SteelSeries, makers of “professional gaming gear”, have used CeBIT as the launching platform for a new keyboard, the 6Gv2, and headset, the 7H.

The 6Gv2 keyboard is modeled after SteelSeries’s award-winning 7G. It is designed with 18-karat gold-plated mechanical no-click switches, which SteelSeries says will offer quicker reaction times, advance key combinations, and more “Actions Per Minute.” The 6Gv2 has a buffer system created specifically for gaming, and an “anti-ghosting” feature that allows users in first person shooters (FPS) to move, crouch, aim, fire, and even check the scoreboard--all at the same time. Built in are media controls, allowing quick access to audio controls. Unlike the 7G, the 6Gv2 has no audio ports, USB ports, or removable plastic hand-rest.

The 7H headset features 50mm drivers with over-the-ear cups that SteelSeries says will deliver a “clean soundscape of high, low and mid tones from background, mood setting sounds in MMO games to 3D positional alerts in FPS games.” The 7H comes with two ear cup options: leather, for maximum sound isolation, or cloth, so you can better communicate with teammates. It has a retractable, uni-directional microphone in the left ear cup, and has built-in volume and microphone controls. 7H comes with standard miniplugs or a USB connector. The USB version comes with optimized sound profiles, as well as customizable environmental settings. For easy storage, the 7H can be dismantled into four pieces.

The 6Gv2 keyboard retails for $99.99, while the 7H headset retails for $119.99, with the USB version going for $149.99. All are available for pre-sale at Amazon.

Image Credit: SteelSeries

We've seen a lot of different keyboards, but nothing quite like Lenovo's Mini Wireless plank with an integrated trackball. Designed for HTPC duties, the trackball isn't even its most unique feature.

That would belong to its paddle-shaped design, a first as far as we're aware, and a masochist's dream come true. It also comes with 69 keys, the exact number required to tickle your inner Billy Madison.

Essentially an oversized remote control, Lenovo's paddle-shaped plank sports a 2.4GHz wireless Nano dongle, giving you 10 meters of control distance, or just shy of 33 feet. It takes a pair of AAA batteries and works with Windows 7 / Vista / XP / 2000.

USB super site Brando.com has it available in pre-order form for $64, with an expected ship date of mid-March.

Image Credit: Lenovo

Just in case typing full words was too much exercise for you, or perhaps learning a traditional QWERTY keyboard was too mainstream for your “rebel” lifestyle, Fast Finger Keyboards has the peripheral for you!

Not only have they completely rearranged the keys to be in consecutive A-Z format, they have included shorthand internet and texting meme short cuts on the function keys. This keyboard is for you if you knew what HOAS meant without Googling it. In case someone who has used any keyboard (or typewriter) in his or her lifetime sits down at your computer, FFK generously included the standard QWERTY layout on the keyboard.

Thankfully, the folks over at Fast Finger Keyboards didn’t make this fire-engine red atrocity novelty more than 25 bucks.

We have a tough time envisioning Mad Max wearing Nintendo's original Power Glove (even if it is "so bad"), but we could totally see Mel Gibson darting around the desert armed with SpecOps's new "wearable computer technology to provide enhanced situational awareness of the battle space for military soldiers to use in the field." Sounds as wicked as it looks, doesn't it?

"We saw that iKey had experience with the military and they had a unit similar to what we wanted," said Caroline Tucker, Executive Vice President of Sales and Business Development for SpecOps Systems. "The thing that impressed us the most about iKey was that we told them what we needed, and quickly had a conference call to discuss the details. Literally, within 24 hours, we had a prototype drawing. It was this focus on the customer that led us to go with iKey rather than any other vendor - we knew we had found a vendor who embraced our requirements."

That discussion led to the KYB-170-OEM, an ultra-compact plank measuring just 2.55 x 2.75 x 0.22 inches. There's a 17-key keypad crammed onto the sleeve that SpecOps says functions just like a cellphone does when texting. It also comes with an integrated micro Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) pointing device, which can be made with any color LED for use in the dark, a pretty important trait in a post-apocalyptic world.

No word yet on when this one will move out of the working prototype stage, but SpecOps did say it's currently testing the unit both in theater and stateside.

Image Credit: SpecOps

Straight out of Redmond's Hardware division this morning is the announcement of a new gaming keyboard, the SideWinder X4 Keyboard with "advanced anti-ghosting technology."

"We're always looking for new and novel ways to enhance people's interactions with their PCs," said Steven Bathiche, research manager of the Applied Sciences Group at Microsoft. "We know that ghosting can be a problem for gamers, so we wanted to develop a way to eliminate this issue and improve the overall gaming experience, and we've succeeded with the new anti-ghosting technology in the SideWinder X4 Keyboard."

More specifically, the new SideWinder's anti-ghosting tech allows gamers hopped up on Red Bull to furiously mash up to 26 keys simultaneously without the PC ever skipping a beat.

In addition to anti-ghosting, Microsoft's latest plank also boasts mode switching (standard mode and two gaming modes), automatic profile switching, programmable macro keys (three banks of six keys to assign up to 18 macros per profile), in-game macro recording, automatic macro repetition, backlit keys with three illumination levels, and media keys.

Microsoft says the SideWinder X4 will be available in March for $60, with Amazon taking pre-orders right away.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Great Wall has created an Eee Keyboard rival that sports Nvidia’s Ion GPU and Windows XP.

More here:
Rival Eee Keyboard Spotted, Powered by XP

MSI enters the keyboard-less UMPC space with two Windows 7 touchscreen devices.

Read more:
CES 2010: VIDEO of MSI Dualscreen UMPCs in Action

Like it or not, computers and peripherals are as much a fashion statement as a practical tool. More and more they need a je ne sais quoi to accompany their functionality; an aesthetic to legitimize their existence. (In other words, if they don’t look cool we don’t want them.) Such is the case with Microsoft’s newest keyboard, the Arc, which was introduced at CES.

This is not to say that the Arc is a bad keyboard. The design has a certain Bauhaus flair to it, given how Microsoft envisions it being use. According to the description, the Arc was “inspired by home accessories like flatware and lighting fixtures,” and “[i]ts unique dome keyset comfortably rests on your lap so you can kick back and work on the couch or type away on the kitchen counter.” The Arc, then, is meant for casual use that can only occur when wearing lounging pajamas, and where style is an important consideration. (In contrast to manly gaming, where solidity and menace best define peripheral design and construction.)

The Arc, which is wireless, will be available exclusively at Best Buy, starting February 21, and will set you back $59.95. There is also a companion Arc mouse, that goes for $49.95, and is available from a number of outlets.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Enermax today confirmed plans to start shipping its ultra-thin 'Acrylux' keyboard to the U.S. next month. The keyboard, which is already available in Europe, will come in both wired and wireless varieties.

Unlike other slim keyboards "that only achieve their slimness by sacrificing the wrist rest and thus typing comfort," Enermax points out that its Acrylux features a full wrist rest with a profile of only 9.2mm.

In addition to its svelte stature, the Acrylux comes built with reinforced acryl. Other features include a 2-port USB 2.0 high-speed hub, flat key caps and zero degree angle, and "SCISSORS" key switch technology, which Enermax claims offers comfortable typing for up to 10 million keystrokes.

No word yet on price, but based on the going rate in Europe, look for the Acrylux to command $65 for the wired version, and $85 for the 2.4GHz RF wireless model.

Acrylux Video

Image Credit: Enermax

Here's one for the hypochondriac on the go - a collapsible keyboard that, in addition to folding up into a compact stick for easy carrying, it also purports to keep the germs away.

Designers Yoonsang Kim and Eunsung Park made sure to include a "None Bacterial Project" label front and center, which lets potential buyers know that their portable plank is first and foremost designed to reduce the spread of infection. But the real draw here is in how neatly and compact the plank folds up

It's a concept keyboard so you can't actually order one right now, but until the design comes to fruition, you can ogle at a handful of pics of what the plank might look like, should someone actually build it, at YankoDesign.com.

Want to have some fun with the germaphobes? Post a link to a pic of the filthiest keyboard you own, Hot Pocket shrapnel and all, in the comments section below.

Image Credit: YankoDesign