Klingon keyboard a reality – other languages mere child’s play

28th January 2009

ES Admin

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ZF Electronics UK – formerly Cherry Electrical Products UK – is delighted to have been persuaded to turn what was originally conceived as a marketing gimmick into a real product. Last year the company announced the Klingon keyboard – as a spoof to demonstrate its capabilities in producing keyboards with non-standard language layouts including Hungarian, Kazakhstan, Maltese and Faroese (Faroe Islands).

However, due to a number of serious enquires, the company has produced a fully functional keyboard with Klingon characters which works with PCs running Windows, OS-X (Mac) or Linux, and is available at http://www.cherrykeyboardsrus.co.uk for £43.99.

Explains ZF Electronics UK MD Michael Groom: “We were trying to find a way of highlighting the fact that ZF Electronics, unlike many of the competition, can produce these emerging country language layouts at all, and in small volumes. We etch keycaps in Europe which means we can easily modify characters from a JPEG template. Our production process also means that it is commercially viable for us to produce batches as few as 120 pieces. So suddenly we can satisfy orders for keyboards of any written language on Earth, or beyond – as long as Windows, Mac or Linux can support it, that is!”

The Klingon layout keyboard is based on ZF Electronics’ NTK product – a well-established model that has sold more than 25 million units globally in multiple applications and in many language variants. Those readers with exotic tastes who might baulk at space travel might like to know that ZF Electronics’ most recent language layout order was for an Estonian keyboard.