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When it comes to keyboards, I tend to be a bit of a luddite (in a sense) – I just take whatever comes along with what the machine has, or whatever external keyboard is provided at the office. If I wanted to annoy my co-workers with my music, though, something like the Knewkey Rocksete would definitely be worth checking out.
Before all of that, though, it’s the retro-futurism of the Knewkey Rocksete that caught my eye. With the circular raised keys, this looks like it was ripped from the pages of a typewriter catalog of the 30s. Interestingly, those keys give you some options. You can run them in their standard mode – which is quieter, and allows you to hear the speakers – or you can run them in a louder, more clacky setup.
Speaking of speakers, the Knewkey Rocksete is bringing some big guns to the table, at least in terms of the name attached – JBL. That said, they are two 5W speakers, so they’re not going to replace your main setup. But, for a bluetooth speaker set, they’ll probably get the job done for, say, listening to podcasts as you pound out some articles. Bluetooth is also how the keyboard attaches to your device – up to three of them (you can also use a wired connection, if you wish). In practice, that sounds great, as you could potentially switch between devices easily to type things out.
The physical shape of the Knewkey Rocksete is also of note, as you’ve got a built-in stand to hold your phone or tablet. They’ve also got an add-on stand that will allow you to set a laptop on top, which is the more interesting configuration to me. Getting that screen up a bit higher, while allowing you to type at a more natural position, sounds like a good combo.
The Knewkey Rocksete is supposed to be live on Indiegogo, but I, for the life of me, cannot find on there. They do have a product page on their site for it, which I’ve linked at the end of this article. Is it a good keyboard? I’ve no idea – but at $199 for the non-backlit version, or $239 for the light-up-the-night variant, it had better deliver one heck of a pleasurable typing experience. knewkey.com
UPDATE: We heard from the brand that the campaign stumbled out of the gate, and as such was cancelled. There’s potential for it to be released direct on their site early next year, but for now, it’s in the wind.
