Logitech Introduces "Wave" Keyboard Design

Logitech unveiled its new groundbreaking keyboard design that veers away from the traditional "straight" keyboard.
The new "wave" design allows users to comfortably use their keyboards without having to change the way they type. The two new keyboards styles released are the Logitech Wave Keyboard and the Cordless Desktop Wave, featuring the Logitech Comfort Wave Design.
The aspects of the new keyboards that set it apart from the rest are the three new features. They each sport a wave key-frame design, a U-shaped constant curve, and a cushioned, contoured palm rest. According to Logitech, users will not have to retrain their hand for typing, unlike other contour keyboards on the market.
“With the increased awareness and demand for comfort in our day-to-day lives, Logitech’s new products offer a timely solution,” said Denis Pavillard, vice president of product marketing for Logitech’s keyboards and desktops. “According to a study at Harvard, for Logitech, the average person types approximately 2 million keystrokes every year. That’s equal to 200 hours of typing. The Logitech Wave Comfort Design will delight people by offering the perfect balance of comfort and usability.”
The new keyboards also offer larger, easy to see and use hotkeys which can be mapped to launch certain desktop items. Also, the new accessory features a type-speed indicator and an error-rate tracker that calculates the number of time a user hits the backspace key.
The Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave keyboard-and-mouse is to be expected to be available beginning in late August for $89.99. The corded model will be released at the beginning of October for $49.99.

Sony Flash Vaio Notebook

Sony has unveiled its first Vaio notebook computer to use a flash memory drive in place of a conventional spinning hard disk drive, giving it a performance edge against other ultraportable notebooks but with one trade off – storage capacity.

According to Sony, benefits of the solid state flash memory drives over conventional HDDs include faster boot-up time and operating speed, reduced weight, increased battery life and better durability due to the lack of moving parts.

However, the flash memory drive provides just 32GB of storage space. Similar Vaio notebooks in the range line feature 120GB and 160GB due to their use of traditional spinning disk HDDs.

Consumers will also have to pay a premium for the flash-based notebook, the VCG-TZ18GN, which will retail for $4,299.Sony made the announcement as part of its Sony Experience More trade show, which began yesterday with a retailer session and was opened to the media today.The TZ ultraportable notebook lineup also includes two other models – the TZ17GN (RRP $3,599) and the TZ16GN (RRP $2,999), both featuring an Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 processor (at 1.2GHz and 1.06GHz respectively), 11.1-inch ClearBright screen, Motion Eye camera, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM and Windows Vista Business.

While Sony claims the flash drive delivers superior battery peformance, its own specifications suggest the gains are rather modest. According to specifications provided by Sony, TZ models with standard HDDs achieve up to 11 hours battery life, while the flagship TZ18GN with a flash drive achieves 11.5 hours.Sony also launched the FZ series notebooks , which incorporate Blu-ray drives.

The flagship FZ18G features an Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 processor (2.2GHz), 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160GB hard drive, Blu-ray Disc drive, Windows Vista Home Premium and a 15.4-inch ClearBright high colour LCD screen.“Sony is pleased to introduce these new notebooks to the popular VAIO line-up,” said Sony Australia Senior Product Manager – Vaio, Hiro Ishikawa. “The FZ and TZ series will reinforce the Vaio traditions of AV/IT convergence, mobility and style.”