but even more delays are probably inevitable. But hey, were you really planning on spending $1,500 on a keyboard? You just want it to come out so we can get one and post lots of pictures of it, so it's not like this is really that much of a blow to you. –Adam Frucci

Bad News and Good News [Optimus Project]

Art.Lebedev Releases Pics of Newly-Named Optimus Maximus Vaporware Keyboard

Charlie White — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:00:00 EDT

It turns out that picture we showed you last week of the Optimus keyboard from Art.Lebedev Studio was not a fake, but was a picture of an actual model of a keyboard that may someday actually ship. The company rolled out its official portraits of the OLED-lit keyboard just before CeBIT opened in Germany, and the gallery includes pictures of the company's trade show booth which is proudly emblazoned with the new name, Optimus Keyboards.

So now the official name of this much-delayed and over-hyped keyboard is Optimus Maximus. Too bad the damn thing will have a maximus price to go along with that naming conceit, spanking early adopters with a $1490 price tag, and now the company is saying it won't be available until December of this year. If ever. Sigh. – Charlie White

Optimus Keyboards [Art.Lebedev]

Art.Lebedev Drops Another Bomb, This One Holds Money

Charlie White — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 13:15:00 EST

Art.Lebidev Studio, in between cranking out questionable keyboard/button thingamajigs, also creates whimsical and weird stuff such as this takeoff on the piggy bank shaped like a nuclear weapon. Called Superbitus, the only way to get your money out of this ceramic munition is to drop the bomb.

Ironic that the Russian designers at Lebedev would create a A-bomb full of money, since nuclear weapons are what bankrupted the USSR back in the 80s. – Charlie White

Money Saving Nuke [Chip Chick]

Optimus Flips-Flops Back to Color, Delays Again

Travis Hudson — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 13:51:06 EST

In less exciting news, it seems the whacky Russians have decided to ditch the whole monochrome-only Optimus keyboard and revert back to full color and OLED. The December pre-order date has also been canned. Yawn. – Travis Hudson

Optimus Project Blog [Livejournal]

Optimus Keyboard Price, Release Date Announced, Why it is Destined for Failure

Travis Hudson — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:34:46 EST

Before we bring the hate upon the Optimus keyboard, there is a bit of news that came about today. On December 12 Art.Lebedev will be accepting 103 pre-orders for the Optimus keyboard. The keyboards will ship "about May 2007" and will have a price tag of... (are you ready for this?) ... $1,200. Yes. Twelve hundred fucking dollars—pardon my French. It may be a joke by Artemy Lebedev, but regardless of the $1,200 price tag or not, the Optimus keyboard is heading in a downward spiral.

The announcements today are simply the cherry on top of the sundae why the Optimus keyboard has already failed six months before anyone actually has it. But the price isn't the only reason...

High Expectations
It was way back in mid 2005 when the initial prototype renderings were released. This was when I was just a mere intern, rubbing the feet of our higher ups at the time. We received roughly four million e-mails about this keyboard. People were pretty impressed, hell I was a bit star-struck myself. A keyboard with customizable LEDs keys? Wowz0r Batman!

The initial renderings were amazing and too good to be true, I guess. The keyboard itself was beautiful, not to mention the individual color OLED screens that accompanied every key that are fully customizable. The Art.Lebedev guys had a lot on their plate producing an actual keyboard like this.

Little did they know that this task would be a hard one to pull off. A year and a half later we finally understand the Optimus, which is a keyboard with black & white LCD screens that will likely be no better than the quality of the handheld solitaire game that your grandma is obsessed with. Don't believe me? Look.

False Hope
We like to consider ourselves rumorhounds over at the Gizmodo. We will jump on the slightest rumor and play it hard and long. So Art.Lebedev played us pretty hard by having new rumors surface almost on a weekly basis. It wasn't just us though, all of the major gadget/peripheral sites ate the Optimus up. The prototype rendering were beautiful, how could we not be obsessed? And everytime we received a new rumor, it brought the Optimus keyboard and all of the hype that surrounded it back to our minds. And by the time this keyboard actually gets in the hands of consumers it will have been almost three years.

The Mini-Three and "Upravlator"
The Mini-Three made its debut in the latter part of the summer. We got our hands on one and even made a video of the Mini-Three emulating a slot machine. The Mini-Three was promising because it looked nice: pretty color LCD buttons and fully customization. It gave the Optimus keyboard a bit of hope. "Will the Optimus Keyboard be like a Mini-Three, but with a 100 more buttons?" Oh boy we were excited!

That excitement quickly died after the announcement of the Optimus keyboard only being available in black and white. Boo! Bah-humbug!

And the Upravlator—it's just a Mini-Three with more keys and probably carries a price tag double or triple what the Mini-Three is ($160). Big whoop.

Price
I've mentioned it before, I'll mention it again. $1,200 for a keyboard is just ridiculous. Period.

They also claim that the Optimus will have a sub-$1000 price tag in September when more pre-orders are taken, but I have my doubts. Remember a couple weeks ago when the Art.Lebedev folks told Slashdot that the Optimus will have a price tag "less than a good mobile phone"? I guess I've never been to Russia, but are good mobile phones over there really that expensive?

Conclusion
I'm sorry to say it, but this project is doomed and I would honestly recommend being cautious before pre-ordering. $1,200 is a lot of money to put into the hands of people working on a project like this. They may have delivered (finally) with the Mini-Three, but who is to say they won't take the $156,000 total from the first 103 pre-orders and disappear off the map? Given that the $1,200 price tag sticks.

Sorry, Art.Lebedev. This thing isn't going to work out, the idea was stellar to begin with, but the execution failed miserably. Tack on a price tag that is ridiculous to say the least and chalk this up as a failed experiment and a waste of a couple years.

Bravo to whomever did the initial renderings—those were beautiful. – Travis Hudson

Optimus Project Blog

Optimus-103 Keyboard Update: Pre-Order Date, Price Teaser

Travis Hudson — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:24:25 EST

Over the weekend when we were drinking away the week-that-was, the Art.Lebedev guys announced December 12 as the official pre-order date for the Optimus-103 keyboard. With a pre-order date this soon, it seems they may beat the originally speculated Spring 2007 release date. Also, in an interview with Slashdot, the crazy Art.Lebedev guys said that the Optimus keyboard will cost "less than a good mobile phone." So, 400-ish? – Travis Hudson

Optimus Project [Livejournal]

Art.Lebedev Pron: Live Shots of Upravlator

Travis Hudson — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:29:55 EDT

We first speculated the that the Upravlator was just a bigger version of the mini-three, and it appears we are correct.

Today, some live shots appeared on the Optimus Keyboards Blog showing the actual unit, or very nicely generated images of the Upravlator keypad thing. Jump to see more pictures.

– Travis Hudson

Optimus Project Blog

Art.Lebedev Optimus Keyboard to Ship 'After Spring 2007'

Charlie White — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:42:55 EDT

We're keeping an eye on the Art.Lebedev Studio here, and the Russian designers/teasers are typing up a new blog that's a bit frustrating, doling out confusing bits of disinformation and making up mysterious new words. Case in point: what is an "Upravlator?" Maybe a larger mini three? However, there's one tiny little piece of news that eeked out, a few precious details about its upcoming Optimus Keyboard, that precious input device pictured above with a video screen for each key:

It may be worth noting that our full-fledged keyboard went into production cycle about a month ago. We are going to start accepting pre-orders around December 2006 with shipping date after Spring 2007.

After Spring, 2007? That's a long, long time from now. From the sound of it, we shouldn't be expecting anything until at least late June 2007. Sigh. – Charlie White

Life and Incredible Adventures of Optimus Keyboards [Art.Lebedev Studios]

Orbiculus Thumbtacks: Everything's OK, Art.Lebedev?

Charlie White — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:56:44 EDT

Straight from the Art.Lebedev studio, that same group that promises to bring you its miraculous Optimus keyboard by the end of this year, are its less-ambitious Orbiculus thumbtacks, icons derived from a Mac-like user interface that you can bring into the physical world.

Get the set which contains Cancel, Play, Save, Yes and other buttons, or just get a set where everything is okay, all of them optimistically printed with the word "OK" on their smoothly-rounded surfaces. Or really keep everyone guessing with the Russian-language set. They're $10.63 for 10. – Charlie White

Product Page [Art.Lebedev, via Uber Review]

Optimus Three Finally Shipping

Jason Chen — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:27:57 EDT

Is it really true? Could the Optimus Mini Three really be shipping? Art Lebedev says it is, and if you're not in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Lithuania, you should be getting your pre-order fulfillment by August 15th. Yes, that's August 15th, 2006. For the listed countries, you'll have to wait until September 1st.

If you didn't get in on the pre-orders, you have until August 1st to put in your order for $126. Come August, the price will jump to $160. The first reader to receive theirs and send in unboxing pictures gets a pat on the back. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Art Lebedev via Extreme Tech]

Optimus mini three OLED Keypad: Harbinger of Things to Come?

Charlie White — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 12:58:26 EST

Russian design firm Art.Lebedev set the tech world all a-twitter when it announced its Optimus keyboard last July (non-working prototype pictured at right), an ambitious design that didn't exist yet, but promised to embed a small OLED display in each key on its otherwise normal-sized keyboard. The idea was, all the keys would be soft keys, and could change according to the context of the application in use. Was it vaporware?

Fast-forward six months, and the product's designer, Artemy Lebedev, is trying answer that question with a smaller control panel, the Optimus mini three (pictured at left), that has, you guessed it, just three keys on it and acts as an additional keyboard, sitting next to a regular keyboard and performing customized functions. The product will sell for $100 and will be available in May, according to Lebedev. At .8 x .8 inches, each key is larger than those on the prototype full keyboard, and each contains its own color OLED-display with 96x96-pixel resolution, 262,000 colors and a viewing angle of 160 degrees, according to Lebedev. The tiny displays are capable of five-frame-per-second animations, so not only could users view context-sensitive indicators, but a clock, stock market updates, weather forecasts, or any other information inside any or all the keys. According to designer Lebedev, the only difference between this mini three and the full-sized Optimus keyboard is the size and the quantity of OLEDs. He says Optimus will begin taking pre-orders this week for the mini three. Lebedev also insists that a working prototype of the full-sized keyboard will be forthcoming sometime this year.

Interview with Lebedev and Pics [Primo Technology]