Das Keyboard is excited to release the second generation of the 5Q keyboard, the 5QS. The Das Keyboard 5QS is a smart RGB mechanical keyboard that helps boost productivity by displaying information (e.g. weather, stock quotes, etc..) in color on the keyboard’s keys.
The Das Keyboard 5QS key features
- Das Keyboard Q technology built-in to enable smart RGB notifications
- Ultra-bright RGB lighting
- A built-in RGB profile editor with pre-configured profiles
- A built-in macro editor to replay recorded keystrokes
- Gaming mode with full-NKRO
- 100M cycle mechanical key switches with Das Keyboard Gamma Zulu switches (made in Japan by Omron) with centered LED light pipe
- Detachable palm rest
- Q volume knob changes volume & previews notifications
- Anodized aluminum top panel
- Windows & Ubuntu support. Built-in Mac mode.
Here are some of the built-in RGB profiles:
- Rainbow pattern (Press Fn + 0 on the number pad to set, hold Fn + 0 to cycle through rainbow pattern):
- Blue RGB Profile (Press Fn + 1 on number pad):
- Green RGB Profile (Press Fn + 2 on number pad):
- Red RGB Profile (Press Fn + 3 on number pad):
- Solid color rotation (Press Fn + 4 on number pad)
- Slow solid rainbow rotation (Press Fn + 5 on number pad):
- White finger imprint. (Press Fn + 6 on number pad or Fn + Print Screen):
- Orange RGB profile (Press Fn + 7 on number pad)
- Yellow RGB profile (Press Fn + 8 on number pad)
- Light Blue RGB profile (Press Fn + 9 on number pad)
- Purple RGB profile (Press Fn + / on number pad)
- White RGB profile (Press Fn + . on number pad)
Das Keyboard Q desktop software can be used to configure additional RGB profiles. Here are some of them:
- AutoCAD RGB Profile:
- Best typing position (QWERTY) RGB Profile:
- Counter-Strike RGB Profile:
- League of Legends RGB Profile:
- Texas Longhorns (orange) RGB Profile:
- Photoshop RGB Profile:
The new macro feature records keystroke sequences that can be played back to help with repetitive words or sentences, or to replay complicated sequences that are long or difficult to run in real-time games.
Connect the 5QS to your favorite software
As for all the Q enabled Das Keyboards, the 5QS can be used to display notifications coming from popular software. Das Keyboard Q desktop software allows users to configure them:
- Asana applet: Display Asana notifications on a Das Keyboard Q Series. Asana is a work management platform. For more information about Asana visit https://www.asana.com.
- Bamzooka applet: Create checklists, schedule them, assign them to teams, watch progress in real-time. This applet displays a notification for Bamzooka assignments on a Das Keyboard Q device.
- Red assignment due date is late
- Orange assignment is due soon
- Blue assignment is due later
- Green no assignments to complete
To get started, signup for a Bamzooka account at https://bamzooka.com
- Basecamp applet : Displays Basecamp 3 projects activities (new tasks, messages, meetings, etc.) on a Das Keyboard Q Series. You need a premium account. Basecamp is a project management tool, helping to manage projects and collaborate with clients. For more information about Basecamp visit https://www.basecamp.com.
- Birthday Reminder applet: This applet will remind you of the birthday dates you don’t want to forget.
- CPU Usage applet: Displays the CPU usage as a progress bar.
- CircleCI: Get CircleCI build status alerts directly on a Das Keyboard Q Series. CircleCI’s continuous integration and delivery platform makes it easy for teams of all sizes to rapidly build and release quality software at scale. For more information about CircleCI visit https://www.circleci.com.
- Clock applet: Displays the time on a Das Keyboard Q Series. Example: The time is 8:58pm
- Crypto Watch applet: Displays cryptocurrency price variations.
- Das Ping applet: Das Ping is a Das Keyboard Applet that periodically pings a website and assigns a color to a key based on the response time. The colors and timings are configurable. It works well for monitoring downtime as well as performance for websites.
- Firewall Guard applet: This applet monitors firewall and server ports. It notifies users of port availability changes.
- Green: firewall up and running
- Red: alarm – port does not satisfy condition
- Flight Price Watcher applet: This applet displays the price trend of a flight*. This applet will change the color of the key on the keyboard according to the maximum price the user can afford and the price trend:
- Green: The price is decreasing and is under the maximum price the user can afford.
- Yellow: The price is increasing and is under the maximum price the user can afford.
- Orange: The price is decreasing and is above the maximum price the user can afford.
- Red: The price is increasing and is above the maximum price the user can afford.
(*) Supports only direct and one way flights.
- GPU Usage applet: Monitors GPU memory usage on your Q keyboard. Requires NVIDIA client software.
Example: The “N” key in the image below is green because the GPU memory usage is currently under 20%. - Game Deals applet: Displays a signal whenever a new deal goes live on a wanted game.
- GitHub: Displays GitHub notifications on a Das Keyboard Q Series by blinking a key of your choice.
- H20 Reminder applet: Drinking water is essential for a healthy life. This applet will remind you to drink every hour. The right quantity of water based on your body mass, gender and lifestyle.
- ICMP Ping applet: A highly-customizable applet that displays ICMP ping response times as a color gradient depending the average round-trip time duration.
- Jenkins Pipeline applet: A Das Keyboard applet to display the status of a Pipeline on Jenkins. Jenkins is the leading open source automation server, Jenkins provides hundreds of plugins to support building, deploying and automating any project. For more information checkout jenkins.io.
- Mini Meters applet: Displays the CPU usage, free memory, GPU usage, or average load on individual keys on a Das Keyboard Q Series.
- Mojo Helpdesk applet: Displays new tickets activity on a Das Keyboard Q Series. Mojo Helpdesk is the #1 help desk & ticket tracking software to provide great customer support. For more information visit https://mojohelpdesk.com/.
- Montastic applet: Montastic monitor URLs and sends an email when a website goes down. This applet displays Montastic alarms on a Q device:
- Green: website is OK
- Red: website alarm
To get started, signup for a free Montastic account at https://www.montastic.com.
- Parcel Tracker applet: Displays the progress of a shipment as a progress bar of 5 keys. This applet supports: UPS & Fedex
- Philips Hue applet: Displays whether hue lights are on or off in a room on a Das Keyboard Q Series. Example Lights are on in the kitchen, basement, and attic; Lights are off in the garage and living room.
- Q alerts for Gmail applet: Notifies of new unread Gmail messages on selected keys.
- RAM Usage: Displays the percentage of memory used with the following colors: greens <30%, yellow <70%, orange < 85% and red 85% and above.
Example with 50% memory used : - Server Fault applet: Displays Server Fault notifications for unread inbox items by making a Das Keyboard Q key blink in blue. Server Fault is a question and answer site for system and network administrators. For more information visit https://serverfault.com/.
- Server Ping applet: Monitors the status of web servers by performing HTTP requests on a given interval and updating a key color to reflect an ‘UP’ or ‘DOWN’ status based on how it compares to the desired status code
- Stack Overflow applet: Displays Stack Overflow notifications for unread inbox items by making a Das Keyboard Q key blink in blue. Stack Overflow is a question and answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers. For more information about Stack Overflow visit https://www.stackoverflow.com.
- Stand Up Reminder applet: Do you find yourself sitting at your desk for long periods at a time? This applet will remind you to stand up every hour by blinking a key of your choice.
- Stock Quotes applet: Displays changes in stock prices.
- Teamwork: This applet displays all projects updates activity. Moreover, you can trigger specific kinds of updates (posts, comments, notebooks, tasks and milestones.) Teamwork can provide collective strength and staying power for your business or organization. For more information visit https://www.teamwork.com/.
- Timer applet: Need a block of time? The timer can countdown from up to 24 hours. Watch the remaining time run away. Configure the timer and effect to your linking.
- Travis CI applet: Get Travis CI build status alerts directly on a Das Keyboard Q keyboard. Requires a Travis account and the token linked to this account: https://travis-ci.com/.
- Trello applet: Displays Trello notifications on a Das Keyboard Q Series. Trello lets you work more collaboratively and get more done. For more information about Trello visit https://www.trello.com.
- Twitch applet: Displays Twitch notifications on a Das Keyboard Q whenever your favorite streamers are online. Twitch is a live streaming video platform. For more information about Twitch visit https://www.twitch.tv.
- Weather applet: Displays a 4-day weather forecast for cities located in the USA, and multiple cities around the world.
- Workout Reminder applet: Do you find yourself sitting at your desk for long periods of time? This applet is for people who find it difficult to fit exercise into their busy schedule. The Workout Reminder applet allows users to set up reminders to start working out every hour during the workday. Workout routine can be customized by choosing from a list of 12 exercises.
- ZenHub applet: Lights up a keyboard key whenever issues are moving inside boards. ZenHub is the only project management tool that integrates natively within GitHub’s user interface. For more information, visit https://www.zenhub.com.
For an up to date list visit Das Keyboard Q software page.
Software developers will be happy to know that all Das Keyboard applets are open source and that they can easily develop and contribute their own.