David Hill, of Lenovo’s Design Matters blog and head honcho of design, is conducting an official survey looking for input on creating a wireless ThinkPad keyboard.

A little over a month ago, Lenovo released an external keyboard based on the new design featured in the ThinkPad T400s. I’ve been using it the past couple days and it is quite nice (full review coming soon), but many were disappointed about the lack of a wireless version. Now David Hill is seeking input for the creation of a wireless keyboard, citing that while previous surveys indicated little interest in a wireless version, comments around the new keyboard seemed to indicate otherwise.

Now is your chance! Visit David’s blog post, linked below, and take the survey honestly. They do ask questions around pricing and how you would truly use a wireless keyboard. If you say you would pay $X more for a wireless version and later balk at the higher price, you’ve only hurt the chances of Lenovo opening up to customer feedback.

Stepping off my soapbox, I would love a wireless TrackPoint keyboard. I wouldn’t mind a touchpad as well, but in the end I want a way to type & mouse on my HTPC (currently an IdeaPad Y450) from the couch. My wireless trackball mouse works fine for mousing, but typing on the on-screen keyboard is a pain. The current ThinkPad USB keyboard is a very slim and light, so keeping the same general form factor would be perfect for me.

Source: [Design Matters]

Lenovo’s new ThinkPad USB keyboard with TrackPoint has surfaced on their website, but we still don’t have a picture of the new device.

A couple weeks ago we reported on the new keyboard, which by all indications was a refresh of the slick ThinkPad UltraNav keyboard (one of which I’m typing on). Based on the description, it appeared this would be based on the ThinkPad T400s’ redesigned keyboard, with larger keycaps that prevent stuff from getting beneath the keys and revised system buttons.

Lenovo’s product page doesn’t tell us much, but it does confirm the revised buttons:

Red backlit buttons for volume and microphone mute

We also know the dimensions measure 13.31 x 9.89 x 1.45 inches and the keyboard weighs 1.34 lb. Unfortunately the normally tiny picture is missing from this product page, although the price is rather nice at $59 with a shipment timeframe of 11 business days.

Take the jump and buy one, maybe wait for a special ecoupon for accessories, or stay tuned here for more details as we get them.

Lenovo ThinkPad Ultranav Keyboard - the old version

Lenovo has quietly announced a new version of their ThinkPad USB keyboard, and it appears to incorporate design cues from the slick new ThinkPad T400s.

Pictured above is the “old” ThinkPad USB keyboard, or ThinkPad UltraNav USB Keyboard as its officially called. The old ones were really based on the T4x ThinkPad keyboards, with the same style volume buttons, no Windows Start key, and a touchpad. There is even a “full size” version with a true number keypad.

The new version is officially dubbed ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint. There will be no touchpad included in this model, which should please ThinkPad purists greatly. It also includes the bottom-left corner Fn key and supports all of the Fn+F-key combinations you will find on the new ThinkPad T400s. It specifically has the new Fn+F6 “Change camera & microphone settings” combo, which no other systems have at this time. It is a safe bet that this USB keyboard will have the same exact key style and layout as the T400s keyboard, which hopefully includes the high class system and TrackPoint buttons.

Unfortunately this keyboard won’t be the best solution for people with older ThinkPads, as a lot of the Fn key support is for newer models only. You can view the breakdown of which Fn+F-key combo’s are supported by which systems after the jump.

The keyboard works with any Windows XP, Vista, or 7 installation and even has the little blue ThinkVantage button. However the best part of this keyboard is its price, only $59.99 (compared to $99+ for the “old” versions). It currently isn’t available on Lenovo.com for purchase, but hopefully will be soon.

One can also only hope that Lenovo has listened to the cry of its customers for a wireless version of this keyboard. It would be perfect for controlling my Lenovo powered home theater experience.

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