Posts filed under 'Portable'
By: Jeff Bordeaux
I always make my chain-smoking roommate wash his hands before touching my Xbox 360 controllers or to share a bowl of popcorn with me. I guess I’m a little OCD like that. Though I had no data to support these requests, I knew it was dirty. Recent studies have proven that Hospital Acquired Infections are on the rise and much of it can be attributed to keyboards and other related computer equipment that are in heavy use by multiple people. Along comes Seal Shield
to help quell the epidemic. Seal Shield makes a number of Antimicrobial products such as pens, mouse pads, mice and keyboards. I had the opportunity to test one of their keyboards and see how it performed.
So what is it?
The Seal Shield Waterproof Keyboard is a fully washable, submersible, antimicrobial keyboard. You can even put it in the dishwasher and clean it using standard dish washing detergent! How cool is that? After doing some additional research on this product I discovered that the average workplace keyboard contains up to 400 times more bacteria than the average workplace toilet seat. Makes sense, I guess, just never thought about it that way, as I’m sure most people don’t. You’d also never see signs about washing your hands after using a keyboard either. I also didn’t know that Hospital Acquired Infections are among the top ten killers of Americans each year. To combat the spread of germs, the Seal Shield utilizes silver ions embedded in the plastic, heavily preventing the presence of bacteria. There in lies the aim of Seal Shield, to prevent the spread of bacteria through a fully functional medical grade waterproof keyboard that can be cleansed and washed on a daily basis.
Besides the obvious, what are the Seal Shield’s features?
The Seal Shield connects to your computer via USB or the supplied USB to PS/2 converter. It doesn’t contain any USB inputs for additional devices such as a mouse or a Bluetooth attachment. Those used to the Apple keyboards may find this annoying as all current Apple keyboards have two USB inputs, though I’m sure it was an easy design decision as these keyboards were primarily built for PC usage. It also has a rubber cap to seal the USB attachment for washing. Beyond that, it has the full range of keys and options you would expect out of a PC keyboard including: adjustable two position height risers, sleep and power buttons, number lock, etc.
Well then, how was your field test?
The first thing I did was get this thing wet. I poured a pitcher of water on it and watched the beads of liquid gather. Next I fully submerged it in a tub of water, which just looked odd. Taking it out of the water, the keyboard drained itself from specific drainage points until the bulk of the water was gone. From there I left it out for the night to see if it would dry on it’s own. The next day it was about 95% dry with some water still collected around the base of some of the keys. The night after that I soaked it again and let it dry upside down for the evening. To my surprise it was actually less dry at around 85%. The day after that I dried it sitting on it’s side, which ended up also being around 95%. The instruction card provided had nothing in regards to a drying method so your guess is as good as mine. Fortunately, the residual wetness didn’t affect typing so who knows, it might not matter anyway. The Seal Shield felt a lot nicer than any keyboard you’d find in a public place (e.g. unemployment office, department store, etc), and it had a functional and ergonomic feel, complimented by smooth keystrokes.
Any Last Words?
Absolutely. The keyboard was designed for the medical workforce right? Wrong. It was designed for dirty environments, and who better than beer spilling college students to take advantage of such a device. In fact, anyone in close proximity to beer and alcohol could make great use of this keyboard. My roommate replaced two keyboards in college due to beer flooding. I’m sure the executives over at Seal Shield have already thought of this and are bringing a plan together, or at least I hope so after this review, to target high alcohol consuming households. In the end, a keyboard that you can put in a dishwasher, and clean on a daily basis should easily outlive any normal keyboard of comparable functionality.
Buy it here starting at $49.
Related articles:
Seal Shield Keyboard
April 28th, 2008
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been waiting for a car stereo head unit with a cassette-like
iPod dock. No more wires, just slip it in and bam, music. Unfortunately, that has yet to come to fruition, but Thermaltake is on the right track. They’ve introduced the World’s first desktop computer chassis with an integrated iPod dock, the Mozart iP. The front of the unit pops open like a tape deck and snugly fits an iPod (not compatible with the Nano or Shuffle, though). Also includes a remote.
Complete specs and info here.
[Gadgetgrid]
March 7th, 2008
Appropriately dubbed the Atom line, Intel’s newest family of chips measure less than 25 mm squared and draw just .6 - 2.5 watts of power. In other words they won’t suck battery life as fast as today’s chips and they’re ideal for mobile Internet and computing.
More info here.
March 2nd, 2008
MetaRAM, a company founded by AMD’s former CTO, claims to have invented a single DIMM 8GB RAM module. Currently DIMM RAM capacity is maxed out at 2GB. Its founders, Fred Weber, a former chief technology officer of AMD for a decade, and Suresh Rajan, a former Nvidia executive said they’ve used “a sort of 3D stacking technique to maximize how much memory fits aboard the chip, then using a proprietary controller to trick the host computer into thinking it’s an ordinary memory module”. Ultimately, and to MetaRAM’s point. the new 8GB single DIMM memory chips should cut the cost of adding new memory chips to servers by 90% - just replace the old 2GB chips without having to upgrade to new and often costly hardware. Expect MetaRAM’s memory modules to start showing up in servers at the end of ‘08, but don’t expect them in laptops anytime soon.
Via Digitaltrends
February 26th, 2008
If you’ve got the paranoid itch, then you might want to invest in one of these. The Teleport 2.0 is essentially a dongle that connects your phone to your computer via USB. The included software (Windows only) does the rest, recording the call and the number dialed or received. Looks like it won’t do cell phones, but a USB to USB version would be useful.
Available here for the uncanny price of $71.12.
Via DVice
February 13th, 2008
Penny pinchers rejoice! The Wattson displays your total power usage. Installation is simple and no professional needed. Just install the ’sensor’ at the home’s electricity supply and then carry the handheld wireless display wherever you go. Turn on the good old hair dryer and watch the numbers spike. The display has two modes: Wattage usage or money per year you’d spend for the appliances turned on. Lastly, the Wattson can be plugged into a computer and its information uploaded to the Internet where you can share consumption, tips and tricks.
Available at DIYKOTO and will cost you $687. If you live in the UK you can order here, but if not then you’ll have to contact them by sales@diykoto.com or 011 44 020 7729 7500.
DIY Kyoto Device [MakeZine]
December 15th, 2006
If someone told me that a turbine gas engine would end up inside a silicon chip a few years ago I would have told them their crazy. Hell, if someone told me today, I’d say their crazy. Well, some folks over at MIT - you know, the place where all those genius plans for technology are hatched - are a few steps away from accomplishing this. The gas turbine engine, which would be about the size of a quarter, would reside inside a silicon chip and would apparently run 10 times longer then today’s batteries of the same weight.
“The miniature microengine would be made using six bonded silicon wafers in which the compressor, combustion chamber, spinning turbine, and other necessary features are pre-etched into the individual layers of silicon. Inside the tiny combustion chamber, the fuel and air would mix and burn. The turbine blades, made of microfabricated materials, would spin at about 20,000 revolutions per second.”
According to MIT Professor Alan Epstein of the department of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, the chips will be ready for testing within a year’s time, and ready for market place in 3 years or more.
New Battery Technology Promises more and less [EETimes]
October 10th, 2006
Ok, so we don’t know a lot about this device as the AvingNews’ article isn’t clear. What we can tell is that this device is an extended battery for mobile devices. What’s odd is that Aving indicates that you can play roulette on it and also check your heart rate (see pic with thumb on sensor). The Paroos ET-1 will purportedly provide 2-3 times the standard battery life, but that is of course variable depending on what product and what you’re doing. Charges via USB, and we have no clue on price and availability.
April 7th, 2006
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