I see this dumbtastic egg-case-style Bajca emoticon keyboard and the only thing I wish is that somebody actually brings it to market, sends it to me to test, and then I get a hammer to smash all those stupid emoticons like it was a Whac-a-Mole game. Maybe it's just me and you will love its design--which admittedly is pretty but not very useful. That's until they tell you you can turn the emoticons into jewellery beads.

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Art Lebedev has been teasing us with details about their upcoming Optimus Aux keypad (previously known as the Pultius) for some time now, but two pieces of evidence have us thinking that a production version will be on its way shortly. Exhibit #1: A final pre-production photo of the keypad in its aluminium case (Verbarius is in the background). Exhibit #2: The Aux has been priced at around $US650. [livejournal]

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In case you're looking for a stylish and sturdy third-party keyboard option for your Mac, try out Logitech's new diNovo Keyboard Mac Edition. The peripheral features a full-size layout, nineteen shortcut keys for direct access to Mac programs, an integrated number pad, no cords (using 2.4GHz wireless) and a 3-year battery life. We reviewed the diNovo Edge keyboard in August and loved it. This one, at $US99, is about $US60 cheaper without sacrificing too many of the features of its more expensive bigger brother.

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Remember the Phantom Lapboard? Yeah, it's been so long that we've heard any news of it (despite them telling us that it was finally released), that most people have plumb purged it from their memory. According to Phantom Entertainment's recently updated blog though, the lapboard still exists and it's coming by the end of the year - for real this time! The Phantom Entertainment folks have paid for their first shipment of manufactured lapboards, and they'll be posting a delivery time frame soon. Good luck trying to generate buzz on your four-year-old almost-product, guys! [Phantom Entertainment]

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The original Datamancer Steampunk keyboard was quite steampunky in its presentation, and VERY steampunky in its price ($US1000 to $US1500). In the second round, Datamancer decided to do away with the straight edges and make the keyboard both brassy and rounded, two changes that would make any piece of hardware more...you know. It's made from an IBM Model M-15 split keyboard and is a one-off commissioned by a female client, so unless you call him up and promise him about 1000-1500 real (not steampunk) dollars, I wouldn't count on getting one this Xmas. [Datamancer via Techpin via DVICE]

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This guy's taken a jail-broken iPhone and hacked it by wiring it up to a genuine physical keyboard that's about as big as the phone itself. Yes... it's clever. But nononono: the beauty of the iPhone is its slender slippery sleekness, and I've found myself speeding up to darn fast text-entry rates using the virtual keyboard. This mod is like strapping a paddlewheel to a dolphin: bulky, old-fashioned and unnecessary. [Crunchgear]

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Poor netiquette can be downright infuriating. If you or someone you know has a problem with "shouting" online, the caps lock trainer key should take care of it in a hurry. As you can see, it is a standard key that has been fitted with two fourteen-gauge 10mm lebret spikes. It may seem a little extreme, but sometimes you need to go the extra mile to break a bad habit. Case in point—I routinely flagellate myself for putting my elbows on the table. [Make via CrunchGear]

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Sure, that Thanko cooling fan keyboard was a great addition to your desktop for the summer, but temperatures have gotten chillier now and we're all wondering how to keep our wrists warm. Why, with Thanko's upgraded heating AND cooling keyboard, of course! The wintertime edition has three different warming spots that'll make your hands all toasty. And if things get too hot, switch it back to fan mode to cool your fingers off. This miraculous weather-weathering peripheral is available on the Thanko website for roughly $US50. [Thanko via Akihabara News]

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Right-pinky to red, left-pointer to sky blue: KeyRight's Look & Learn Typing Solution takes us back to old-school learning by assigning each of your fingers to a certain set of keys distinguished by colour. This QWERTY keyboard comes with a typing tutor, which helps you become a touch typist through muscle memory, although the rainbow keyboard's intuitiveness makes this software unnecessary. Plus, dont'cha think learning to type on this keyboard would be a lot more effective than simply being forced to type "a quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" a million times over and over and over and over again? Yeah, we do too. [KeyRight via cNet]

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Oh, there's a full QWERTY keyboard on this pen, but you can't actually type with it. Instead, the keys just sit there, judging you silently as you attempt to remember just how to shape a cursive capital Q or Z. Screw this, it'll be easier just to change your name from Quique Zuzanny. That's what I did, and it's worked out alright for those three times a year I send somebody a card late. The keyboard pen runs $US62. [Uncommon Goods via Geek Alerts]

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