Add a Touchbar to your keyboard with this sleek, infinitely customizable touchscreen gadget!





The Touchbar on the MacBook honestly felt like a solution without a concrete problem. It was designed to be a highlight feature without a highlight purpose, and was probably reduced to being something that people used just as a volume slider while watching videos. The Touchbar, in my opinion, failed because it lacked the two C’s – Context, and Customizability. CORSAIR’s iCUE NEXUS fixes that with its infinitely customizable little keyboard attachment that does anything from work as a miniature app launcher to a control panel, to even an always-on ticker tape that lets you see your computer stats or the GameStop stock price!

The CORSAIR iCUE NEXUS forms a modular add-on to CORSAIR’s line of high-end performance and gaming gear. The nifty little gadget can be used independently or snapped right to the top of a selection of CORSAIR keyboards, turning them into command-centers. Powered by the company’s iCUE software, the gadget’s screen can be entirely customized, fitting as many as 6 different buttons or modules into it to suit your needs. You can create custom layouts that change based on the program you’re running, and the capacitive-touch display lets you do everything from tapping to sliding. The screen measures 5-inches diagonally, and comes with a resolution of 640×48. The iCUE NEXUS’s power, however, lies in its contextual flexibility, letting you control practically any aspect of your computer with it. As mentioned earlier, you could use it to launch programs, but you could even control options within each program, changing features, display settings, or even controlling your computer audio with it. Moreover, it ties in with CORSAIR’s other equipment too, letting you customize and change color layouts on your keyboard, mouse, and desktop, activate or mute your headphone’s microphone, or even monitor your machine’s performance and control aspects like fan-speed, etc. With the ability to customize up to 256 screens at once, the iCUE NEXUS promises to do what the Touchbar could not. It focuses heavily on context, while giving you an infinite world of customizability.

Designer: CORSAIR

Adobe browser shortcuts make it easier to create PDFs

If you’ve ever had to fill in a static PDF, you know it can be a headache. Usually, it requires either several steps to convert the PDF into a fillable form, or a printer. Adobe and Google hope to change that. Today, they’re introducing a handful of...

Google’s updated Home app will show Nest Cam events in its feed

iOS release notes reveal that Google is making a couple changes to its Home app. Once updated, the Feed tab will show important activity from supported devices, like your Nest Cam. Last year, Google said users would be able to watch full video clips...

IKEA’s upcoming smart home shortcut button surfaces in FCC filing

IKEA's next smart home product may be a Tradfri Shortcut Button that allows users to control their smart home with one click. Based on an FCC listing, first spotted by Swedish site Teknikveckan, it appears to be a small, square device that will let u...

Google’s .new shortcut now works with sites like Spotify and Microsoft

Last year, Google introduced .new shortcuts that made it easier to create a new Google Doc, Sheet, Slide, Site or Form -- simply enter the file type you wish to create into your browser and tack .new onto the end. Last week, Google brought the featur...

The screen protector that adds 2 extra buttons to your iPhone

One of the biggest differences between the iOS and the Android/Windows Phone experience is its layout of elements. While the Android experience gives you three core controls at the bottom (back, home, task manager), the iOS experience doesn’t. For an iOS user to go backward, they need to reach all the way to the top left corner of the screen… something no thumb is capable of reaching while you grip the phone from its base. Operating an iPhone therefore with one hand isn’t as easy as an Android or a Windows phone. (here’s an image that maps your thumb’s reach on an iPhone screen)

That’s where Nombiss does a bit of magic with its tempered glass screen protector. Built with invisible circuitry, the Intelli+ screen protector turns the areas to the left and right side of your iPhone home button into touch-sensitive zones, letting you tap places at the top corners of your iPhone screen by simply touching the base of the phone. It’s rather magical to look at, and may require getting the hang of (given it’s such a UX overhaul), but the Intelli+ does promise to put less strain on your thumb, and work your phone without having to access those hard-to-reach corners. It also gives your phone’s screen complete protection letting it sit under a layer of tempered glass (while absolutely keeping its capacitive circuitry invisible). The only disadvantage? It doesn’t work while your phone is in landscape mode.

Designer: Nombiss

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SwiftKey for Android’s clipboard is a godsend for lazy typers

So, you don't like typing out your address or any other information you usually send other people again and again -- SwiftKey gets it. In fact, its latest update for Android devices adds a couple of new features you'll enjoy. First is the keyboard's...

Backlit Keyboard with Editing Shortcuts: Lights, Edit, Action

EditorsKeys specializes in computer keyboards that have command shortcut guides for video or audio editing software printed on the keys. Since many of its clients work in dimly lit rooms, the company is developing backlit versions of its keyboards.

backlit keyboard with editing shortcuts by editorskeys 620x465magnify

EditorsKeys claims that its chiclet keyboard will have a bright and even backlighting that won’t obscure the prints on the keys. The keyboard variants are usually based on the shortcuts for popular editing software such as Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas, but for its Kickstarter EditorsKeys is willing to make custom prints for your chosen application. However, the company is focusing on a Windows-based layout first. You can still pledge for a Mac-style keyboard, but you’ll have to wait quite a while for it to be released.

Now’s your chance to get a keyboard with Divekick shortcuts. Pledge at least £79 (~$127 USD) on Kickstarter to receive one of EditorsKeys’ backlit keyboard as a reward.

Windows RT to come with Outlook app starting with Windows 8.1 update

Windows RT to come with Outlook app starting with Windows 8.1 update

We weren't expecting Microsoft to make too many announcements here at Computex -- it's got Build coming up, after all -- but it did drop a little bit of news. The company just confirmed that Windows RT tablets will come with an Outlook app pre-installed starting with the Windows 8.1 update. Not much more to share today -- we already knew Windows 8.1 would arrive in preview on June 26th -- but hopefully we'll learn more at the Build developer conference in a few weeks. After all, as much as Microsoft has already revealed about Windows 8.1, it's said very little about RT, specifically.

Update: The official Surface blog does have a bit more information to share, mentioning that an update is coming "in about a week" to improve the Touch Cover and Type Cover keyboard accessories. Once that update arrives, there will be a few function key combos to trigger things like brightness (Fn + Del / Backspace), page navigation or toggle the function keys to charms, volume, etc (Fn + Caps). Check the post for a full list of commands.

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Source: Office Blog, Surface Blog

Bella KillerKeys brings desktops shortcuts and control to iOS for $20, we go hands-on (video)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/bella-killerkeys-for-ios-hands-on/

Creative types working their magic on Windows may already be familiar with KillerKeys, a desktop app that brings push-button control to most Adobe apps, Microsoft Office, Sony Vegas and a few others, letting you tap a preset action rather than digging through a multi-layer menu or remembering hundreds of keyboard shortcuts -- if you use any of these apps as part of your workflow, the $10 (and up) investment certainly seems to be worthwhile. Now, Bella, the company behind KillerKeys, is bringing the tool to iOS (the iPad, more specifically), letting you tap your intentions on your tab, rather than using the mouse to click around the desktop.

You can group buttons by function, and the panel adjusts automatically to match the current app -- there's also an application launcher available at the bottom corners of the display, which helps to minimize your mouse time. To that end, you'll also find an on-screen trackpad (which unfortunately wasn't functional during the company's demo at NAB), and once it's enabled you'll be able to reposition your pointer from the tablet, letting you hide that cumbersome mouse. Initially, the app will only be available for iOS when it ships next month, though an Android version is in the works, as is a Mac OS version of KillerKeys, which should launch with the iPad app. The mobile application will set you back $10, and you'll also need to pick up a copy of KillerKeys, which ranges in price from $10 for a home and student addition to $90 for the whole shebang. Check out the hands-on demo after the break.

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Bella KillerKeys brings desktops shortcuts and control to iOS for $20, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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