Hey remember this thing from CES last year? I left my meeting with CharaChorder quite impressed by also with a lot of questions, and wanting answers that I am still curious about. Fast forward an year and some change, and it appears that the CharaChorder is actually up for sale somewhat? The render there is different looking from the original retail renders, and there is a 2-month lead time as well, but this has not stopped the company from putting up a more relatable keyboard form factor on Kickstarter.

Dubbed the CharaChorder Lite, it is a 60% keyboard that manages to squeeze in arrow keys in there too. But the most interesting thing here is no doubt the adoption of the company's patented "chorded entry" system that allows for chords and phrases to be typed in simultaneously, and not one one character at a time. I will reserve judgment on how easy it is to adapt to this system until I test a unit in person if possible, however the company is promising training modules for owners to help reduce the entry barrier. The CharaChorder Lite has already met its funding goals on Kickstarter, and comes available at a much more attainable price too compared to the original CharaChorder.

I'll admit that I came across this almost immediately after the DUEX dual-screen laptop monitors yesterday, but had to do a double take after glancing at this thing which took a day! Having just moved across multiple oceans, yours truly was in the mood for a UPS for the review test setup and this got my interest in more ways than one. BLUETTI had launched a 2000 Wh energy storage device last summer, which was pretty good timing for all the work-at-home and energy shortage experiences shortly across the globe, and the company clearly saw a need to go even bigger. This time, they have up to a 5100 Wh "portable" UPS/battery that can be charged by AC mains or even solar power.

The portability comes in the form of a fairly compact and energy-dense device on wheels, with the intention being to roll this over to wherever you want. The increased energy density relative to a typical UPS is indeed with a Lithium-ion battery, but one that uses LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) chemistry instead. LFP chemistry, for those interested, is relatively new to the battery market owing to challenges until recently in increasing the electrical conductivity, but offers advantages over most other options in not using nickel or cobalt, thus making it more eco-friendly, safer, and less costly, while retaining increased charge/discharge cycles at a usable efficiency. Indeed, the BLUETTI EP500 Pro claims 6000 cycles of use at retaining ~70-80% capacity at this point, which alone means you can run a small house for 15+ years should you find the means to charge it consistently too. The company is providing the means to hook it up to solar charging kits, as well as a fusion panel for 240 V operation from the 120 V units to run high-power machinery. Yes, it's complete overkill for my needs and yours, and at $2799+ on Kickstarter for the SKUs it is priced out for many DIYers too, but it's still interesting tech from a materials and engineering perspective that perhaps may interest some home owners here. Apparently others agreed with this already, seeing as how it met its goals within 24 hours and has a little under 2 months left to go to break some crowdfunding records. Hit the link in the source for more info if you are interested!

Continuing this series that began with the MSI gaming foot pedals, I came across Duex on Kickstarter today. Remember Razer's Project Valerie? It was the triple screen laptop concept shown off at CES 2017, but nothing came out of it from the company to this date. Duex, or rather Mobile Pixels Inc., first made the second-screen DUO that shipped in 2019, and then the triple screen TRIO that shipped last year and looks very bizarre and interesting to fit this series perfectly in my opinion. The company decided that their second-screen experience can be improved further, and have taken to crowdfunding again with two new models called the DUEX Lite and DUEX Plus,

The DUEX Lite is a 12.5" screen and the DUEX Plus a 13.3" model that also offers a few other features additional USB ports, an aluminium alloy frame, auto aspect ratio rotation, as well as increased compatibility with other mobile devices beyond laptops on an x86 platform. The screens are held in place on a magnetic base which allows them to be pushed back into the back of the laptop to make for a thick sandwich, as well as extended in either direction and pivoted to allow for a compact dual-screen experience on the go. The DUEX Lite has an advertised MSRP of ~$315 (their own numbers are off by $5 depending on the early bird tiers) and the DUEX Plus at ~$345, and currently can be had for much lower on Kickstarter as expected. Do keep in mind that the TRIO backers seem to have mostly received the package to their satisfaction, although some are still waiting and others have had issues. So if this interests you, please do some more reading on all this before backing the project, which ends in a little under a month from now.

[Editor's note: Our review can be found here for those interested]

Continued with the Ajazz K620T 1st Gen, Epomaker comes back with the Ajazz K620T Upgrade 2.0 this year. Featuring a minimalistic and sophisticated design, the K620T 2.0 is designed to be the ultimate solution to the perfect mobile typing experience. On top of all the features that Ajazz K620T 1st Gen has, the K620T 2.0 is hot-swappable with Bluetooth 5.0. This is on a call of the Epomaker community feedbacks after the K620T 1st Gen released. Being hot-swappable allows mechanical keyboard lovers to explore their favorite DIY experience and easily replace the switches with any other 3 pin switches. On the other hand, the bluetooth 5.0 ensures a better typing experience, expecially when users are on travel.

Designers and engineers have taken almost all practical needs of on-the-go typing into considerations when developing the K620T 2.0. Thanks to their effort, the K620T, which is a 60% compact keyboard, maximizes both utility and size while maintaining all of the necessary keys for a fully functional workflow. It comes with an integrated tablet stand so that smartphones and tablets with screen sizes up to 11 inches can easily sit in the dock. What's more, it can be switched in wired or Bluetooth modes by using the provided USB-C cable to connect it with the devices. After utilizing the latest iteration of the incredibly reliable and trusted Bluetooth 5.0 Chipset, the K620T 2.0 offers a faster and more accurate keystroke response. The unique chipset incorporation further allows up to three devices to be connected simultaneously as well as providing further transmission distances, no matter what operating systems the devices are. Combining with its 4400mA battery, the K620T 2.0 supports more than 880 hours of working time (without RGB backlit).

Some of you may have noticed I recently covered a Kickstarter keyboard, the Marsback M1, and there's another one just round the corner too. While looking at the Kickstarter link for more details, I went down a rabbit hole and found some fantastically bizarre items that maybe are worth a short series on. First up, and from MSI themselves, is the Liberator! What it liberates you from, or at least aims to do so, is the use of a keyboard+mouse combination for directional movement by instead offering foot controls in the form of a pedal. The tech in itself is not new, with several ergonomic designs come out over the years for those physically challenged or even just wanting to make better use of legs and improving circulation while sitting down for hours. This take, however, is my first introduction to a gaming foot pedal, because why not slap gaming on everything in addition to the mandatory RGB lighting?

MSI has been quiet about the Liberator, despite a supposed debut of March 16 (today!). There is a dedicated Facebook page for the product which is chock-full of hilarious marketing that you need to use, albeit in Mandarin, and Google Translate does not do it much justice either. This in turn leads to the Typeform page which, again in Mandarin, walks you through some of the salient features including three large pads with Omron-branded switches, game/macro compatibility with some AAA games including the Far Cry series in addition to some racing games, and localized pricing information that leads us to believe this will be a relatively expensive product (~$100 discounted on the crowdfunding platform, ~$140 otherwise) with the usual caveat of how directly converting foreign currency prices is best for an estimate only. What do you think about the MSI Liberator? Share your thoughts in the comments section and let us know if this is something you want to see announced globally.

Tundra Labs is a new company working on custom SteamVR positional tracking solutions. The company has recently unveiled its latest product the Tundra Tracker a smaller, cheap Vive Tracker alternative for SteamVR tracking. The open SteamVR tracking system allows any company to create products that are tracked by SteamVR Base Stations and simplifies VR accessory compatibility. The Vive Tracker and Tundra Tracker are both small SteamVR tracking devices worn by the user to more accurately capture movement.

The Tundra Tracker will be "60% smaller, consume about 50% less power, weight 50% less, and have twice the battery life," compared to the Vive Tracker according to Tundra Labs founder Luke Beno. While the product is a clear competitor to the Vive Trackers they will work in tandem meaning Vive Tracker owners can expand their tracking with Tundra Trackers and vice-versa.

Cooler Master, a popular maker of computer peripherals, has today launched a Kickstarter campaign for its latest project - a Raspberry Pi 4 case. Called the Pi Case 40, it is made from 100% aluminium and provides passive cooling to the Pi chip. Designed exclusively for Raspberry Pi 4, the case has precise port cutouts so every port is accessible. The case has a hatch on the side for GPIO cutout, however, the use of HATs is prevented as it gets blocked. The case is capable of providing sufficient cooling to the chip, and the design files are open source. With the purchase, you get the VESA mounting adapter so you can attach the case to anything with a VESA mount. If you sign up for the waitlist now, you get a 25% off discount, however, exact pricing is unknown.

Mountain just released their Everest Keyboard series on Kickstarter in March and now announces a new partnership with Plastic Bank, a social enterprise that offers an internationally recognized root cause solution to preventing ocean plastic pollution. Ocean plastic is a global crisis, with the equivalent of one dump truck load of plastic every minute entering the world's oceans, mainly from Asian countries.¹ At the same time, many communities affected by plastic pollution face high levels of poverty. Plastic Bank is empowering the world to stop ocean plastic. Plastic Bank builds ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities, and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global manufacturing supply chain.

"In this day and age everybody should think about our environment and what can be done to protect it.", said Tobias Brinkmann, CEO & Founder of Mountain. "We take our social responsibility very seriously and aim to do our part in preserving our precious planet. Minimizing the environmental impact of the production and distribution of each Everest keyboard played a large part in our design philosophy."

Rebuff Reality a virtual reality accessory company have reached their funding goal of $30,000 USD for their latest product the VR Ears in its first day and is currently sitting at $51,000. The VR Ears are an audio addon for several popular VR headsets including the Rift CV1, Rift S, Quest, original Vive (only with DAS), Vive Pro, Vive Cosmos, PSVR, Valve Index, and some Pimax headsets. The off-ear headphones clip onto the VR headset headband and attach via a 3.5 mm audio connector. The VR Ears are powered by an internal battery with a reported endurance of 8 hours and can be recharged via the onboard USB-C port.

The VR Ears are available via Kickstarter for an early bird price of $89 USD and are estimated to ship in December 2020. Stretch goals exist for $100,000 - $1,000,000 and include free headstraps, carry cases, cables and mics for all backers if reached. The campaign has 29 days to go and will end on May 22nd. As with any Kickstarter make sure your aware of the risks and proceed accordingly.

Everest is a fully customizable, mechanical gaming keyboard that is a revolution in choice. Brought to you by Mountain, Everest can be pre-ordered here, from 95€ ($90 / £85 - depending on exchange rate). The Everest keyboard is available in Barebone, Core (TKL) and Max versions. The new stretch goal enables a variant of Everest in Midnight Black, a deep black anodized aluminium design, if the campaign reaches at least 100,000€ before it ends on April 2nd. If reached, the stretch goal will enable every backer to choose between Gunmetal Gray and Midnight Black.

Many backers requested stretch goals and a large part of the community asked for an all-black version of Everest. Mountain's focus on the user-centric approach doesn't end with the product design. "We appreciate all the support we have received so far and continue to listen to customer feedback," says Tobias Brinkmann, Founder & CEO of Mountain. "With the incredible success of Everest on Kickstarter, it didn't take long until we received the first inquiries of stretch goals and a Black version was in particular high demand. We are all about freedom of choice and delivering products that customers ask for, so we are pleased to be able to do so with the Midnight Black Edition!"Support the Everest keyboard Midnight Black Kickstarter goal stretch here.

Available for pre-order today, Everest is a fully customizable, mechanical gaming keyboard that is a revolution in choice. Brought to you by Mountain, Everest can be pre-ordered here, from 95€ ($90 / £85 - depending on exchange rate). The Everest keyboard is available as the Core Version in TKL format and MAX version featuring the removable numpad and media dock.

Mountain's design philosophy is built on four pillars: Innovation, Performance, Aesthetics and Modularity. The Everest keyboard includes patent-pending features, designed from the ground up. Integrated display keys can be assigned to any game or application for a faster launch, the modular media dock with circular display dial provides unprecedented levels of control and allows you to monitor your system. The magnetic removable numpad and magnetic feet allow multiple levels of height adjustment for ease of use. The Everest keyboard is built to the highest standard - created from double-plated aluminium, combined with CNC-milling for added aesthetics.Back the Mountain Everest project on Kickstarter here.

The Input Club Keystone Mechanical Keyboard is an unparalleled leap forward in typing and gaming technology. It will launch on Kickstarter on July 16th, 2019 at 8 AM PST, at this link - kty.pe/keystone. The Keystone combines two new keyboard features - High Definition Analog Control and per-key fast Hall Effect (magnetic) sensing - for supreme performance. Our magnetic switch technology enables near-infinite customization, billion-press (Source: Honeywell Testing Article) durability (20x the industry standard), and analog control benefits for everyone. Full firmware programmability and RGB lighting round out its features.

This project is the future of mechanical keyboards. We believe that there is more to the main tool everyone uses for work, playing games, and connecting with others. Input Club is a group of engineers and designers who drive innovation in the field of input devices. The team formed in 2014 because there was very little innovation in the keyboard space. Our team has developed special mechanical keyswitches, open source keyboard firmware, and some of the more iconic keyboard designs to hit the marketplace. The Keystone is the next technological lead forward for keyboards - it is our flagship keyboard showcasing the best and most sought after features in a keyboard.

The Input Club Keystone Mechanical Keyboard is an unparalleled leap forward in typing and gaming technology. The Keystone combines two new keyboard features - High Definition Analog Control and per-key fast Hall Effect (magnetic) sensing - for supreme performance. Our magnetic switch technology enables near-infinite customization, billion-press durability (20x the industry standard), and analog control benefits for everyone. Full firmware programmability and RGB lighting round out its features. This project is the future of mechanical keyboards; join our waitlist to have the future of keyboards at your fingertips.

The Keystone brings novel features together to continue pushing keyboard invention further - with its SILO Hall Effect and High Definition Analog Switches. These are both keyboard switch technologies that have been produced in the past, separately, but this implementation takes them to the next level. With Hall Effect switches, instead of relying on a bending piece of metal for actuation, your keyboard tracks the movement of a magnet. This allows you to change when and where the keyboard receives the signal, while also providing a billion press switch lifespan that simply cannot be competed with.

Cooler Master, a global leader in designing and manufacturing innovative gaming peripherals and computer components, today announces the debut of ControlPad, the world's first PC keypad with analog Aimpad technology, designed for gamers, content creators, musicians, and more. "Designed as a passion project from the ground up, ControlPad aims to change the way we interact with our most used programs and applications on a more intuitive scale," says Bryant Nguyen, Peripheral General Manager.

ControlPad harbors 24 mechanical keys available in Cherry MX Red or Gateron Red switch types. It is fully programmable through easy to use software, has a removable wrist rest for ultimate comfort, two precision scroll wheels, fully RGB backlit, and finished in a sleek brushed aluminum. ControlPad is equipped with Aimpad technology that provides mechanical keyboards the precision control most commonly found in devices such as aviation joysticks, steering wheels, and gaming controllers, enabling analog control in digital inputs.

A Supreme Court decision last Thursday may be just what the doctor ordered for states' ability to collect taxes on online sales from a much wider variety of businesses. The decision, passed with 5-4 votes from the Justices involved, overrules previous understandings regarding the physical presence rule: essentially, that a business was only forced to collect sales tax and send it to the State it's operating if it had some sort of physical presence (be it warehouses or some such) in that particular state. If not, taxes were still due - but shoppers had to take the initiative of delivering their taxable amount to the state. That, naturally, very rarely happened, which led to reported billion dollar losses in tax revenue for a variety of US states.

Now, states have essentially been given the green light to pass laws requiring out-of-state sellers to collect the state's sales tax from customers and send it to the state. More than a dozen states have already adopted such laws even ahead of the court's decision, confident in the decision's direction, said state tax policy expert Joseph Crosby.

In the business world, companies fail all the time, and startups are no exception either. Ossic is the latest startup to make the headlines after announcing over the weekend that the company is shutting its door. The audio startup had successfully raised $3.2 million through Indiegogo and Kickstarter campaigns to produce their high-end "3D sound" Ossic X headphones. The headphones, which costed between $199 to $299, incorporated special head-tracking technology to deliver surround sound in VR environments. Apparently, they were also capable of determining the shape of the user's ears and customize the sound profile to match the user.

Ossic had received over 22,000 pre-orders over the company's life. Unfortunately, the company only managed to produce 250 pairs of their Ossic X headphones and delivered around a dozen of them to Kickstarters. As the well has run dry, Ossic has no other alternative but to cease operations. Kickstarter backers are extremely angry - and with right as they will not receive their headphones or refunds. A Facebook group with over 2,500 members threaten to pursue a class action lawsuit against the company.

exklim today introduced the eX Core , the world's first, portable eGPU that turbocharges your computer, turning any laptop or desktop into a powerful gaming rig. eX Core sets out to provide gamers, Bitcoin miners, students and on-the-go professionals with a lightweight, high-performance solution to run any application, at any time. The eX Core is now live on Kickstarter.

As games and applications are becoming graphically demanding, central processing units (CPUs) are being rendered useless. While CPUs may be fast enough to run a game, the graphics power is limited. The eX Core solves this problem by opening up the door for any computer to have the same high-end graphics or design capabilities as even the most advanced computers - at a fraction of the cost. It leverages NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1050 Factory OC at 1680 MHz and high bandwidth GDDR5 vRam to run the most graphically demanding PC games and video applications on the market.

The world's first waterblock designed for naked die cooling throws years of conventional wisdom out of the window. It features six unique patentable features including its "in-frame" mounting mechanism. The man behind NUDEcnc, Arek Tobiszewski has started this Kickstarter campaign in order to get a professional CNC machine, which will enable this inventor to deliver Ncore and other cool projects to the audience. He has been brave enough to send the Ncore for a review to Kyle Bennett from HardOcp; Linus tech tips; buildzoid, and Techlipton. Some of the reviews are already up, and are very promising.

Input Club, a computer hardware startup, is launching its new flagship mechanical keyboard -- Kira. Kira's condensed full-size layout, artistic RGB lighting and bespoke mechanical switches mark a step forward for typists around the world. Its Kickstarter campaignwent live on March 27, 2018.

Kira - a compact, full-size mechanical keyboard built without compromise.
Kira follows in the footsteps of the WhiteFox, a runaway success that generated $400,000 on Kickstarter. Coverage from Kotaku, The Verge, Tom's Hardware and many other publications propelled the WhiteFox into the media spotlight. Input Club's campaign was a grassroots effort from several enthusiast websites.

Compulab has taken to Kickstarter as a way to subsidize the development and production of its Airtop2 Inferno Mini-PC. This aims to be a be-all, end-all Mini-PC that enables high-quality gaming in a fanless, noiseless design. Its insides are positively bursting with top notch hardware: it'll be powered by an Intel i7-7700K (95 W TDP) and the desktop version of Nvidia's GTX 1080 (180 W TDP). If it ever begins actual production, that is; nothing against Compulab, but Kickstarter itself seems to have one too many of these cases popping out.

Compulab's solutions use their metal side panels as "immense" radiators to dissipate the heat buildup inside the chassis. A number of heatpipes and air channels are built into these side panels' structure, so as to allow for better heat dissipation and usage of natural warm air convection. Besides the top of the line CPU and GPU, the Airtop2 Inferno packs a C236 chipset motherboard (a Z170 equivalent). It's possible to install up to 4x DIMMs, 4x 2.5" HDD or SSD solutions, and 2x NVMe SSDs.

TwoEyes Tech is a startup that has developed a binocular 360-degree field-of-view VR camera that captures images using two pairs of fisheye lenses arranged 65 millimeters apart, just like the eyes of a human, thus allowing for a more comfortable VR experience. TwoEyes Tech, a member company of the K-ICT Born2Global Centre, made sure that the VR images it produces mirrors human eyesight by taking the standard distance between human eyes into consideration when capturing the images. As a result, the images show a three-dimensional representation of the world as people see it. In only one filming session, the VR camera captures 360-degree 3D video that can be viewed on VR headsets, smartphones, computer monitors, and 3D TVs. The videos, in full HD, 3D, and red-cyan mode, can be converted from and into 180-degree and 360-degree content, meaning that a single recording can be converted into six different types of content.

Moreover, filming with the camera is quite easy. When held horizontally, the camera records in binocular mode; when held vertically, it records in monocular mode. The recordings it produces can be viewed immediately on a smartphone or uploaded to social media.

Samsung Electronics unveiled the concept of the FITT360, a 360-degree wearable camcorder, last year. The K-ICT Born2Global Centre announced that accelerated and spun off from Samsung Electronics with this concept developed, LINKFLOW is bringing this state-of-the-art technology to the market via Kickstarter with full details to be disclosed. FITT360 is wearable around the neck all day with its light and portable design. Ergonomically designed to fit everybody while keeping it unobtrusive with its sleek neckband form, FITT360 is rain-, snow-, heat-, and shockproof to endure users' life. With patented image stabilization, live stitching and streaming functionality, FITT360 opens up possibilities for tele-presence and life streaming scenarios. With life logging in mind, the built-in GPS enables users to keep their personal 360 video-logs within the companion mobile application.

Star Citizen is easily one of the greatest success stories of our times. Even though the game is currently in the alpha stage, Cloud Imperium, the company behind Star Citizen, managed to raise over $168 million through crowdfunding. However, the amount raised doesn't seem to cut it as the developer has decided to implement even more microtransactions into the game. Cloud Imperium has considered it necessary to start selling virtual parcels to their intergalactic citizens as another source of income. According to the company, the money will be reinvested into the game's development. If there's a particular planet, moon or asteroid that you would like to colonize, now is the time to break your piggy bank. However, it won't be cheap. You've been warned.

The current market price for a 4 km by 4 km lot is $50, while the bigger 8 km by 8 km lots are going for $100. As a Star Citizen landowner, the player will be rewarded with a fancy GEOTACK planetary beacon. This beacon prevents other players from invading the owner's property, while also serving as an aid for owners to find their way home. Cloud Imperium is kind enough to give the player complete freedom to what they want to do with their property. So, it's up to the landowner to decide if he wants to use the land to build a cozy home or put a business on it. Do you have some extra money lying around? Invest it in a virtual piece of land to start building your patrimony today!

Wekey Pocket 2 is a full 64 key Bluetooth keyboard that can be folded to fit in any pocket. With a standard QWERTY layout and typing feedback, the Wekey Pocket 2 allows for a more intuitive and efficient typing experience, especially for users who prefer a physical keyboard. It's compatible with all portable smart devices including smartphones & tablets. The keyboard measures just 3 mm thick, when opened, and weighs only 95 grams. With a foldable design, Wekey Pocket 2 is 176 mm in length when folded making it no longer than the palm of the hand. With one full charge, it can be used for over a month (average 1 hour continuous usage per day).

Wekey Pocket 2's core specifications are made possible by Woorin's patented wearable PCB technology. Wearable PCB technology allows for intricate circuit patterns to be printed on flexible films or fabrics without risk of structural damage. Beyond circuitry, Woorin also developed a Force Sensing Register (FSR) sensor to allow for tactile type-feel feedback to the fingers. This FSR technology is also applied to Wekey Pocket 2's new 3D touch pad. Control without ever touching the screen, with remote control capability up to 10 meters.

TUNAI Creative has once again come to the technology forefront with the development of their new product, DRUM. They are known for bringing to the world products such as FIREFLY, which is the tiniest Bluetooth music receiver that allows for easy upgrade your car and home audio systems and CLIP, the award-winning Bluetooth headphone amplifier that upgrades any wired headset into a wireless headset. With the successes of FIREFLY and CLIP, there has been a demand for TUNAI to create a compatible headphone that is small and with great sound which is how the in-ear headphone DRUM was created.

DRUM is a high-resolution bass enhanced audiophile earphone that is engineered to deliver well-rounded sound throughout the audio spectrum including clear, high-end, rich mid-range and powerful bass. It is designed to meet the latest high-quality audio standards established by Japan Audio Society (JAS). Unlike regular in-ear headphone designs using small to medium size drivers DRUM has been modified to use a larger 13mm dynamic driver for richer, more powerful bass and wider soundstage.