Swiss company Logitech is offering some innovation for the keyboard – still the best input device for emails and other messages, it rightly points out. Come this November, Logitech will begin offering a not only wireless but solar-powered keyboard, the K750.
Panels running the length of the keyboard absorb sunlight, but even indoor light will do, the company says, eliminating the need for batteries, power bricks and charging cables.
“The Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard is powered by light but can work in total darkness for up to three months,” Denis Pavillard, vice president of marketing for Logitech, said in a Nov. 1 statement. “Plus, with its PVC-free construction and fully recyclable packaging, it’s designed to minimize its footprint.”
The K750 is one-third of an inch thick, has rounded edges and a black-on-black design with lit-from-behind, laser-etched keys that are said to curve in to support one’s fingertips and help guide them to the right keys.
An included solar power meter application-available for download beginning Nov. 15-lets users see the keyboard’s battery level at a glance and alerts them when a recharge is in order.
The K750 uses 2.4GHz wireless connectivity-which according to Logitech connects with “virtually no delays or dropouts”-as well as 128-bit AES encryption to keep things secure. It connects to devices using a Unifying receiver that’s approximately the size of a nickel and that Logitech recommends setting up and forgetting about-it can be left in a laptop, and users can add keyboards and mice as they’re needed. It works with up to six devices.
Bad luck for Mac fans, though. In addition to a light source, the only other thing the Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 requires is a Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems to work with.
Suggested pricing is $80, and it’ll go on sale in the United States and Europe.