El Reg reports:
KFC Germany has salted its meal trays with a thin, flexible Bluetooth keyboard. The "KFC Type Tray" has been used as a giveaway in new KFC stores. Punters can take 'em home and use the thin, rechargeable keyboards for whatever they fancy. The chicken chain's cunning plan, however, is that folks who wander into their neighbourhood's new source of salt, grease, protein, and eleven herbs and spices will be so chuffed by the keyboard that they'll go nuts on social media.
The embedded video suggests that plan worked and that KFConnoisseurs like the keyboard because they balk at smearing grease on their smart devices but don't mind sullying a tray.
[...] Don't bother dropping into a KFC in the hope of obtaining your very own Type Tray: they've all found good homes.
In the comments, PleebSmash asks:
If they are offering these things at restaurants, how come a slightly better Surface 3 keyboard costs $130?
...and Jake already beat us all to the punch with:
I think you mispleled [sic] "KFC common sewers".
[Editor's Comment: Original Sub: here]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @11:58PM
Well, adding a link to the original sub on each story seems tad bit too much. I would prefer editors able to exercise a degree of editorial discretion without so much fuss. If preservation of original sub is desired, link to their queue somewhere else would be better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:03AM
Agreed bad form. If you are going to do this this clunky... Place old text with cross-out and yellow and new text in blinking blue. That is clunky and all on one page. Less you want the web traffic to compare to two!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday May 27 2015, @07:20AM
Being I am seeing the "original submission here" on almost every subsequent story, I return here, the first instance of it I see, and put my two cents in.
I am a rather infrequent submitter of stories here. If I find something somewhere else that I think would make interesting discussion, I return here to let the editors in on it, but I often do not flesh the story out right or get the "trade dress" on proper to provide a uniform presentation to the other Soylenters.
I highly appreciate the editors taking what I found and getting the presentation right so we have a uniform format. We have some fine people here that I believe could make silk purses out of sow's ears.
I am not so sure I would even want my "original submission" seen, unless its to show others just how talented our editors are in fleshing out a story.
Especially the first several stories I submitted. They did a substantial clean-up on it and made it much more presentable than I did.
I am also aiming this comment at anyone else who finds a juicy tidbit out there but does not want to embarrass themselves with bad presentation skills. The editors here are quite good at taking a nugget, polishing it up, and it looks like jewelry when they put it up.
Anyway, that's my take on it. YMMV.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:26AM
I think you mispleled [sic] "KFC common sewers".
At least we are above making judgments of others and name calling /sarc
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:43AM
Indeed. I am not a fan of KFC and their three-breasted chickens, but come on. What a pointless snark, not even clever.
(Score: 1) by VIPERsssss on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:32PM
KFC turned me into a newt.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Rich on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:46AM
Reeks of pure media stunt. Checked eBay Germany for any combination of "kfc" / "type tray" | "tastatur" / "bluetooth" for active and past items. Zilch. If such things would have actually existed beyond prototype status, at least some would have been up for sale there.
Google finds a presentation of the item at http://www.designmadeingermany.de/2013/80315/ [designmadeingermany.de] which contains "2013", but once clicked, redirects to 2015.
More weirdness: it is a unclear how it would be powered/charged. Is there a battery in the thicker part on the left? Why is it entirely labeled in English and has a QWERTY layout, when it's a German agency/KFC Germany thing? Smells fishy rather than chickeny to me :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:53AM
Even if it is purely a media stunt, it is a damn good idea.
For finger-food place like KFC, building a keyboard into the tray so you can use your phone without getting it greasy is genius.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:59AM
It would be great just to have these outside of greasy locations. I'm sure someone can find a use case for putting one of these on a wall with some thumb tacks. 📌📌📌📌
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(Score: 2, Disagree) by captain normal on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:48AM
Virtually everyone in Germany speaks, reads and writes in English. Unless they are recent emigres from a mono-language country. All the Germans I know do use QWERTY keyboards. Partly because they are familiar with English, but also because Deutsche uses the same Latin alphabet as English and other languages and also because most keyboards are built that way.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:21AM
Most Germans I know do use QWERTZ keyboards.
And I'm totally happy each and every time I have to add a QWERTY layout so I can fix their goddamn computer. !@#$!!!!
(Score: 3, Funny) by captain normal on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:41AM
Yeah it's weird how some people pop those letter caps off the keyboards to clean them and forget how they go back together.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by captain normal on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:57AM
Of course I guess you could pay the extra Euros and get the "official" German keyboard. with the "Z" and "Y" interchanged and "Strg" (for "Ctrl"), "Entf" (for "Del") and "Druck/S-Abf" (for PrintScr/SysRq"), instead of saving some Euros and buying a QWERTY off Amazon. Like the folks I know.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:31AM
And call Ctrl - "String"? Nah, get outta here ;)
"- 'Just use "String-V"'
- 'I don't have a string "v", asshat. I name my variables properly.'"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:05AM
Of course, "Strg" is short for "Steuerung", which is the German word for … wait for it … "control".
However for some reason, even on German keyboards the escape key is labelled "Esc".
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:52PM
Yeah, been there, done that: "Hey, did you know it's actually 'Steuerung'?" "Really? Well, I'm used to calling it 'String', [turns to student] so press 'String+C' [...]"
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Wednesday May 27 2015, @07:22PM
However for some reason, even on German keyboards the escape key is labelled "Esc".
Esc from Colditz?
(Score: 2) by sudo rm -rf on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:15AM
Hmm, maybe we know entirely different people. Everyone I know uses the QWERTZ layout in Germany, because a) it is in fact cheaper [amazon.de] and more broadly available and b) it contains the umlauts ÄÜÖ and the "sharp s" ß.
(Score: 2) by Rich on Tuesday May 26 2015, @09:57AM
Virtually everyone in Germany speaks, reads and writes in English. Unless they are recent emigres from a mono-language country. All the Germans I know do use QWERTY keyboards.
The common German in its natural habitat will almost always be found typing on something resembling DIN 2137 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_2137 [wikipedia.org]. The keyboard in question does not even have umlauts. cf http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1439651/meet-kfc-tray-typer-wireless-keyboard.jpg [ibtimes.co.uk] for a nice big pic. This is not really usable.
For the use case in the article, there are two more things to consider:
1.) How would you navigate the screen? I don't see any pointing device on the tray.
2.) Would an Android phone adjust its word suggestion/correction logic in sync with the keyboard layout? Or is that independent once an external keyboard says: "I'm hardwired for US layout"? I once accidentally switched my software keyboard from QWERTZ to QWERTY. It was nigh impossible to enter any German sentence. (Note the tray is depicted with the "world" symbol).
Also note the gaps between the key areas. I can imagine a gap in the center like with these angled touch type keyboards, but here it seems someone took some some membrane keyboard from another vertical market application and just added a layer of paint (or even just photoshopped it), while retaining the "fallback" full-PC-keyboard layout of the original application. (Or maybe the gaps are there for better foldability).
Anyway, the idea as such, although lacking a bit in detail, is quite nifty. If alone for illustrating the true value of the $129 Microsoft Surface Type Cover. :P
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:26PM
but also because Deutsche uses the same Latin alphabet as English and
It's just "Deutsch." The -e conjugation would make it an adjective.
Not that I know one way or the other, but I don't see why Germans would want to use QWERTY keyboards in their home country. Being able to type umlauts without it being dependent on every application and OS doing it differently would be nice.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday May 26 2015, @02:20PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:04AM
I don't want to tweet while I eat.
I don't want to tweet while I shit.
I am not a Twitter shitter.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:12AM
KFIC: Kentucky-Fried Internet Café
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:16AM
Poop is coming out.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:37AM
> I don't want to tweet while I eat.
Millions of people text during meals every day.
You aren't old-fashioned, you've just been left behind by the modern world.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:45AM
Get off my lawn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @02:02AM
> Get off my lawn.
Soylnetnews is people. Old, grumpy, often racist, people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @02:29AM
> Soylnetnews
That's right, soyl-net, grass is growing out of the soil on my lawn. You're standing in the light which my grass needs to grow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:49AM
Given the context, you can trim it down to "I don't want to tweet while I eat KFC shit".
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Snotnose on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:15AM
I felt my arteries slamming shut, now I'm on my back in a noisy box with some dumass poking needles into me.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:58PM
If just looking at KFC causes your arteries to 'slam shut' you have some serious health issues! Do you take something for it?
Like most foods. The dose makes the poison.
I am on a decent diet (lost 15 so far this year). I still eat a bit of KFC here and there. Stay away from the potatoes as that is where the sugars come in... (they are tasty though).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @11:47AM
Someone is trying to get spyware into people's homes. Much like a shape shifter looking like a cute kitten out in the cold wanting to be cuddled and taken home.
They are trying to get this spyware/keyboard popular enough so that people will be comfortable typing on keyboards they do not own; in fact, being comfortable dictating to an enemy spy.
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:18PM
WTF KFC, we folks in the states don't have phones and like chicken?
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.