Elecom one2TOUCH NFC Keyboard | ¥18,690.00 | www.elecom.co.jp
you know what? you can really trust Japanese computer peripherals and accessories maker, Elecom to come with some rather quirky stuff. next up in its never-ending quest for quirky and novel products is this NFC-enabled silicon keyboard (model TK-FNS040BK) aka Elecom one2TOUCH NFC Keyboard. so what the heck is a NFC-enabled keyboard anyway? well, as its name implies, this keyboard uses Near Field Communication technology to talk to your NFC-capable Android-powered smartphone instead of the more conventional Bluetooth technology, thus saving yourself the hassle of pairing. all you have to do is to place your NFC-capable Android smartphone on the plain, flat surface of the keyboard (if you don’t where, it’s the space with the WiFi logo look-alike area of the keyboard) and you are all set. it is designed to be foldable for ease of storage and comes with its own nifty carry pouch for you bring it on the road. it all sounds good eh? but there’s a catch, a rather big one at that: it has a built-in non-rechargeable and non-replaceable battery that’s good for around a year and half, hence, once the battery goes dead, so is the keyboard. you may think ‘so what?’ you can always easily grab another, however, there’s an even bigger catch here: it cost a hefty ¥18,690 or about US$239, to own. wow. a disposable keyboard that cost $239? really? you got to be quite a hardcore tech fanatics to be taking a plunge on this baby. hit the jump for some larger views and a video of it in action.
