Mad Catz Ships Unusual S.T.R.I.K.E.M Gaming Keyboard

Mad Catz announced on Wednesday that it is now shipping the S.T.R.I.K.E.M Wireless Keyboard. The device, sporting a small form factor designed for easy mobility, is ideal for Android and iOS devices as well as Windows and Mac desktops. The peripheral is available now for $99.99 in gloss black (shown above), gloss white and gloss red.

What sets this keyboard apart from all others is its unique shape, which roughly resembles the state of North Carolina. The compact and lightweight keyboard is slated to be your one solution for all Bluetooth devices and even provides an Optical Finger Navigation Mouse Sensor that allows the user to navigate a mobile device or connected TV with the same movements and commands when using a mouse on a PC.

"The OFN feature makes navigation and game play immediately familiar to mouse and keyboard gamers and anybody who has ever surfed the web," the press release said on Wednesday.

The new keyboard is powered by a rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery and promises up to 45 hours on a single charge. The device also boasts onboard memory used for storing multiple macro commands, a suite of dedicated media buttons, an embedded volume dial, and illuminated, adjustable backlighting. There's also a Bluetooth button to pair the peripheral to up to four devices.

"Perfect for web browsing and playing touch-based games, a built-in trackpad grants fingertip cursor navigation," Mad Catz said via the product page. "Move your finger over it and your onscreen cursor will behave as if you were using a mouse."

As shown above, the Optical Finger Navigation Mouse Sensor resides on the top right and features a "mouse" button on each side. All the other media buttons reside on the left including what appears to be two more mouse buttons, brightness control, Bluetooth, media management and so on.

Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

  • kyle382
    Dear, mad crapz, i will never forgive you for buying out cyborg and turning the rat 7 into a glossy turd bag of cheapness. please go away.
    Reply
  • a1r
    Can't imagine there'd be much a market for this. The games for Android and iOS rely mostly on built in accelerometers and slide gestures. You want a keyboard, buy a laptop.
    Reply
  • 24oz
    Dear, mad crapz, i will never forgive you for buying out cyborg and turning the rat 7 into a glossy turd bag of cheapness. please go away.
    I love my old Saitek Cyborg and when I need a new keyboard I will but something other than a mad catz product
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ
    in my opinion the Corsair K65 is a better option.
    Reply
  • dovah-chan
    Go back to making cheap 3rd party console peripherals instead. On an anecdotal note I actually used to own a mad catz dreamcast controller and it was garbage.
    Reply
  • FastGunna
    That is a terrible shape for traveling, it costs way to much for something that's going to be roughed up and I would never think a mad catz product would even survive traveling more than once. I wonder if mad catz will ever do anything good.
    Reply