LAB TEST
CELLUON MAGIC CUBE Available: iSpace (Price: TBC)
EMOTION
THIS month we bring you one of the most instantly impressive and futuristic gadgets we’ve ever seen! The Celluon Magic Cube is a fantastic Bluetooth device that projects a virtual keyboard and mouse on to your desk, and then uses infra-red sensors to detect your finger movements to translate your typing on to the device it’s paired with. It can connect wirelessly with iPads, iPhones or even PCs via USB, and is set up within minutes. You simply enable Bluetooth on your device, which will detect the keyboard. You then pair them up, and presto! The keyboard looks fantastic, with all the keys and letters outlined in red with a laser projector, and is clearly visible even in a brightly lit room. Switching between the keyboard and mouse is very simple, with a tap of two keys, but the drawback is that you can’t use both at the same time. It’s a visually appealing gadget, with great “Wow” factor, and will impress anyone within a ten foot radius when you pull it out of your bag and start using it with your iPad. Expect lots of “Oohs” and “Aahs” and interested questions. However, once you get over the initial excitement, that’s when the problems start to arise. First off is the typing efficiency.
Happiest human ever
While typing on the Magic Cube’s virtual keyboard is much easier than typing on an iPhone, it’s no way near as responsive and precise as a normal keyboard. Touch-typing at normal speeds simply doesn’t work. You also have to type in a strange fashion that you won’t be comfortable with until you get used to it. When you touch-type normally, your fingers are spread across the keyboard more, and you press each key with the flat tips of your finger. If you do this with the Magic Cube, it gets confused, so you have to type with the very end tips of your fingers, and tap each letter quite
MAGIC CUBE EXPERIENCE-METER “Wow, it’s so cool, it makes the virtual keyboard right on the desk! This is the future people!” “While it does beat typing text with your fingers on an iPhone, it’s no way near as efficient as a normal keyboard, but it’s a great sign of things to come.”
Very impressed
Pleased
soundly to make it work, which doesn’t exactly allow for letting your fingers fly across the keyboard! However, once you do get used to it, you can type reasonably fast. The next major gripe is the battery life. 2.5 hours is what they claim, which itself isn’t too impressive. However, given that this will also deteriorate with time, it will become bothersome having to recharge it all the time. This gadget is important in that it’s the first of its kind to hit the retail market, and is a good sign of things to come. We love futuristic devices like this, but for the time being, we’ll wait to see how it develops.
“The device is very compact, taking up barely any room on the desk, and it’s set up with the minimum of fuss.”
Indifferent
Ouch!
“Ah, well, the typing experience isn’t topnotch. You can’t type at a usual touch-typing speed without the text coming out wrong.”
PROS
TIME
-Very compact -Great “Wow” factor
CONS
-Typing efficiency isn’t great -Short battery life
B-
FACT QATAR JULY / AUGUST july Issue qatar.indd 35
35 7/4/12 3:26 PM