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Poser keyboard ships: Bluetooth and laser.

It's nearly a year since excited reviewers tried out the laser keyboard. That is, the keyboard that doesn't exist; it's just a laser-drawn picture on the table. And finally! - it's shipping.

Most users will be Palm or Symbian phone/PDA owners who aren't good at predictive text.

The good news sort of runs out with that. Unless someone has done something magical with the device between review prototype and shipping sample, the battery on it won't even last as long as the battery on a beat-up old PC notebook - less than two hours. And the price hasn't come down: it's still no change to count out of $200.

The world-wide distributor of the Hutchison-made device calls the $199.99 price a "special sale" price, and won't see battery life as a crucial factor, because this (as one reviewer put it a year ago) is not a keyboard for everyday full time typing.

It is, rather, a "poser" device. The big advantage with the virtual keyboard, wrote reviewer Riyad Emeran, "is that I can almost guarantee that wherever and whenever you take it out of your bag, people around you will just stop and stare – ideal for showing off in the executive departure lounge."

Or take Jack's review on Mobility Today: "I did find the need for a stand while entering text. I tried leaning my iPAQ against a book but it just wasn't the perfect situation. SO I decided to take a trip to my local Gift Store to see if they had any stands. They did, it was absolutely perfect, and it only cost $2.00 so I bought two; one for my desk and the other to keep in my SCOTTeVEST. It is adjustable and will fold flat for transportation."

Or you can see a Macromedia Flash demo of the device created by PocketPCCanada, where the reviewer now carries a wooden toothpick around, because he found he had to reset the keyboard processor every so often.

  Tags: Bluetooth, keyboard