Tech Shout!

Art Lebedev, the makers of uniquely designed new-age tech products such as ‘The Upravaltor’ and the Mu2 mouse have announced that the much-awaited Optimus Maximus Keyboard is now shipping, a whole three years after the product was actually announced.

This OLED keyboard was supposed to be launched way back in February 2006, but due to a lack of apt firmware/software, the keyboard’s launch was postponed. It was a much-talked about product, but after several delays, the tech world stopped reporting about it.

Now, Art Lebedev has risen once again. The lucky customers, who ordered their Optimus Keyboards in 2007, will be the first to receive their orders.

Art Lebedev is offering four configurations, three of which can be pre-ordered right now. The configurations include 1 active OLED button, 10 active OLED buttons, 47 OLED buttons and 113 OLED buttons to choose from.

It would be pretty amazing to have all of the 113 keys as active OLED buttons. But, for this you will have to shell out a whopping sum of $1,560!

But, if you are one of those who opted for the Optimus Maximus Keyboard with passive keys will receive their package in a months time, says a post on the Optimus blog. Those who have chosen to go all the way complete with active OLED keys for their Otimus Keyboards, will have to endure a longer wait for their package.

Art Lebedev has also released the first versions of the Optimus Configurator software for both Mac and PC. This software is used to customize each key’s display and is available for download from here.

The price of the Art Lebedev Optimus Maximus Keyboard begins at $463 and goes all the way up to $1,560. This has got to be one of the most hyped keyboards to be made available in the history of mankind!