Kinesis debuts Freestyle Solo, the first fully-separating keyboard for Apple Mac

Kinesis today announced the Freestyle Convertible keyboard family for Macintosh. The award-winning design is the first Macintosh keyboard to completely separate, providing several configurations in one modular design. The separation feature is a key element for improving workstation comfort and reducing injury. Kinesis also added an assortment of driverless hot keys, a new feature which is unique among mainstream computer keyboards.

The stylish Freestyle family consists of the Freestyle Solo keyboard and two accessory options. The Freestyle Incline accessory provides simple but powerful adjustability, while the Freestyle VIP accessory enables additional adjustments including complete keyboard separation. Options are offered separately, enabling individuals and organizations to add features at any time.

Kinesis President and CEO Will Hargreaves, PhD, explained the importance of bringing this product to the Macintosh market in the company’s press release: “We are very excited to provide the simplicity, comfort and flexibility of the Freestyle family to the Macintosh market. As consumers spend more hours at their home and office workstations, they better understand the importance of advanced keyboard design features in maximizing productivity, ensuring comfort, and avoiding overuse injuries.” Hargreaves added, “For too long, Macintosh users have not had the choice of an aesthetic, versatile, Mac-optimized alternative keyboard. We designed the Freestyle product family to provide a new level of elegance and comfort to Macintosh users everywhere.”

The heart of the Freestyle family is the Solo keyboard. A familiar compact key layout makes adaptation a breeze, but that’s where traditional keyboard design ends. The Freestyle’s unique design features include:

• Numerous Comfort Configurations in One Modular Design: the keyboard width easily adjusts to the body size and preferences of each user. Two keying modules are connected by the flexible Pivot Tether, which allows infinite adjustment of the front opening angle (splay). Sliding a button to remove the Pivot Tether allows the two modules to completely separate up to 8.5 inches, accommodating a range of shoulder widths (optional model provides 20-inch separation).

• Productivity-Boosting Hot Keys: Unprecedented productivity is achieved with the driverless hot keys, which reduce awkward key combinations and excessive mouse clicking. Ten left-side hot keys include Web Page Forward and Back, Beginning of Line, End of Line, Cut, Undo, Copy, Select All and Paste. Top Row driverless hot keys go well beyond the special function key actions on the new Apple keyboards, providing one-touch keys for Force Quit, Brightness, two Expose actions, Dashboard, Play Audio and Audio Volume groups, toggle Dock, Eject CD, and Off/Sleep.

• Snap-and-Go Incline Accessory (Freestyle Incline(TM) Kit): transforms the Freestyle Solo keyboard into a moderately-tented keyboard providing all of the ergonomic benefits of a Microsoft “natural-style” keyboard but without the long reach for a mouse! A 10-degree lateral slope (“tenting”) relaxes your forearm muscles while the fully-adjustable (and lockable) front opening angle (splay) keeps your wrists straight and comfortable. The Solo keyboard mounts easily onto the Incline base. Snap-on palm supports with replaceable palm pads are included to ensure that wrists are neutral (straight) and comfortable at all times.

• Sturdy, Advanced Ergonomic Accessory (Freestyle VIP Kit): The VIP kit (V-Lifter and Integrated Palm Supports) provides adjustable tenting, variable splay and/or complete keyboard separation. The VIP accessory clips on in seconds and provides rock-solid support of the keyboard at 10 or 15 degrees of tenting, with or without the pivot tether installed. The integrated, padded palm supports ensure that wrists are always neutral.

Additional features include:

• Low-profile design, which promotes neutral wrist posture.
• Narrow footprint, which allows for closer reach of a mouse.
• Double-wide Escape, Delete, and Backspace keys, which enable faster editing.
• Quiet and tactile key switches with a special low force, which reduces typing effort.
• Plug and play (no special drivers) and fully compatible with OS X 10.4 and newer operating system versions.

According to Jon Biggs, Kinesis Director of Sales and Marketing, “Our design objectives in creating the Freestyle Convertible keyboard family were (1) to provide the widest possible array of ergonomic features without complex or costly mechanisms, and (2) to provide a flexible configuration in order to meet a full range of user needs at the lowest possible cost.” Biggs added, “We accomplished these goals by creating a modular design which allows users to pick the features they need, and to easily change configurations as needs change.”

The Freestyle family was initially introduced to the PC market in 2007. With both PC and Macintosh models now available, corporations which are increasingly using Apple computers can standardize on the Freestyle Convertible keyboard family for both PC and Macintosh. They can benefit by maximizing both comfort and productivity for all their computer users, even when needs and users change. A common key layout eliminates learning curves when employees change assignments or locations. And the IT department is spared the cost and challenge of installing and maintaining the special drivers which are required for other keyboards with advanced key actions.

The Kinesis Freestyle keyboard family is both innovative and effective, as validated by ergonomics professionals attending the recent National Ergonomics Conference. The PC Freestyle model was awarded the “Attendees Choice Award” (Dec 2006) as one of the products most likely to increase productivity and profitability while improving workplace health and safety.

Suggested retail price for the Freestyle Solo keyboard is US$99 and $40 for either accessory kit.

More info here.