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Component maker has exclusive contract on desirable "green" CHERRY Switches

Wrapping up one of the odds and ends of what we saw at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, we spent some time talking with Cooler Master, a top Taiwanese manufacturer, of computer components and peripherals.

Cooler Master is among the component makers to jump on the revival of mechanical keyboards.  It is offering a revamped series of keyboards this spring, with a broad range of responses.

Mechanical keyboards share a common component for the key-switches -- so called "CHERRY Switches" -- special switches manufactured by a subsidiary of German automotive electronics giant ZF Friedrichshafen AG.  Each kind of CHERRY switch has a different response and goes by a different color.  

Cooler Master has one of the broadest lines of keyboards in terms of different colors of CHERRY Switches.  It is offering a brown CHERRY, which offers a softer keystroke with "more bump".  It's also offering the very loose/clicky blue CHERRY Switch.  And Cooler Master has an exclusive contract to manufacture devices based on the green CHERRY Switch, a switch that offers a very nice feel that's akin to a more controlled blue CHERRY.

CHERRY green keyboard
Cooler Master has exclusive rights to the "green" kind of CHERRY Switch.

The company is pushing out a line of stands for Apple, Inc. (AAPL) products, supporting everything from the iPad to MacBook Pro laptops.

The company also showed off a new case, dubbed the ATCS 710 features a beefy 240 mm fan at its top and accomodates a full ATX board.  The ATCS 710 ships in Q2 at an undetermined price point.

ATCS 710
The ATCS 710 injects itself into the ATX budget-to-midrange case competition.

The reps also showed off an interesting hybrid closed-loop cooler dubbed "Eisberg".  Designed and engineered in Germany,.  A closed loop design, the unusual aspect is that the copper block also supports integration in custom cooling solutions via its g1/4 fittings.  In other words, it's an out of the box solution that can also be expanded on for later DIY projects.  

It will be sold in one variation as a block only, or alternatively packaged with a full 120 mm fan/radiator extension.  It will debut in Q2 in Europe, but will jump to the U.S. in Q3.

[All Images © Jason Mick and DailyTech LLC]

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By BifurcatedBoat on 1/16/2013 8:00:31 PM , Rating: 2
Every programmer I know uses the split ergonomic design, and we're the type of people who will pay for a quality input device.




By TakinYourPoints on 1/17/2013 1:35:19 AM , Rating: 2
Its a shame that split mechanical keyboards are such niche devices. They cost so much, but it seems like there is enough demand out there that someone could do a good job selling them at a mass market price ($130 or so).

An ergonomic split keyboard with Cherry browns seems like a no-brainer. I see enough posts on forums to see that the demand is there.


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