The Crayola EZ Type keyboard sure isn’t easy on the eyes. It’s great to use when you want your kids germy and sticky hands well away from your own keyboard. Alternately, it would be great for old people for the same reason, plus the colored keys are big and easy to read. Or maybe you just like your accessories to look like crayons. Either way, you can get it from Crayola for $29.99. Also great for those in clown college. I’m surprised they didn’t put that crayon sharpener on it somewhere like on the crayon box.

Do as many people use scanners any more? I don’t. But if I did, a flatbed scanner would take up a lot of desk real estate. When you do need a scanner, chances are a sheet-fed version would do the trick.

That’s where this combo comes in handy. Hailed as “The World’s Only PC Keyboard With Built-In Color Scanner”, this usb keyboard incorporates a bi-directional 600dpi color scanner that’s capable of scanning a full page document in 14-15 seconds. 5 seconds in gray scale mode. It’s a tad expensive at $159, but you save some space in your work area and are really paying for convenience.

The Luxeed multi-color LED keyboard is pretty awesome looking, but it’s been impossible to get outside Korea until now. Thanks to the folks over at ThinkGeek, you can bring one home. The keyboard is powered by 430 individual colored LEDs, which can all be sequenced using the included Windows software.

You can make any of your own colorful keyboard creations and it’s available in a black or white for $199.99 each. If you want a numeric keypad, it will cost an additional $34.99 to get one with no LEDs. It’s not the Optimus Maximus, but should make typing fun again. Check out a video below.

The way I see it, if sweaty palms are a problem for you, you can either keep a rosin bag next to your keyboard like Baseball pitchers use or you can get yourself a keyboard with air vents. Thanko has just such a keyboard, so stop being nervous and sweating through your hands already.

The Thanko Cooler USB keyboard works just like those bowling lane machines, with air vents to keep your hands dry. The built-in fan has a switch so you can turn it off whenever you don’t need it. Not sure how loud it is, but it will cost you $62.

The folks behind the Optimus keyboard never sleep do they? This time around it’s the Optimus Pultius with just 15 keys. It’s designed to be a peripheral that enhances your keyboard setup rather then a keyboard all by itself.

The Pultius will have tiny OLEDs on each key which will depict small logos to go with the key function and an extra usb port on back. It’s slated to be released at the end of this year or early 2009. No word on pricing yet.

Kinesis has dropped a pair of new accessories that will make their Freestyle keyboards more ergonomic. You be the judge. The Freestyle V3 accessory clips beneath the base of the keyboard and gives you three different slope settings, while the Freestyle Ascent Multi-tent will let you set each half in ten degree increments all the way up to 90 degrees. It will lock them in at the desired distance apart from one another and could probably let you use your keyboard as bookends if you wanted. The V3 costs $25 and the Ascent comes in at a whopping $200. Great way to play with your keyboard and type sideways.

Think you know your way around the keyboard keys blindfolded? Want to look cool to those around you? Why not type away on a keyboard that’s completely blank, with no numbers or letters. Your co-workers will marvel at your skills.

The Das Ultimate Keyboard is designed to be one of the fastest keyboards available with honest to god German-engineered gold-plated mechanical switches, but if you need to look while typing, you won’t be breaking any speed records. The Das Ultimate keyboard normally retails for $129, but if you pre-order now you can grab one for just $99.

Buffalo introduced their new BSKBW01SB solar powered wireless keyboard. It features a small and adjustable solar panel just above the number pad so you can better capture the sun’s sweet nectar. Maybe there’s only one tiny ray hitting your cubicle, if you get the right angle, you have power baby!

It also runs on batteries just in case you live in Alaska. It’s got 17 hot keys, does it’s thing in the 2.4 Ghz frequency and will give you a range of 10 meters. The keyboard will go on sale in Japan by mid July at a price of $135. You may be saving power, but not money.

Razer is a name synonymous with gaming peripherals like keyboards and mice to many gamers. I have long used Razer gaming gear and work routinely on my Razer Lycosa keyboard and really like Razer mice as well like the Lachesis.

Today Razer has announced a first—a gaming keyboard that isn’t being offered to gamers in America. The Razer Aurantia is designed and sold exclusively for gamers in china. Razer described the keyboard as a portable device. It has 104 keys, can record macros and store profiles for ten games on-board.

I’m not sure if Superman is a Mac or PC guy, but I do know that this QWERTY Glass Keyboard would look right at home in his fortress of solitude. Clark Kent on the other hand would have nothing to do with this. It’s called the No-key Keyboard by Kong Fanwen and it looks awesome.

Aside from being the flattest full-size QWERTY keyboard yet, it would be easy to keep clean. If it ever comes to market, you get the full glass surface, camera and lighting that uses motion capture technology to translate finger movements into characters on the screen. Of course, you’d want to treat it like the delicate piece of glassware it is, and be careful. And remember, it’s not a novelty plate to serve snacks on.

Everybody hates a loud keyboard. It annoys the person using it almost as much as it annoys those around you. The noise gets in your head and claws away at your brain. That’s why the ReallyCool Keyboard (As in, look at our name we’re really cool. Isn’t that clever? The keyboard is cool and so is the name. And it only took a minute to come up with.) is quiet.

As a bonus, it’s also waterproof, should you be inclined to go diving while tethered to your PC. It even sports backlighting, for those typing in the dark for some unknown reason. This keyboard is becoming quite popular in places where noise is a no no, so it must be easy on the ears. Be warned, quiet doesn’t equal cheap. It will cost you it’s $199, in black or cool gray.

The Optimus Popularis is growing up right before our eyes. Ahhh isn’t it cute? We’ve watched it go from mockup to a neat looking 3D prototype. It’s got a full-length display on the space bar and everything. I’m so proud of it.

They grow up so fast, but what can you do. Before you know it, they’re fully grown and set out with a price of their own. What do you think, will this be easier to type with? Hopefully it won’t take long to develop.

The first thing you notice about this odd keyboard is that it’s awfully small. And pink too. Sort of a Pepto color really. What is this, some kind of girlly thing that types out My Little Pony fantasies and spreads digital rainbows between little girls? Well, not really. But close. This 40-key USB pad is supposed to be used to convey your emotions in emoticons.

Perfect for those emo types addicted to instant messaging. The concept makes no sense, so it likely won’t get very far. I thought that the whole point to using certain characters was to save time. Now we have an extra device for it. Oh and did I mention the color is awful? Upset stomach pink is not our favorite color.

Sometimes keyboards don’t look all that typical these days. Just looking at this bright-colored flowery thing, I’m half blind and now feel all girlly. Where are my Polly Pocket toys? hmmm. I’d say this is a good alternative for those who don’t like the Optimus keyboard from Art Lebedev, but want something outrageous still.

The Nishi-Ki keyboard will save you a bundle in the process as it retails for $153. Each and every butterfly-lovin’ key is painted in tiny flower scenes, and the whole thing measures just a foot long, so it’s not for those with large hands. It looks like a large tile game.

The folks at Art Lebedev are busy little elves. They are working on a new keyboard that carries the Optimus name, but this time it will be smaller as evidenced by the above pic. It’s going by the codename Popularis.

There will be no OLED keys on this one, since it will be used on an entirely different principle although they did not mention what that might be. What we do know is that there will be 11 additional keys above the F-keys, and it will cost below $1,000.