
Logitech K480 – Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard - nreece
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/multi-device-keyboard-k480?crid=26
======
MrUnderhill
I've been using the K810 [1] for some time for all my computers. I find it
absolutely brilliant to type on (being mostly in vim, the awkward home/end,
page up/down, arrows etc don't matter very much), and it also has the ability
to switch between 3 paired bluetooth devices. There is also the Lenovo
Thinkpad Compact Bluetooth [2], which I haven't tried, but allegedly "features
a simplified pairing with the system through Near Field Communication (NFC)
tag. Simply tap and pair with an NFC-enabled system." It also has a TrackPoint
nipple. Of course, neither of these have the slot for phones/tablets.

[1] [http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/bluetooth-
illuminated-...](http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/bluetooth-illuminated-
keyboard-k810) [2]
[http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/itemdetails/0B47189/460/60AC6A0...](http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/itemdetails/0B47189/460/60AC6A0372B14F5BA7B12F1FF88E33C7)

~~~
gerbal
The K810 is quite a nice keyboard, IMO better than the Apple bluetooth
keyboard in terms of feel. It appears to be functionally identical to this new
K480 and would appear to have the exact same physical keyboard.

~~~
celticninja
additionally the K810 is backlit, which this does not appear to be, the
backlit function is fantastic.

~~~
johnnymonster
Really surprised it is not backlit, it seems like all the other keyboard
options are.

~~~
boomskats
Coming from a keyboard geek, their TK820 is by far the nicest keyboard they do
in terms of actual keys and switches and the trackpad. It isn't backlit
though, that's the only box it doesn't tick. I've got a K830 for the
livingroom and it's nowhere near as good.

~~~
michaelbuddy
I know this is maybe nichey for certain people but lack of a print screen key
on the TK820 is an issue for me. I loved it otherwise. Just got the 810 spoken
of above and despite being a smaller unit, has the printscrn key.

------
Kjeldahl
Logitech never bothered to fix the driver problem on the similar/previous OSX
Bluetooth keyboard K811 where switching between Cmd-Tab and Cmd-Shift-Tab does
not work correctly (you can not change direction while the app selector is
open). If this is important to you (it is to most devs at least), make sure
you check/verify that this bug has actually been fixed in the driver they ship
with K480.

~~~
pooriaazimi
Ordinarily, Cmd+` switches between windows, but when you're Cmd+Tabbing (when
the switcher is active), Cmd+` is essentially the same as Cmd+Shift+Tab (i.e.,
it selects the previous application). It's actually much more convenient to
press Cmd+`, if you get used to it :)

~~~
Kjeldahl
That's possibly a valid workaround (can't test - my K811 keyboard is at the
office) which on my international keyboard is not nearly as convenient as just
depressing shift with my pinky, but it does not change the fact that the K811
keyboard is not able to do what the standard Macbook keyboard does. And the
fact that Logitech is aware of the obvious bug but is not interested in fixing
it.

------
emsy
I'm a longtime Logitech peripheral user and it's fairly disappointing that
they always have some shortcomings that keeps me from loving their products.
For instance, I write this article on a K760. It's similar to the Apple
wireless keyboard but it's solar-powered and has multi-device capabilities.
Unfortunately, its build quality is mediocre. I'd rather pay 20-30 bucks more
and have a keyboard that feels better. Also, they removed the previous/next
track buttons from the top row for no specific reason.

With this keyboard, the build quality seems even cheaper. They missed the
chance to go solar (though that's debatable) and the fn key is in a different
position than my current Logitech keyboards (they don't seem to have a
guideline for this).

~~~
dombili
Very much agree on build quality. I mostly use their mouses and their rubber
side always wears out after a couple of months and if I'm lucky with that, I
get the common double clicking problem with left click. Thankfully their
customer support is amazing and they send replacements without too much
hassle. (They even sent me a new mouse once even though it was out of
warranty.)

~~~
qntmfred
I've been using the same Logitech mouse for about 6 years with zero build
quality issues. ymmv?

~~~
mosselman
Same here.

Also, once I broke my mouse, gave them a call and said "We are sorry that
mouse is not in production anymore... So I will send you the newest version
for free (80 euro price tag)."

------
unwind
Wow! That's actually rather innovative!

As a replacement for a "main" desktop keyboard, it _looks_ a bit on the too-
optimized-for-mobility side of things with chiclet-style small keys and so on.

I bet it will appear in many people's living rooms though, since seems very
well designed (I love the device-selection knob!) for in-couch computing
environments to control pads, phones, consoles or perhaps set-top boxes.

~~~
ZenoArrow
"Wow! That's actually rather innovative!" Am I missing something here? To me
it's just a bluetooth keyboard, I have one already. People are going gaga over
the rotary switch, which is a nice touch but it's not that much quicker over
pairing.

~~~
ZenoArrow
Downvoting me without commenting suggests I hit a raw nerve. To me it's sad
that the meaning of 'innovation' has become so watered down.

~~~
jonalmeida
I think it's because you have misunderstood the convenience of having three
separate bluetooth profiles that can be switched with a simple toggle i.e. I
bet I can switch from device A to device B faster than you can repair.

~~~
ZenoArrow
I don't doubt that the switching is quicker, but it's not that much quicker,
and considering the frequency that the switch is needed whilst it's a nice
feature it's not much of an advantage. How often are you going to be typing on
a tablet and a PC at roughly the same time? Perhaps it's for people to get
around the Internet firewalls in their workplace, but if the workplace rules
are super draconian I doubt you'll be allowed your own gear anyway.

I am glad that Logitech are thinking of new features to add to their devices,
but I resent such small improvements being seen as innovative and worthy of
the HN front page. Is that really what innovation has come to, a bluetooth
toggle switch? Are we really prepared to set the bar that low?

~~~
com2kid
> How often are you going to be typing on a tablet and a PC at roughly the
> same time?

Very frequently.

A lot of my social communication happens through my phone, SMS and a plethora
of mobile only communication platforms means that I am very frequently
switching between my laptop and phone all day long.

> I don't doubt that the switching is quicker, but it's not that much quicker

Turning a knob is much faster than going into the settings menu on a phone (or
on a computer!) and re-pairing. Repairing on a laptop can easily take 10+
seconds end to end from opening up the proper setting screen to BT scanning to
actually finishing the pairing process.

Compare that to less than a second for turning a knob.

And again, this is something that I might be doing _multiple times per
minute_.

------
josephcooney
I wish there was some kind of dongle I could plug my das keyboard into that
would give me the multi-device feature without sacrificing on the actual
keyboard part.

~~~
insaneirish
Here ya go:
[http://www.aten.com/products/productItem.php?model_no=cs533](http://www.aten.com/products/productItem.php?model_no=cs533)

I haven't used it, but I have looked at it for the same reason.

~~~
MrUnderhill
Any idea if the opposite exists: a dongle that appears to the host as a USB
keyboard/mouse, but actually pairs with a bluetooth keyboard/mouse? That way
you could use a bluetooth keyboard with dumb KVM switches (or other USB hosts)
that don't support bluetooth themselves.

~~~
matt_heimer
You just plug the USB dongle for the keyboard/mouse into a KVM. Works for the
Logitech unifying receivers and the Logitech Bluetooth receivers.

~~~
MrUnderhill
You have too high thoughts of my kvms :) It's a Blackbox KVMoE system which
seemingly only understands standard USB keyboard/mouse. I guess it depends on
the USB stack in the actual switches. I will have to try with a pre-paired
Unifying receiver though, perhaps that works.

------
crawrey
Am I the only one who barely has enough time to interact with one PC after
work (if I even feel like turning it on after a full day of programming), that
the thought of interacting with multiple devices at once is overwhelming?

~~~
Someone1234
I don't think that is really the point. The point is that it can store the
settings for 3x devices and you can switch between each one of them
individually as needed.

For example, if you had an iPad and iPhone you can have them both configured
as the 1 and 2 positions, and switch the switch as the relevant device was
docked.

With a lot of existing Bluetooth keyboards you would need to re-sync it each
and every time you switched devices.

~~~
pdpi
First thing I thought was that having both my PC and my Mac Mini on the same
keyboard would be cool (and this is a fair bit cleaner than a KVM)

~~~
ChrisClark
Check out [http://synergy-project.org/](http://synergy-project.org/) you can
share your keyboard and mouse between the computers. Just move your mouse to a
screen edge and it jumps over to the other computer.

I use it for work, OSX on my left Windows on my right, single keyboard and
mouse. It will even let you copy-paste text between computers.

------
rishabhsagar
Shame that this has no back-light; One of the most common setup I can imagine,
is a laptop on some kind of riser (with IDE open), A propped up iPad (to watch
tutorials / documentation). Often this kind of setup will be situated in a
dark room where user will greatly benefit from a backlit keyboard. :(

~~~
Nexxxeh
I think the majority of the users of this probably won't be looking at the
keys as they type...

~~~
rishabhsagar
Hmm.. but I feel because of the non standard layout and the size, most touch
typists will still take some time before they can adapt.

~~~
vanderZwan
Fair point. The keys have quite a different shape to regular keys though, that
might actually make it easier for the brain to distinguish it from regular
keyboards.

------
darklajid
Only available for pre-order and only shipping to the US it seems. They got me
interested enough to order one, but..

By the time it arrives in shops that deliver to DE every single supplier will
certainly make sure to offer a localized qwertz layout only. Shopping
keyboards is hard here.

~~~
davb
If you go to the bottom of the page and select "Change location", you might
find that it's available in your country. I can pre-order for the UK (however
unfortunately it's £49.99, a fair bit pricier than $49.99).

I've also just found that Currys (our last major high street
electrical/electronics retailer that isn't part of a department store and is
ubiquitous in most cities) has it available for next day delivery -
[http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-
accessories/accessori...](http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-
accessories/accessories-and-bags/mice-
keyboards/keyboards/logitech-k480-wireless-keyboard-white-10025026-pdt.html)
\- only the white version, sadly, and it's also £49.99.

Edit: Also, when pre-ordering on the Logitech UK website, it asks me to select
my layout and color.UK layout is available (thankfully - a lot of Logitech
portable Bluetooth keyboards available on Amazon are US layout only).

~~~
darklajid
Whoa, I totally missed that link. Thanks!

Now .. I can order it in various languages, the only English one being the UK
layout. ;-)

I'm reasonably sure I want the US layout, trying to compare them now to spot
the differences.

Edit: Yeah.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_and_American_keyboards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_and_American_keyboards)
\- I am used to/want the US one. So still no luck unfortunately.

~~~
davb
For most users the changes aren't too troublesome (see
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_and_American_keyboards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_and_American_keyboards))
but I'm so used to coding on on the UK one I find it difficult to switch. The
\, #, " and £ are the ones that cause my most difficulty. And to me, the
little US enter key just strange (it's double-height on UK keyboards).

~~~
darklajid
Yeah, I'm both a Linux user/enthusiast (I need `~\|# in the Right™ places) and
a developer (Switched from DE to US mostly for []{};: etc - the UK difference
would be smaller here: A moved \ and @" would be most annoying).

The tiny enter key is actually a requirement for me (to have \| in the right
place). Hrm. So maybe I'll shoot one of these keyboards with the US layout on
eBay in the future or something.

Full circle: Shopping keyboards is hard..

------
billchan
My alternative choice: [http://kbtalkingusa.com/](http://kbtalkingusa.com/)

~~~
ngmaloney
I purchased a KBTalking Pro and it is the best keyboard I've owned, I like it
better than my Das. Similar to the keyboard being discussed, it allows you to
pair with 10 different bluetooth devices and switch between them via keyboard
shortcuts.

~~~
michaelbuddy
I wish they could just keep this keyboard in stock. the feature of bluetooth
isn't so obvious on the site is it?

------
gokhan
As a developer, this setup just brings all the distractions right in front of
me :) What's going on my phone is not that important during the day, it can
most probably wait an hour or so until I check it. A tablet is a pure
entertainment device for me, it belongs to couch, toilet or bed, not to my
desktop (otherwise that FTL icon will bug me all day).

On the other hand, this might be a good gadget for, say, sales people using
tablets on the go and sync at the office. I'm most probably out of target
audience for this device.

~~~
kshitij-dce
well, im a developer and can see how I'd use this. It'll actually save a lil
time when I'm coding and my gf's IMing me and I cant tell her to go away :D.
She wouldn't even know I'm doing something else with the fast replies.

~~~
larrybolt
I don't know how it's over on the iOS devices, but with my Macbook/android
setup I use mysms for texts, WiFi keyboard for long passwords and couple.me
for texting with my girlfriend. Back when msn live still was a thing I used
Adium but I can't bear to have skype open all the time since it's impossible
to make the window smaller, at least now I can use Fluidapp and use couple.me
as a sort-of native app and resize it to my liking. And my girlfriend likes
couple.me since it has all these neat little things such as thumbkiss,
stickers, easy photo sharing... etc.

A long time i've been thinking about getting an external keyboard for my phone
since I don't really like a touchscreen when it comes to typing. But this
keyboard over a mechanical keyboard isn't really an upgrade if you ask me.
Better get a good coding keyboard! And if you really are thinking about self-
improvement when it comes to coding and working behind your pc, I'd always
suggest Steve Losh his article: [http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/a-modern-
space-cadet/](http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/a-modern-space-cadet/)

MySMS: [http://www.mysms.com/](http://www.mysms.com/)

WiFikeyboard:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.volosyukiv...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.volosyukivan&hl=en)

Couple.me: [https://couple.me/](https://couple.me/)

~~~
kanzure
> A long time i've been thinking about getting an external keyboard for my
> phone

I really like this one: [http://www.amazon.com/ZAGG-FOLZKFLEXSLV-Zagg-
ZAGGkeys-FLEX/d...](http://www.amazon.com/ZAGG-FOLZKFLEXSLV-Zagg-ZAGGkeys-
FLEX/dp/B00695OFE2)

I keep it in my pocket. Goes a few months on a single charge. It has made my
phones entirely more useful to me. That said, a rotary switch would be pretty
nice on this thing...

------
davidbrent
Very cool and useful product. I can't help but feel like I'm in some kind of
cycle though, because I felt the same way about a KVM Switch 20 years ago.

~~~
bnt
It looks cool, but that round switch isn't as useful as it seems. It would've
been better if they simply put three buttons up there - switching between
devices would be easier (push of a button instead having to move your hand to
the far left and turn a knob) and faster (switching from device 3 to device
1).

------
schainks
The K760 is awesome for typing, and solar powered. The K480 switches between
devices and can mount a mobile device. The K810 has a backlight.

Can these three things be conveniently combined? Make it the size of the k760,
but with the backlit keys and a longer mobile device mount. The result might
not be pretty, but would definitely be something I'd use for my multiple
mobile devices + development use case.

Edit: typo

~~~
StudyAnimal
Plus it needs mechanical switches. Otherwise it is just a low-end device.

------
ekianjo
I see that they never fail to ignore Linux.

~~~
jeletonskelly
It made me sad to see that too. I'm just hoping it will work like any other
bluetooth keyboard for linux because there doesn't seem to be any reason it
shouldn't.

~~~
MrUnderhill
The similar K810 works brilliantly in Linux. Mario Scholz has written a small
tool to switch between media and function keys[1], I wouldn't be surprised if
it works for K840 too.

[1] [http://www.trial-n-
error.de/posts/2012/12/31/logitech-k810-k...](http://www.trial-n-
error.de/posts/2012/12/31/logitech-k810-keyboard-configurator/)

------
petepete
This looks good and would definitely make typing long email responses more
efficient. But other than that, something I don't do very often on my mobile
devices, I don't really see the need. If I was to install a full Linux distro
on my Nexus 10 and attempt to use it for development, I'd definitely want to
use a 'proper' keyboard. Perhaps something like the Enebrick[0] would be a
better fit for me.

I can totally see how this could appeal to people who don't need/want a
separate notebook machine, keyboard etc and can get by with just a tablet.

[0]
[http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/direct/hhkb/detail_enebrick.html](http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/direct/hhkb/detail_enebrick.html)
; [http://enebrick.cerevo.com/en/](http://enebrick.cerevo.com/en/)

~~~
chx
Um, ¥ 13,800 ?? That's 130 USD! I have researched this because the keyboards I
love & use are wired (I have a veritcal Kinesis Freestyle and a ThinkPad USB
Keyboard with TrackPoint):
[http://handheldsci.com/kb](http://handheldsci.com/kb) is only $59. The Aten
CS533 [http://www.amazon.com/Aten-Technologies-Bluetooth-Switch-
CS5...](http://www.amazon.com/Aten-Technologies-Bluetooth-Switch-
CS533/dp/B0094FN81K) is $67.

~~~
DanBC
People spend all day on the keyboard. They're pretty important pieces of kit.
$130 is nothing when you spread the cost over how long you use it.

~~~
chx
Absolutely -- but I listed functional equivalents for less than half the
price.

------
cyanbane
I think most people here are in a very firm or serious relationship with their
keyboard. (I know I am with my Corsair mechanical). Would love to see this as
a usb device that the keyboard plugs into. Would think monitoring key presses
on the middle man device would not be to hard?

~~~
untog
I wonder what the power drain would be. That keyboard can probably operate on
a couple of AA batteries - would running a USB hub take more?

In any case, I don't see this as a main keyboard replacement. But I do have a
crappy computer that sits under my TV to play video/Netflix/etc. - this would
be ideal for it.

~~~
commandar
>would running a USB hub take more?

Well, USB spec (pre USB 3.0 anyway) is 5v @ 100mA per port.

------
beyti
[http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/multi-device-
keyboard-...](http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/multi-device-
keyboard-k480) (removing the querystring param, for people who can not view
the link)

------
fuzzywalrus
Certainly a cool product to have a KBM (minus the m) for multiple devices but
I see limited potential. rd.

For iOS / OS X users, if you're using using an iOS device + OS X computer,
you're able to carry over conversations and even e-mail between devices in
iOS8 + OS X 10.10. It sorta eliminates some of the necessity of having a
keyboard for your touch screens.

This may be useful for testing but even when I'm doing development, (and we
have a fistful of devices) I'm rarely using the keyboards and with the limit
of 3, it wouldn't really be enough.

------
suvelx
I've been using the Filco Minila Air for a while now.

It's /kinda/ the same, in that it allows you to pair it with 3 devices. It
fails in regards to having a physical switch for selecting devices. Instead
it'll connect to the highest 'ranked' device that's on. It works fine for
switching between home/office, but not so much for phone/computer.

[https://www.diatec.co.jp/en/det.php?prod_c=1471](https://www.diatec.co.jp/en/det.php?prod_c=1471)

------
quattrofan
Great idea, problem with a lot of the logitech keyboards is because of their
low cost construction the keys wear within a year in most cases, I've been
through 3 in the past 3 years.

~~~
sireat
Another anecdotal evidence, I am typing on a Logitech Deluxe 250 keyboard from
2008, which has been used every workday for the past 6 years.

So, they can make long lasting keyboards or at least used to.

------
circa
The BT switch part is great. I wish I could integrate my existing Synergy
setup with it.

[http://synergy-project.org/](http://synergy-project.org/)

------
jaxn
Has anyone used the Kanex Multi-sync keyboard [1]? Feature-wise it looks much
better, just not sure about the reliability.

Turning a knob to switch devices seems terrible.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Kanex-Multi-Sync-Bluetooth-Keyboard-
QW...](http://www.amazon.com/Kanex-Multi-Sync-Bluetooth-Keyboard-
QWERTYX/dp/B00F9VPDJI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1409761956&sr=1-2&keywords=multi-
device+bluetooth+keyboard)

~~~
mcguire
" _Turning a knob to switch devices seems terrible._ "

I was thinking it was kind of brilliant. Easy to do, easy to see which device
you're talking to at a glance (especially if you have it labelled.)

~~~
jaxn
I guess I am envisioning frequent switching. If I had to turn a knob to
Cmd+Tab between apps it would be terrible.

------
nnnnni
I loved that thing all the way up until I saw that ctrl and fn were swapped
from the standard layout =-(

Otherwise, I know of quite a few people who could really use this thing!

~~~
lukasm
Actually, this is standard layout.

~~~
gilgoomesh
There is no standard.

Lenovo and Apple place the Fn key to the left of the Control key. Most others
place them the other way around.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fn_key#Fn_and_Control_key_place...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fn_key#Fn_and_Control_key_placement)

------
silver1
Nice but keys are so tiny -- why dont anyone get inspired by IBM/Lenovo non-
chicklet keyboards ??? sometimes OLD is GOLD and Simplicity is blessings :)

------
qzc4
I don't get why this is so newsworthy and "innovative". Matias makes a good
line of keyboards[0] (even a mechanical one!) based on the same concept, just
with 1 wireless and 1 wired connection. Wired is a lot less of a hassle for me
anyway, and you don't even have to change the batteries.

[0]: [http://matias.ca/onekeyboard/](http://matias.ca/onekeyboard/)

~~~
icebraining
_just with 1 wireless and 1 wired connection_

That's the innovation part. 1 wireless + 1 wired doesn't help you much if you
want to use it with multiple mobile devices (tablet + phone, for example)
besides laptops.

Personally, your keyboard would be useless to me; when I want to use laptop +
tablet, I just use a regular keyboard and the Remote Keyboard app:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.onyxbits.re...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.onyxbits.remotekeyboard&hl=en)

------
danielrmay
I like this, I just think it's a shame the keyboard quality had to suffer for
the device interoperability.

------
atmosx
Can someone offer a couple of real-world use cases for the masses?

I have all the Apple devices I need (MBA, iPhone, iPad[* 1], iMac) synced
through iCloud. Why would I wanna switch between them, to add a notification
or send an iMessage?!

[1] That's kind false. I don't need an iPad, it's just a perk :-P

~~~
RaSoJo
I suppose not everyone has devices across an uniform platform. I have a
Windows laptop, an Android phone and an iPad. And I hate having to switch
between devices to type (say Whatsapping on the phone and coding on the
Laptop) As a layman I really like the premise of this Keyboard.

------
micheljansen
Nice! Seems like this should come standard with all wireless peripherals.

I wonder if it maintains a connection with all paired devices or if there is a
delay when you switch between them. I find that some of my devices take a
while to connect/pair when I turn them on.

------
ahunt09
Or you could turn your existing computer keyboard into a bluetooth keyboard
for other peripheral devices for a fraction of the cost:
[http://www.eyalw.com/1keyboard](http://www.eyalw.com/1keyboard)

~~~
lupin_sansei
What's special about this Logitech keyboard is the switch to select the
pairing with 3 devices so you don't have to pair and repair all the time to
use the device with your phone and then your tablet and computer.

~~~
dansky
Same with 1keyboard - it does not need re-pairing. Assign a shortcut once to
any device you want to switch between devices you want to send to and it's
just as convenient and fast as that dial-switch of the Logitech should be.

I'm using 1Keyboard both with a Moto G and iPad mini Retina on a MBP 15''
Retina.

------
jaebrown
I really like the idea of the product but the idea of looking at three screens
gives me anxiety. I know the product can be used for a single device but the
video scared me off by showing its potential. I'll stick with what I got.

------
silasb
That rotary knob looks awfully easy to break.

There has to be a better interface than physically moving your hand up to the
knob to change which device has focus.

Also if this could also charge your devices that would be awesome also.

~~~
yasth
Rotary knobs are much more rugged than almost any other common switch type if
they are well made. They are commonly specified on military and industrial
gear for this reason (and a few others).

Also honestly given the location and the likelihood of multitasking (say
typing something on an HDTV, switching to a phone to type out a lengthy text
message, and then back to a tv) I can't see an automated solution working
well. You could do some NFC so that the slot would recognize a new thing being
placed, but you'd still need an a way to switch away from it.

Charging would be a useful feature though.

------
UncleChis
The switching button might not be that convenient and comfortable. Why not
just a press button and 3 LEDs? You press one, it switches the LEDs?

------
VeryVito
Add a solar cell to power it, and I'm in. The K760 and K750 are amazing,
simply because I never have to worry about cords or batteries.

~~~
Someone1234
I'd take batteries over a keyboard which might not work in low or no light.
Seems like a gimmick.

~~~
reportingsjr
Reviews are actually pretty good with regards to that. The complaints I have
seen is that the battery dies after a couple of years and is not easily
replaceable. This would mean a new keyboard every couple of years.

------
otikik
Too gimicky for my taste. I have the Logigech K760 (the solar one) and it's
awesome. I prefer it to the default MBA keyboard.

------
kshitij-dce
I would prefer a switch-key than the knob..

Love the idea though!

------
dharma1
can anyone recommend a smaller, tablet sized BT keyboard that would have this
kind of a "slot" for making either a phone or tablet stand on it?

I just need something super lightweight that works as both a stand and a
keyboard with my phone or tablet (hate phone touch keyboards)

------
mkoryak
"Type in comfort"... and then ... "11.7 Inches"

Those 2 things can't happen at the same time.

------
jmt7les
Yet it still uses AAA batteries...

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api_or_ipa
Cool, when can we see a mechanical switch version of this?

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nodata
Stupid question: what's the encryption used on this?

~~~
peregrine
If they are using it they have the option for AES as stated by the BlueTooth 4
protocol.

~~~
nodata
Any easy way to check?

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marban
Hate the yellow stripe but still... take my money.

~~~
icebraining
They have a black and white version:
[http://www.logitech.com/assets/52362/14/bluetooth-multi-
devi...](http://www.logitech.com/assets/52362/14/bluetooth-multi-device-
keyboard-k480.jpg)

------
jraedisch
Seems interesting for dual boot environments also.

~~~
DiThi
When dual booting you usually use the same bluetooth receiver, with the same
MAC address. For me any bluetooth device work out of the box when switching OS
once they're paired on both.

~~~
jraedisch
How did you get this to work? I did a quick search on the topic and the best
resource I could find was this:
[http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1479056](http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1479056)
I will try it out when I get home.

------
skyhatchash
Fastest way to drain my phone's bluetooth

------
boomskats
It doesn't mention whether it runs on MX reds??? Is it easy to change the
switches, are they soldered on?

Is it easy to change the controller?

~~~
danbee
Wut? Dude, this isn't a mechanical keyboard. It'll be a membrane board or
scissor switches.

~~~
boomskats
I know :(... just figured, you know, it's on HN... maybe it comes with PBT
keycaps or something

------
fasteo
Multitasking in a single screen is not a good idea. Multitasking in three
screens can only make it worse.

Very nice productivity killer though.

~~~
andrewjkerr
Personally, I wouldn't use this to switch between three screens at the same
time, but rather using it to not have to pair it every single time I use the
keyboard on a different device. That's quite frustrating.

~~~
fasteo
That would be also my plan, but once I have this setup, it would be impossible
for me not to constantly switch between devices.

Pairing every single time is actually a plus for me: It acts as a barrier to
avoid multitasking in different devices.

------
milkers
K760 is a better choice.

------
vetler
So simple, yet so wonderful.

------
burnt1ce
YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

------
er0l
shut up and take my money!!!

