Art Lebedev Studios is ready to release the new Optimus Mini Six keyboard later this year. As the name implies, it is mini with six keys.

The device has six shortcut keys that each have a tiny color (64 x 64) LCD display. These LCD shortcut keys are smaller than its predecessor in order to reduce the overall footprint of this keyboard. Nothing on pricing or availability yet, but we will let you know.

As most of our readers know, Ctrl + O is a fast way to open files on your computer from your keyboard, so if you are looking for a geeky way to open your beer, the folks over at Art Lebedev have come up with one. The CTRL + O Bottle Opener.

It may not actually open your beer any faster, but at least you will be waving your geek flag nice and high for all to see. They are available for $18 each.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Art Lebedev, but now we hear that it has been working on a new companion keyboard for this year. The Optimus mini six is a keyboard-side companion like the mini three. We don’t have many details at the moment, but we do know that it will use the same in-key screens of the Optimus Popularis.

We also don’t have any idea on when it will launch either. The full-size Popularis keyboard was supposed to ship by the end of 2010 but was delayed by a “recent financial crisis,”. They will now ship the mini six ahead of the Popularis sometime in 2011.

Art Lebedev today said that the upcoming Optimus Popularis keyboard might actually be easier to use than its larger Maximus sibling. Each key is fractions of an inch smaller in every direction and the actual touch surface will run nearly to the edge of the key.

This will guarantee that the keys will be easier to hit as it will be virtually impossible to miss the sweet spot. The Popularis is expected to ship in 2011 and should be physically smaller and also cheaper than its $460 predecessor. It will likely still be a standard USB keyboard but will have both Mac and Windows software to let users reprogram the labels on the keys.

[Electronista]

Pour your favorite hot beverage into Art Lebedev’s Battery Mug and the indicator on the side will show you how hot the liquid inside is, as long as it’s above 96.8°F. As you drink it, the green indicator will show you how much is left, and if its temperature gets too cool, the green indicators will fade to black.

Art Lebedev does it again, taking something familiar and making it even better. This mug is just $28. You need this right?

Is this thing a clock for a stealth fighter. Nope. Just the latest concept from the folks over at Art Lebedev. The design is awesome as usual. It’s a laser beam clock called Reflectius.

In all, sixty rotating mirrors redirect a beam of light just to tell you what time it is. We hope that this one gets produced for real, because frankly it’s the coolest clock we’ve seen in some time. Even if it would likely cost a lot of dough.

This hat won’t allow you to pull an Easter rabbit out of it, but it does contain a USB hub. As the image shows, you can create your own rabbit ears using wires.

At long last struggling magicians have their own USB hub. Which is good news for them, because up until now their greatest trick has been making their own careers disappear. This might get them back in the game now that they have office jobs, allowing them to turn their cubicle into an office magic show. The cables magically plug into the hat.

The guys over at Art Lebedev Studio have just unveiled their latest conceptual design and all we can ask is just what are these guys smoking? Don’t get us wrong, we love everything they come up with, we just don’t know how they contnue to think this stuff up.

The Segmentus clock has hands just like an analog clock, it just has like 30 of them working together to produce a digital time reading.

Designer Art Lebedev apparently likes to take pictures of things that are not easily accessible. And so his new design concept called Fleximus, was born.

There’s a lens on one end and a compact peephole viewfinder on the other. Need a larger peephole? Just snap on Art’s larger viewscreen to give you a better look at things. We suppose it’s a good spy cam if you don’t need to be very stealthy. Maybe you can look through keyholes, from around a corner.

Transparentius is a simple and great idea. Just put a camera on the front of a large truck, then project that image onto the back of the truck. This makes the truck “transparent” for the driver behind, who now has much more information about what lies on the road ahead.

If you know what’s coming, you won’t get flattened like a pancake on the road when you try to pass. We don’t know how the rear projection is achieved or how sunlight glare factors in, but Art Lebedev usually has it all thought out. The real question is, how expensive would this be?

One day soon we might have wireless power, but until that day we will still have the necessary outlets all over our home. Art Lebedev’s Rozetkus 3D socket looks like a fairly normal socket, but when you push the button on top it pops out to provide five plugs.

This is definitely something we can all use with our many wired devices. There’s no info on possible release, but our guess is that we will see this one in homes soon.

The Art Lebedev Studio always comes up with stunning designs that have a great chance to hit retail. The Navigarius GPS concept is another home run. This GPS will feature touchscreen controls for easy navigation, USB connectivity, a microSD memory card slot, cigarette lighter adapter for use in your car, and a detachable stand.

It’s perfect for your futuristic dashboard. And it’s nice to see a round screen among a sea of squares. The only place square GPS units will get you is squaresville baby. It’s nice to visit, but no one wants to live there.

We’re big fans of Art Lebedev around here, so when we saw this USB hub jump off of the Dark Side of The Moon album cover, we knew A)the water cooler had been spiked or B) This was yet another awesome Art Lebedev original.

We aren’t sure what the deal is exactly, but it looks like it has some colored LEDS that make it look all prism-like. Hopefully it’s not just colored on the outside. Either way, it’s pretty awesome looking and makes us hear trippy tunes in our head.

Art Lebedev Studios has introduced it’s Luxofor traffic light prototype, with square lenses that are lit up by superbright diodes to make it them more visible to drivers and pedestrians. As usual, a million of you have slapped your head and asked “Why didn’t I think of that?”

The square light fills up the same space taken up by a round lens more completely. It’s just a concept right now, but the Art Lebedev team wants to cooperation with road safety councils and local authorities to improve and design road markings and signs. What will the team think of next?

We have some more info about Art Lebedev’s AUX keypad. The expected price is “around $650.” Also, that’s a final pre-production prototype pictured above. We’re hoping that this programmable OLED keypad will have at least limited availability by Xmas. We’ll let you know more when we know.