Today Microsoft lifted the curtain on a rather unique looking bluetooth enabled keyboard designed to make your Windows Vista experience that bit more pleasurable.

This thing is pretty out there with its feature-set, but as to whether or not it holds up to its name as the "Ultimate" keyboard wont be found out for a while yet; according to the DailyTech it'll probably start popping up in stores around the same time as Vista hits town.

The new Bluetooth-based wireless keyboard is aimed at making your Windows Vista experience even more pleasurable with such features as a backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor and proximity sensing to power down the lighting when you leave the room. Even more impressive is the included pad that charges your mouse when not in use. It's probably using some kind of induction charging system similar to what's used in A4Tech's BatteryFree Mouse. The ergonomic keyboard also features a host of media buttons and controls to take advantage of Vista's multimedia capabilities and has a 30 foot range. But for all its features, the new keyboard ditches the traditional numpad that most have grown accustomed to.