13 Computer keyboards you’ve never seen before

The roll-up keyboard

These keyboards feature 104 keys in a standard QWERTY layout, but with a nifty twist of being the most portable keyboard seen to date. Simply roll the unit up when you’re done with it! A great tool for laptop users who miss their full-sized KB when on the road, or LAN party warriors looking to lighten their load.

The virtual laser keyboard

The I-Tech Virtual Keyboard uses a light projection of a full-sized computer keyboard on almost any surface. Used with PDA’s and Smart Phones, the Virtual Keyboard provides a practical way to do e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet tasks, enabling users to leave laptops and computers at home.

The wrist keyboard

Completely sealed, it can operate in the rain and other harsh environments. A curved back provides a secure and comfortable placement on the wrist. The keyboard layout is optimized to provide alphanumeric entry. Carefully positioned arrow keys ease menu-oriented tasks. The WristPC keyboard comes with an optional wrist strap to provide the capability of attaching it to your wrist.

The frogpad

The FrogPad mobile keypad with its innovative 20 full-size key layout optimized around the most frequently used characters sets a new standard in information access with superior portability and ergonomics, global adaptability, rapid learning and ease of use. Its unique patented keystroke algorithms enable it to be used in either a right or left-handed mode and with any international language set.

Maltron 3D Ergonomic Keyboard

These fully ergonomic two handed keyboards fit the shape of hands and the different lengths of fingers to reduce movement and tension.

The Orbitouch Keyboard

The orbiTouch Keyless ergonomic Keyboard creates a keystroke when you slide the two domes into one of their eight respective positions. You type the different characters by sliding the domes to create letters and numbers. The orbiTouch Keyless ergonomic Keyboard also has an integrated mouse, so moving the domes gives you full mouse and keyboard capability!

The Tidy Tippist

The marriage of eating and tipping: the decorative tablecloth, made of felt, contains a textile keyboard. The electronic is woven into a fabric, which finds itself between layers of water resistant felt as sandwich material. The soft felt surface makes it a pleasure for fingers to tip a cozy keyboard.

The SafeType keyboard

This well thought at keyboard will allow you to type in a relaxed position, saving you the pain. All that despite its futurist look. The supplementary keypad allows the user to position the 10-key numeric pad with arrow keys anywhere that is most usable and comfortable. It can be on the left or the right, or even in your lap. We are constantly amazed by the tremendous variation in challenges and how people find solutions for their own problems.

The Twiddler 2

The Twiddler2 is a pocket-sized mouse pointer plus a full-function keyboard in a single unit that fits neatly in either right or left hand. The Twiddler2 plugs into both keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports (USB port with the PS/2 to USB Adapter) on any computer that accepts standard PS/2 mouse and keyboard (or USB input). Combining major innovations in pointer and keyboard technology, the twiddler is designed to bring renewed enjoyment to current computer users and to attract newcomers to the world of personal computing.

The datahand keyboard

The DataHand ergonomic keyboard offers a total of 132 keys (more than even extended flat keyboards) through the use of five key switches clustered around the tips of each of the fingers. With four modes, shifted by the thumbs, hand movement is no longer required to perform keyboard work. Hand support results in the elimination of the major source of muscular-skeletal stress in hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, backs, and necks.

Optimus Keyboard

Each and every key on the Optimus Keyboard is a stand-alone display that shows you exactly what it is controlling at the very moment.

Das Keyboard

Where is the letters? Das keyboard believe with no keys to look at when typing, your brain will adapt and memorize the key position thus increasing typing speed.

AlphaGrip

Claimbled to the most comfortable computing device. It is a gaming pad, a keyboard also comes with a mouse trackball.

Five ways to get an edge over other air travelers

Most travelers head to the airport, check in, and let the airline take care of the rest. That’s not good enough. Especially if anything goes wrong — and things DO go wrong. You need be your own advocate, and you need a game plan, backed up with information and technology.

Here are five ways to get an edge over the more complacent travelers around you:

1) Get serious status reports sent to you in real-time.
While airlines offer e-mail, text message, and automated phone call alerts, which update you on the status of your flight, these updates are often too little and too late. For real status updates, sign up for the alerts feature at FlightStats.com. Their updates are very, very detailed, and you’ll know exactly where you stand.

2) Know your alternatives.
Carry the airline’s timetable, or a list of alternate flights to your destination, which can be downloaded or printed from any airline’s website. This is useful when you try for a rebooking or want to go standby. Let’s say flights are delayed two hours across the board. The previous flight might still be waiting to push back from the gate. Check the timetable you brought with you and make a beeline for that earlier flight. Try to stand by and get out early, instead of waiting for hours for your scheduled itinerary.

BONUS: Don’t forget alternate routings if trying to rebook. Just because you’re scheduled to fly from Raleigh to Los Angeles via Chicago doesn’t mean that’s the only route you can take. (E.g., maybe you can fly via Dallas instead.) Having an electronic timetable is great for this. Ask airline agents about specific route alternatives — they may not look them up if you don’t ask for them by name.

3) Playing contract lawyer can be fun.
Though the rules that govern your ticket aren’t pre-printed on your boarding pass, you’re still bound by them. So bring a copy! Since I usually travel with a laptop, I keep a downloaded copy of the airline’s contract of carriage on the hard drive. The contract includes rules such as compensation for being bumped and the infamous “Rule 240″ that lives on in some contracts, governing the transferability of your itinerary to another airline in case of delay. (Knowing the real reason for delays is useful, too.) I also keep screenshots (or PDFs) of terms & conditions pages related to upgrades, frequent flyer mile redemption, etc., in case anyone gives me a hard time. Know your rights, and exert them. I’ve had to break out that legal mumbo jumbo with airline representatives (and their supervisors) on a few occasions, and with paperwork at the ready, I’ve always won.

4) Pre-program airline phone numbers into your cell phone.
While airlines’ 1-800 numbers are increasingly staffed by unempowered outsourced overseas call center personnel, you may need to call and make a change. Best to have the number at the ready, especially if you’re stuck on the plane.

BONUS: If there are big delays, and long lines of people waiting for a customer service desk, try the self-service kiosks. Often, the machine can help, faster than a call to the 800 number can. If the machine can’t help, there’s sometimes a phone attached, and picking it up connects you to an agent — an agent who, in my experience, has been far more empowered than the average call center employee. I’ve used those phones to get on standby lists and make last-minute itinerary changes, while others stood in a long line at the gate, hoping to make the same change. These kiosk phones work, but most people don’t use them.

BONUS 2: Program this number in, too: 1-877-FLYERS-6 (1-877-359-3776). It’s the Stranded Passengers’ Hotline from the Coalition for Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights. If your plane pulls away from the gate and just sits there ad nauseam, call them and let them know.

5) Check in online, and early
This one should really go without saying, but so many people put it off that it bears repeating. Check in online, and do it as early as you can. The earlier you check in, the less likely you’ll be bumped, and the more likely you’ll be in line for upgrades and clearing standby, if either of those options are in the cards.

BONUS: Check in early even if your flight is delayed. Let’s say your flight is delayed two hours, and you know it’s delayed even before you even head to the airport. Check in before your scheduled departure time, not the rescheduled/delayed time. If you don’t check in by the original time, you’ll still be considered a no-show and could lose your seat. And I recommend against showing up late for a delayed flight. You never know when that 2 hour delay might miraculously turn into a 30-minute delay, leaving you grounded. Don’t laugh, it happens. Better to show up on time and try to stand by for the earlier (delayed) flight.

BONUS 2: Some people mistakenly think you can’t check in online if you have bags to check. That’s not true. Some airports have a bag-drop for those who checked in online, while others make you stand in line. (Just be sure to leave yourself enough time to check the bags.) But checking in early online still has its benefits, no matter if you check bags or carry on.

These tips won’t guarantee that you’ll get where you need to be on time, but you’ll improve your odds.