Microsoft’s hardware group this morning unveiled a prototype of a pressure-sensitive keyboard that can detect precisely how hard each key is being pressed.

The company describes the potential uses as "limitless," saying it has tested concepts including pressing a letter harder to get a capital letter or a larger font size, or hitting the delete key harder or softer depending on whether the user wants to delete one character or an entire word.

It’s just a prototype for now, and Microsoft Hardware isn’t discussing any plans to bring the keyboard to market. However, the keyboard will be the subject of a student competition at the User Interface Software and Technology conference in Victoria, B.C., in October. Students will be challenged to develop new ways of using the prototype keyboard to interact with computers.

Microsoft researchers have been putting a big focus lately on natural user interfaces, such as the motion-detecting Project Natal interface planned for the company’s Xbox 360 game console, and the new multi-touch capabilities planned for Windows 7. Microsoft Hardware focuses primarily on mice and keyboards, but its engineers also work on a variety of other hardware projects inside the company.

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and Seattle Mayor Nickels ushers in the ‘era of the charging station’  

Washington and Oregon are among five states that will receive new electric vehicles and charging stations as part of a $100 million Department of Energy Grant awarded to Phoenix-based Electric Transportation Enginering Corp.  As part of the iniative — dubbed the largest electric vehicle infrastructure program in U.S. history – eTec will establish up to 2,550 charging stations in the Seattle area.

The program also calls for Nissan to deploy as many as 1,000 battery-powered LEAF vehicles in each of the five markets. The electric car — set to debut in October 2010 — is designed to go 100 miles on a single charge.

"This news heralds the end of the filling station and the beginning of the era of the charging station," said Nickels in a release. "We are going to be leaders in converting our transportation from oil to electricity."

Other states that are participating in the project include California, Arizona and Tennessee.  

Seattle will be one of the first cities in North America to receive the LEAF, which depends on a robust network of charging stations. As part of an agreement announced this week, Seattleites who purchase a LEAF will receive a free 220-volt charging system at their home for free.

At current Seattle City Light electricity rates, it would cost just $190 to drive a Nissan LEAF for 10,000 miles. That’s the equivalent of two cents a mile. A gas-powered car that got 25 miles per gallon, on the other hand, would cost $1,100 to drive for that distance. 

In addition, the car sharing service Zipcar has agreed to introduce electric vehicles into its Seattle fleet for use by city employees and the public.

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