“OLED” has been a term thrown around quite a bit in the past year or two, partly in thanks to the Optimus Maximus, but as time passes on, prices for the very cool technology continue to plummet, so it’s a sure thing that we’ll be seeing more affordable uses for it in the near-future. While the Optimus Maximus might have been the first keyboard to utilize OLED to a great extent, the end-cost was well over $1,000. OCZ is taking a more modest approach, as you can see below.
Rather than coat the entire surface with OLED-based keys, they’re sticking to a simpler solution. Nine keys in total can be found on the left-side of this keyboard, which I can’t recall the name of, and each can be programmed to your liking. I’m uncertain of whether or not the keys will remain monochrome as seen in the images, but chances are they will, as I’m pretty sure the company would have shown off the capability.
Despite the lack of color though, OLED keys should be a feature appreciated by many. Having the ability to swap an image on a dime for something else is great. It’s much more difficult to do that with a normal key. Although the software itself wasn’t on display, we can assume that you’d be able to create your own images and functions, since that’s half the point. The pictures don’t do this keyboard justice though… the keys looked much better in person.
Although Hypersonic (an OCZ subsidiary PC boutique company) has a logo on this particular keyboard, OCZ mentioned that the retail product would have only their branding. This does suggest that Hypersonic’s PCs will include the option for this keyboard, though. In addition to the cool OLED keys, the keyboard will also feature 128MB of on-board flash memory, which may prove useful if you want to haul your keyboard over to a friends house. That may not happen often, but given the higher price of the keyboard, any additional features like that are welcomed.