If you’re tired of replacing your keyboard’s batteries every few months, or even sick of sticking in the USB cable, Logitech has a novel solution: sunlight.
There are things we take for granted from our childhood, and solar calculators may well be one of the least thought of ones.
Spare a thought for the best kind of calculator you could use: the one that never ran out of charge. Even if you hadn’t been outside in forever with a super study session, you could always just turn on the light and give the calculator some artificial sun, which would give it the charge you need to keep going.
While solar can play a big part in the power in our lives today, it doesn’t usually get that much of a look in with everyday gadgets. There was once a concept solar-powered laptop, and you can find solar-based battery chargers, but there’s not a lot of solar power in our everyday gadgets.
Logitech is bringing back that vibe for a new keyboard, launching the K980, also known as the “Signature Slim Solar+”, a full-size keyboard with support for multiple operating systems, the Logitech Flow software on its MX mice, and Logitech’s “Options+” app to customise some of the shortcuts, one of which is an “AI Launch Key”.
Given we live in the era of the AI PC, this should probably come as little surprise, with the AI shortcut basically being there for ChatGPT and other apps, much like the Microsoft CoPilot key now that it’s a thing, as well. There’s no fingerprint sensor, but at least you have an AI key.
Used in the course of the regular day-to-day, however, the solar battery will just get recharged as per normal, providing as much as 10 years of life, telling you how long it will probably be until you need to get another keyboard.
However, the main draw of the K980 keyboard is the solar panel, which can provide up to four months use in total darkness once charged, with that Vitamin D-deficient approach to computing meaning you could work like a total vampire for a few months and your keyboard would keep going.
Australians can expect to find the Signature Slim Solar+ keyboard in stores now, priced at $179.95, while New Zealanders can expect it for $199.95 NZD.
