Peripherals - Page 41

The new line of hard drive docks from XIGMATEK are called the Secure III and are USB 3.0 compatible. The USB to SATA converter allows for transfer speeds up to 5Gbps, almost as much as the SATA3 spec calls for. This means its compatible with SATAII/III HDDs and SSDs of up to 3TB in size. It does all of this while looking great.

The features, as provided by XIGMATEK, are as follows:

A good keyboard can make all the difference in the world for a typist. Every person likes something slightly different, whether it be red or blue Cherry switches or the newer keyboards without switches. That's why companies make so many different models--to give you the choice to see what works best for your hands and typing style.

Das Keyboard has announced the release of a new Professional Model S that comes with the added functionality that media keys bring to a keyboard. They say that "fans have asked for a Das Keyboard with media functionality for a while now" and that this is the reason they have crafted this keyboard.

Microsoft will release Windows 8 on October 26, and have today unveiled a bunch of accessories that are designed to work with the new operating system. Microsoft unveiled five new products which are made up from two Bluetooth-enabled keyboards, and three wireless mice. All of the accessories will be made available from Microsoft's online store, as well as the usual retailers, and will be priced from $49.95 to $79.95.

First up there's the Wedge Mobile Keyboard. It's a stylish Bluetooth keyboard that has been made specifically for tablet use, sporting a slim design with Win 8 hot keys for quick access to search, device settings, and more. It includes a protective that can be folded at different angles, so that you can use it as a stand for your tablet. If it's placed over the keyboard, it will power down the Windows 8-based device in order to save battery. The Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard will be priced at $79.95.

Next up we have the Wedge Touch Mouse, which looks like a treadmill. The Wedge Touch Mouse is small enough to throw in your pocket, and sports four-way touch-scrolling to make navigating Windows 8 nice and easy. The mouse also features technology that allows it to be used on virtually any surface, as well as a battery-saving mode. It will be priced to $69.95.

Sharkoon has released a new gaming keyboard at CeBIT at an affordable price. I'm always amazed at the prices charged by some companies for gaming keyboards as I figure there is no way it can be that much better. This new gaming keyboard, the Skiller, features 18-key rollover, interchangeable WASD and cursor keys, and software for creating up to ten keyboard profiles.

With all those features, you'll be surprised to learn that it comes with an MSRP of only 14.99 euros, which works out to about $20 USD, give or take 0.25. The keyboard features a stunning visual design that includes a striking geometric design and a blue illuminated Skiller logo in the palm rest.

The company explains the features and how it is customizable: "With its programmable keys and profile memory, the Skiller is an extremely versatile companion that quickly adjusts to all changing areas of operation: Through the enclosed software all standard keys can be assigned frequently used individual functions or macros. The configuration supports the creation of up to ten profiles, each with three sub-levels. This allows an optimal keyboard layout for a variety of different applications and gaming environments to be created with only a little bit of effort."

Remember the free-to-play mech game Hawken? Well, after seeing the MEK-FU controller you won't... the USB-based controller was unveiled at E3 last week and is designed by new accessory company RIPLEIGH. CEO of RIPLEIGH, Chen Yisheng has told Destructoid that his team did a lot of research in order to get to the MEK-FU, going as far as having a guy on the team that used to drive tanks in the military.

MEK-FU sports two joysticks, lots of buttons, flip switches, and is fully programmable. There's even a full keyboard on the thing! The MEK-FU is also capable of taking a mobile or tablet device that acts as a secondary display, or the main screen, that works with Hawken thanks to the Gaiki streaming partnership.

Hawken drops in December and the MEK-FU should hopefully arrive soon after. How much would you want to pay for this controller? I'm loving the idea of using a smart device such as a tablet as a secondary display, I've been waiting for a game developer to do this since the iPad was released.

Microsoft have announced that they've released version 1.5 of the Kinect for Windows runtime and SDK. They've also announced that Kinect for Windows hardware is now available in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.

As of next month, Kinect for Windows hardware will arrive in 15 more countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Once this is done, Microsoft will have Kinect for Windows available in 31 countries around the world. The company have also added more capabilities to Kinect that help developers build amazing applications:

On top of this, they've improved the skeletal tracking capabilities:

Soldiers have their guns, pilots have their planes, congressmen have their pens, and gamers, well, they have their mice. A good mouse is critical to gaining the advantage in an online game, a place where everyone is extremely competitive. This is why companies like ROCCAT produce mice like the new Savu, to give gamers the advantage in a game.

Not only will a new, high quality mouse give you an advantage in an online game, but this mouse will give you that advantage in style. You see, this new Savu mouse features a lighting system that allows up to 1.8 million different colors. The device also features changeable DPI resolutions all the way up to 4000DPI.

The feature list is quite extensive, so I'll post the press release below. The mouse, with more information, is available at ROCCAT's site.

Fractal Design always has cool looking products and today's launch of the new Adjust 108 is no different. Fractal Design often uses metal in the products they design and, once again, today's launch is no different. The new Adjust 108 is a fan controller which can manage up to 6 different fans from one 5.25" bay.

The device has some other unique features that I have never seen on any other device. One of the coolest and most useful features is that it features a jumper to change the intensity of the LED. This is something that I have often wanted on many cases and other devices, so for it to finally be included on something is awesome.

The device can also give you more information in a glance than other devices through its use of dual-colored LEDs. If the LED below a fan slider is white, it means the fan is operating at a low RPM. If the LED is blue, then it means that the fan is operating at a high RPM. Of course, the device is clad in brushed aluminium to give it a clean, simplistic look.

USB flash drives can be hard to hang onto sometimes. They always seem to disappear at the worst time possible. And I'd venture to guess that most people don't run any sort of encryption on a flash drive. This new device claims to be the "only USB storage drive that protects its contents with a password spoken by its owner."

But, what if you have a cold or are in a room with other people? Don't worry! The flash drive features a back-up text version where you can type your password instead. This is for those times where you have laryngitis or just forgot the spoken password. At 8GB, it's not the largest drive on the market, or the best looking, but it certainly is cool.

If you make security easier, such as this, then people are more likely to use it. And since it analysis the voice along with the password, just knowing what to say won't allow access. Unfortunately it still has a text-based password which could get out and compromise security, but it's still a novel device to show your friends.

If you want to be a champion gamer, you better have some good hardware to support you in your quest to be the best. There are many different mice and keyboards built for the sole purpose of gaming, and today sees the announcement of another. Genius has announced a new mouse in its line of GX Gaming.

The new mouse looks pretty sleek. It features five programmable buttons and can handle 21 macros to give you an edge in whatever game you may be playing. All of the settings are stored in on-board memory so that they move with the mouse rather than stay with the computer. Additionally, it features 4 different DPIs that can be changed on-the-fly via the mouse.

The full text of the release is below.