Microsoft's BlueTrack mice are here -- laser bids a tearful goodbye

Yeah, so we might have forced Microsoft's hand into announcing the fall Zune lineup a day early, but nothing can upstage the pure excitement of the Say Goodbye to Laser campaign -- awww yeah, the BlueTrack mice are official today. The new tracking tech uses a (surprise!) blue beam and wide-angle "specular optics architecture" to work on a wider range of surfaces than traditional optical or laser mice, including granite, marble, and even carpet. The new tech will debut in two new mice: a revised wireless Microsoft Explorer Mouse and that Microsoft Explorer Mini Mouse that we'd already spotted. Both will be available at Best Buy in November for $99 and $79, respectively.

[iscorg @ Sep 9th 2008 2:36PM]

nice mouse

[blind guy @ Sep 9th 2008 2:35PM]

The goggles....they do nothing!

[Christian Walters @ Sep 9th 2008 2:34PM]

Ho-ly-shit. A Microsoft post? I must be dreaming, isnt the Apple week? I mean comeon, they just announced a 0.3MM thinned iPod Touch, that deserves AT LEAST 7-12 posts right?

[avester @ Sep 9th 2008 2:35PM]

"The new mouse is good for various surfaces, even on the 0.3MM THIN iPOD TOUCH THAT IS THIN THIN THIN"

[ishism @ Sep 9th 2008 2:47PM]

Ho-ly shit. You're the first to bring up apple into this thread.

[CJ @ Sep 9th 2008 2:59PM]

Sorry, but iErik has (and probably is the only person to want) that particular honour (if you can call it an honour).

[aeth @ Sep 10th 2008 2:13AM]

Thin iPod is thin.

[avester @ Sep 9th 2008 2:34PM]

Microsoft Market Cap: 240.35B
Apple Market Cap: 135.57B

They are, and will be for a while.

[LC @ Sep 9th 2008 2:35PM]

Hehe. I never said Hello to laser mice. Optical/Infrared mice have much better tracking. I hope this will fare well versus an optical.

[avester @ Sep 9th 2008 2:37PM]

Optical doesn't get 3200dpi.

[LC @ Sep 9th 2008 2:39PM]

True enough. But that's beside the point. Optical mice (Like the Razer Deathadder for example) have the best tracking. Take a look at the ESR chart.

[Juice Daddy @ Sep 9th 2008 2:44PM]

You're... joking right?

Laser mice are way better than optical mice



~pew pew~

[avester @ Sep 9th 2008 2:49PM]

Deathadder is optical?

Laser is often very un-balanced and jerky if the surface is not perfectly clean, like I said, if the Sidewinder/Other Gaming mouse gets this, I think that I'm looking forward for it...

[LC @ Sep 9th 2008 3:41PM]

No joke. Optical mice are for the most part better then laser mice. And yes, the Razer Deathadder is optical. Go to Razer's site. "3G infrared sensor"

http://www.esreality.com/?a=longpost&id=1300293&page=5

There's a test. Clearly Optical mice win.

[zonamanoz @ Sep 9th 2008 2:36PM]

Will this work on my frosted glass desk because my laser ones don't. I would really really like to be using a mouse without mousepads or scrap pieces of paper!

[burriot_avatar @ Sep 9th 2008 2:41PM]

I can paint your desk for you. Do you want black, blue, or orange?

[magik @ Sep 9th 2008 3:00PM]

(1) BlueTrack Technology does not work on clear glass or mirrored
surfaces.

[Samboini @ Sep 9th 2008 3:20PM]

I was wondering the same thing. My glass table is a whore to work on. But hey, she's a whore so all isn't too bad.

[Alienfreak @ Sep 9th 2008 6:27PM]

It should work.

[Buffy @ Sep 10th 2008 8:38PM]

Yes - frosted glass (not clear glass). And, better than laser, better than optical.

[RedBull Runner @ Sep 11th 2008 12:47AM]

My MX Revolution works fine on frosted, opaque, and sometimes even clear glass (only when the lights are on in the room for some odd reason). I don't see how this bluetrack stuff could get any better.

[jinto.lin @ Sep 9th 2008 2:36PM]

At least this is something useful! But Logitech is still better.

[King Wulfgar @ Sep 9th 2008 2:38PM]

The most advanced tracking technology available yet they still require a 2.4Ghz dongle. Fail.

[PHO @ Sep 9th 2008 2:45PM]

Fail? What else would they use.. 2.4 is fine for a mouse.. remember not every computer has BT built in...

[avester @ Sep 9th 2008 2:50PM]

Bluetooth totally works without drivers, and drains very little battery.

[kjb434 @ Sep 9th 2008 3:02PM]

2.4 GHz is a crap frequency. It's unregulated which is why so many products use it. So many products using it causes a lot of problems.

The only 2.4GHz item in my house is my Wireless Router. When I got that, all other 2.4GHz products could not function properly. So i just go rid of them.

[B.Cherry @ Sep 9th 2008 2:39PM]

I'ma buy this mouse for the simple fact that all electronics in my room has a blue LED light on them. This will be a great item to add to my crip collection!

[Darayz @ Sep 9th 2008 2:39PM]

And I just got my first laser mouse 2 days ago.

[Nexus @ Sep 9th 2008 2:39PM]

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=112
arc mouse is also official. Wondering about those lifecams and we can call it a day.

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 9th 2008 2:40PM]

So... Is BlueTrack going to replace laser in gaming mice? ...or, is it just better in portable mice because it works on more surfaces?

[rbanke @ Sep 9th 2008 4:39PM]

Still useing plain old logitech optical mice on all my pc's. works just fine, why waste money on this?

[Forrest @ Sep 9th 2008 2:50PM]

I do presentations with my laptop in all sorts of places, very often while sitting at a conference table. Wood grain wreaks havoc with all of the mice I currently own, requiring me at times to use a piece of paper as a mouse pad. That to me looks incredibly unprofessional.

I'll be looking into these mice when they become available.

[avester @ Sep 9th 2008 2:41PM]

Also, if the BlueTrack is good, I'd like to see it integrated to the sidewinder mouse, gamers need their share...

[pozzitron @ Sep 9th 2008 2:42PM]

Pfffff I could never give up my one button mac mouse.!!

[burriot_avatar @ Sep 9th 2008 2:45PM]

If you buy a Macbook Air Steve Jobs will come over to your house and install his mental cursor controller program for $20. Then you don't even need a mouse. Any REAL Mac user would know this n00b!!!!!!!!!!!

[PHO @ Sep 9th 2008 2:42PM]

Wow

Xbox 360
Microsoft Sync
Microsoft Surface
Zune
Microsoft Vista

Wow.. Id say their products are a tad bit on a larger scale then some of their competitors... yah?

[Viaono @ Sep 9th 2008 2:45PM]

Welcome to Blu Ray ERA

[Ken @ Sep 9th 2008 2:47PM]

Id battery life is less than a month, I'd consider this FAIL. That dongle alone is bad enough!

[Ken @ Sep 9th 2008 2:52PM]

Id = If

[avester @ Sep 9th 2008 2:53PM]

Hi iTroll.

Xbox 360 is the biggest player (pun intended) out there, and that "ring of fire" isn't something that happens to everyone
Surface is a huge gimmick, but so is the iPod Touch, " ooo0o0o you made a small touch screen, no one cares"
Zune - If your friend doesn't have it, it... makes you uncool?
Vista - If 1/3 downgrades, that means more sales...

[PHO @ Sep 9th 2008 2:53PM]

Ok man, your a complete jerk, as most apple users are... for one

apple doesnt even have a gaming console... and MS replaced all the bad 360 units for free.. OLD NEWS
the surface kicks ass and you know it...
who care about market share... they only sell them in the US, and dont want to put apple out of business like they almost did in the past and had to pay them millions to not go bankrupt...
vista users downgrade because they are trying to use a NEW OS on OLD hardware... poor people dont deserve vista... ive been using vista since beta.. and i can say it is WAY better then XP... but you wouldnt know maccie boy now would you?
and microsoft doesnt market consumers, they market huge companies... go ahead... go to best buy... count how many computers run vista.... wow... you're blind or must live in a third world country... or maybe your just a queer who likes to dance in sillouettes wearing fedoras...

iDumb

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 9th 2008 2:54PM]

You have absolutely no knowledge of basic economics, eh?

Market trends don't dictate future growth. It's a fact. If this were true (like you assume) then Motorolla would still be on top with their Razr. This is exactly the reason why quantitative investing got so many firms in trouble. (investing based on math formulas trying to predict growth)

Actually, if you use unbiased judgement... Microsoft has a better business plan because they have solid stability in place. Microsoft's profits are largely based on their industrial contracts. This is the key behind Microsoft's success and why Apple can't catch them. Apple relies on booms from consumers which can get them in huge trouble. If tastes change or consumers suddenly are unable to afford Apple's products, you'll see a lot of restructuring. See Motorolla, Versace, Coach, Dell, etc.

[PHO @ Sep 9th 2008 2:55PM]

i dont hate apple though..

the iphone rocks... well friday it should as soon as my apps dont crash anymore

[CP @ Sep 9th 2008 2:58PM]

i guess a wired mouse is too much to ask for these days. i'm on my third intellimouse explorer now.

[ishism @ Sep 9th 2008 3:01PM]

You're not even a spec of dust compared to MS. Who you trying to bash?
Zune has radio from day one. Which I love. Now has a bunch of apps and games through zuneboards.http://www.zuneboards.com/
MS Vista. Use it on my NB. Have never had a problem with it. It's pretty and I like it very much.

[PHO @ Sep 9th 2008 3:04PM]

Yes ipods are cooler then zunes and we all know this... whatever... that doesnt mean MS is going to plummet because of it, lol... i think this blue track technology is a great investment for MS, now every single mouse ever sold using this technology MS will get a slice of the pie... cha ching!

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 9th 2008 3:07PM]

Maybe it's just me...but, I don't let others tell me what to buy. I make that decision for myself. NO amount of advertising can sell me a sucky product. I'm man enough to stand on my own two feet. I don't care if I'm the only one in the world with a Zune, if I like it...I'm using it.

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 9th 2008 3:17PM]

Everyone... Just keep clicking the "!" to report his comments. Eventually he'll get banned.

[PHO @ Sep 9th 2008 3:25PM]

Hey Pynk,

I have owned two zunes in my past, the first 30gb i got on launch and after a year i dropped it and bam warranty void broken... DOH, Then i bought an 80 gb and it got stolen! (obviously people like it enough to steal it eh?) So i decided to get an iphone because i was sick of looking at my tiny blackjack screen to sruf the net, and i didnt ahve an mp3 player.. and i do like it... im kind of bummed out that i didnt get to try out zune 3.0 with the games... can i borrow yours lol? oh well... they are both great products...

[kccboy2004 @ Sep 9th 2008 3:30PM]

I guess it is jut up to the ultimate "me-too" company to copy this.

Come on Apple catch-up !!!!