When I first heard about this laser projected keyboard I was fired up and ready to plunk down $199 for this cool gadget. After reading several reviews and watching several videos I had more questions than answers. Even though this technology has been around for over 7 years it still seems like it is undiscovered. Why has it not caught fire and been that popular among consumers?
The Magic Cube made by Celluon is featured as a full QWERTY keyboard and multi touch mouse that is projected onto just about any surface. It can be used with a variety of products ranging from smart phones, tablets and PCs through blue tooth technology or USB connection. It is small and portable and sounds like the perfect solution to the small keyboard dilemma for people with fat fingers, like me.
Cnet.com had a modest review citing mostly the features it is designed to do with a 3.5 out of 5 star review. However, laptopmag.com, wired.com and maclife.com were more vigorous in their reviews. All agreed it is fascinating technology but with some practicality issues. The cost ranges from $120-$260, which seems relatively high in range for the technology we’re talking about here. The idea of the convenience and ease of use seems not so highly supported. The technology itself seems to be at issue. TopLevelReviews posted a pretty succinct review that was helpful for me, being the visual learner that I am!
In the YAY column we have: the cube is compact, portable, easy to set up and install (most of the time). In the BOO HISS column we have: battery lasts 2 hours but takes 4 hours to charge, multi mouse only seems to work well with windows devices. Detection rate is supposed to be 350 characters/minute, however, that has been debatable among users. Also keep in mind it is a QWERTY keyboard and not a standard keyboard. The punctuation and other features like caps lock is not going to be the same and is tricky to get used to.
Overall, I would have to say that if it were less expensive I would probably take the chance and try it for myself because I think it is a really cool concept.
