World’s thinnest keyboard unveiled by English company CSR

When it comes to technology, there’s no question that thin is in: we’re always on the lookout for a lighter smartphone, or a more svelte television set. But how about your keyboard? Once a soon-to-be-unveiled innovation at the IFA Berlin technology trade show is shown to the public for the first time next week, the super-thin keyboard you’ve been looking for may soon be a reality.

The Cambridge-based CSR, who have developed technology that appear in everything from Beats headphones to Nike+ running gadgets, have shown their ultra-thin keyboard for the first time, a touch surface measuring only half a millimeter in thickness.

Here’s a look at the tablet, as well as a behind-the-scenes making of it:

As the video explains, the tablet is printed onto plastic, meaning it would be easy to customize in numerous input languages if that was something the company using the technology needed.

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Paul Williamson, director of low power products at CSR, told The Guardian that this is a prototype, and the final product could come in many different forms, based on what companies that incorporate the technology need it for.

“We might see lots of shapes and sizes, some as small as iPad Mini or a larger, more rigid form for a desktop PC, which could be curved, in any colour way, transparent or fitted with a leather folio,” Williamson said.

According to CSR, the surface does more than act as a keyboard: it can also be used as a writing or drawing surface with a stylus, and can recognize gesture controls, which are now used by many kinds of tablets. It can even be used to store written notes in a tablet, if the user so wishes: you just need to place a piece of paper over top, write on that paper with a pen, and the connected keyboard will store the information.

The keyboard would connect over Bluetooth with the device using CSR’s Bluetooth Smart technology, which the company says only uses a fraction of the power to connect when compared with standard Bluetooth peripherals.

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