Best keyboard innovation 2014

[webwit]

Please suggest nominees for the Best keyboard innovation in 2014. You have to give a short motivation for each suggestion. The innovation must be newer than November 2013.

By voting in the third round of this category, you can win a pumpkin and arc reactor key from matt3o!

In this round you can earn multiple entries in the draws for voter prizes: if you are the first to suggest a particular nominee and the suggestion gets at least 5 votes in round 2, you get an extra entry in the draw for the prize by the sponsor of the related category. If your suggestion is voted as an official nominee and makes it to round 3, you get another extra entry.

The first round ends on Thursday 27 November, 00:00hrs UTC.

Current suggestions (this list is frequently updated):

• "Buckling spring with a cherry on top" converters by matt3o
• Mr. Interface's Alps<>MX adapters
• SP's Pimp My Keyboard for enabling some interesting little GBs
• NovaTouch TKL by Cooler Master/CM Storm
• Omron/Logitech Romer-G
• Blackberry Passport hardware keyboard with capacitive touch sensor

[Halvar]

Older than November 2013?

(and thank you webwit for personally putting all this work in)

Nomination: CM for the NovaTouch of course. Introducing the feeling of oneness with capactive rubber domes to the Western masses, with the added bonus of MX keycap compatibility opening to us the way of the spherical Topre keyboard.

[webwit]

Good catch! Fixed.

[scottc]

Nomination: matt3o's "buckling spring with a cherry on top" converters. I won't rest until I can wear space cadet clones on my Model M!

[Muirium]

Mr. Interface's Alps<>MX adapters are currently ahead.

Here's a wildcard: SP's Pimp My Keyboard for enabling some interesting little GBs. It has problems, but so does the NovaTouch. We're better with both of them than without.

[IanM]

Has to be the Novatouch - closer to my ideal of a proper keyboard that is also good for gaming than anything else I've seen. Cooler Master/CM Storm deserve a place on the shortlist for having the balls to bring this to market knowing that it could be tough sell because of the inevitably high price.

[bhtooefr]

I'm gonna nominate the Omron/Logitech Romer-G, even though I've not used it, and it's on an ugly keyboard.

First new keyboard switch design (as opposed to a tweak of an existing one) aimed at the mechanical keyboard market in, what, 15 years, and the first major one in 30? The big four (Cherry MX, Alps SKCM/SKCL (I'm including SKBM/SKBL in this), Topre electrostatic rubber dome, and membrane buckling spring) were all patented around 1983-1984, after all. And, it's the first mechanical switch designed specifically for backlit applications, rather than being adapted to it (MX RGB, Matias).

[davkol]

What about optical switches in A4Tech keyboards?

[bhtooefr]

Is that a nomination, or a reply to me?

If it's a reply to me, looks like it's actually based on Cherry MX (even though the switching is very different).

If it's a nomination, quite interesting, and it looks like it came out sometime around July or August 2014 in the Bloody B640 and B641.

[jacobolus]

Can someone explain what counts as an “innovation” for the purposes of this award?

[webwit]

There is no hard rule, check the OP for good examples.

[Cherry1990]

"buckling spring with a cherry on top" converters by matt3o

I think Unicomp should sponsor the work of matt3o... Would be a significant boost to sales the possibility to have modern or custom keycaps on old IBM springs...
Probably, for Unicomp, would be easy to do a small modification to their molds to adapt them to MX keycaps...

[pasph]

For Unicomp "easy" means 3 years time

[jacobolus]

Probably, for Unicomp, would be easy to do a small modification to their molds to adapt them to MX keycaps...

LOL. No. I promise you this will never happen.

[mtl]

This may be a little off topic, but the Blackberry Passport hardware keyboard with capacitive touch sensor is a pretty cool innovation.

[Muirium]

I'd say it counts. Blackberry could use a little recognition these days anyway!