mightymouse
Latest
A survey of Apple's input innovations
With Force Touch rumored to arrive on the new iPhones next week, let's take a look back at some of Apple's other notable input methods. Cupertino has always offered a unique spin on the norm, whether it's a mouse with no buttons, multi-touch gestures or a trackpad for your desktop. The pressure-sensitive Force Touch tech that debuted earlier this year on the Apple Watch and new MacBook is just the latest in a line of input innovations from Apple, a collection that's sure to grow in the months to come. [Lead image credit: Janitors/Flickr]
Keepin' it real fake: Magic Mouse and iPhone converge into iPhonc
Do you dream at night? Do you stare at your ceiling pondering questions that no other Earthling could possibly ponder? Contrary to popular belief, you aren't actually alone in this nightmare, and we too have wondered what would happen to our universe if a Magic Mouse and iPhone collided. Look up. Now down. Now back up again. That greenish, devilish device you see above is the iPhonc, a "KIRF of all KIRFs," if you will. It's hard to pinpoint who exactly thought to shove a dumbphone into the body of a Magic Mouse, but in some strange way, they've managed to make our souls smile. Best of all? Even the source here admits that it's meaningless to wonder over the specifications and price, noting that the shell alone should attract sufficient attention. Makes the fading of Meizu a little easier to handle, you know?
Patent application hints at future of Magic Mouse
The US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application that hints at the future of Apple's Magic Mouse. It describes three new sensors and a triple-axis gyroscope to detect the roll, pitch, and yaw of the mouse. This means that a user could tilt the mouse from side to side to produce a horizontal scroll, a vertical scroll or to tilt a graphic. Additionally, the mouse described in the patent has a convex underside to make all that tilting easier. You can see the full application and even more images here. Of course, Apple patents many technologies that never see production. The Magic Mouse became the first multi-touch mouse when it was released last year, replacing the Mighty Mouse and its temperamental scroll wheel. We'll have to wait and see if this even more magical mouse gets produced. [Via MacDailyNews]
Apple's Magic Mouse now shipping: seeks mighty revenge
Apple's Mighty Mouse was one of the most loved and loathed rodents of all time. When it worked, it was a magnificent productivity booster for Mac users. Unfortunately, over time, even after hours and hours of vigorous rubbing, the top-mounted trackball would become so ensnared in hand-jam that owners were left with two options: delicately splay the mouse for a bit of X-acto home surgery... or smash it with a vengeance hammer until justice was served. So maybe now you can understand all the hopeful fuss made over its successor: the Magic Mouse. It's now shipping to those of you who ordered it separately from its iMac bundle. Snow Leopard (and Leopard) users can even download the software update now so that all those multi-touch and gestural features will be enabled once the bluetooth mouse arrives. Then we'll see if this is the mouse that rights all those wrongs.Update: Added 10.5.8 Leopard download link. Read -- Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 (Snow Leopard)Read -- Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 (Leopard) Read -- Magic Mouse now shipping
Apple's Magic Mouse: one button, multitouch gestures, Bluetooth, four-month battery life
Ready for some more Apple news? Good. Say goodbye to the Mighty Mouse (for reasons beyond those legal entanglements) -- the Magic Mouse has arrived. Hate buttons or moving parts? So does Apple, and nothing exemplifies the company's march towards a buttonless future more than this "two button" laser mouse, which has one button and no scroll wheel -- just a multitouch surface (a hard acrylic) across the top. With the Magic Mouse you're able to do familiar gestures from the Mac trackpad playbook such as two-finger swipes, but you can also do single-finger horizontal and vertical scrolling, complete with a software-based inertia (see a video here). Sorry kids, no pinch zoom. The wireless device boasts a four-month battery life, and will be available today for $69. Full press release is after the break. Update: Check out our hands-on! %Gallery-75970% %Gallery-75976%
Apple Store down for updates, new iMac and more on the way? Update: part numbers!
And here we go: the Apple Store is down, presumably to update it with all the new gear we're expecting today. New iMacs, plastic MacBooks, multitouch input peripherals, maybe a new Airport Express -- we could get everything, we could get nothing. You'll know as soon as we do.Update: Kasper from AppleInsider just hit us up with some last-minute leaked part numbers, which reveal a new iMac with a 21.5-inch display, some new mini configs including a server with two hard drives and no optical drive, new AirPort gear, and yes, a new 60W MacBook power supply. See? Dreams do come true. Oh, and that's apparently just part of the list, so we'll see what else happens when all this stuff actually hits.MC207LL/A - K84 BEST BTR- USA MC238LL/A - MAC MINI 2.26/2x1GB/160/SD/AP/BT-USA MC239LL/A- MAC MINI 2.53/2x2GB/320GB/SD/AP/BT-USA MC340LL/A - AIRPORT EXTREME (SIM DUALBAND) - USA MC343LL/A - TIME CAPSULE 1TB (SIM DUALBAND) -USA MC344LL/A - TIME CAPSULE 2TB (SIM DUALBAND) - USA MC408LL/A - MAC MINI 2.53/2x2GB/1TB/NO ODD/AP-BT-USA MC413LL/A - IMAC 21.5"/3.06/2x2GB/1TB/4670-256MB-USA MC434LL/A - APPLE VESA MOUNT ADAPTER MC461LL/A - MACBOOK 60W MAGSAFE POWER ADAPTER - USA
Apple to introduce host of new machines, new multitouch input devices tomorrow?
We're not sure why John Gruber and Dan Lyons are having some sort of megalomaniacal Apple super-pundit standoff, but we'll sit here and take the spoils: Gruber's just one-upped Lyons's earlier vague tease of new Apple gear tomorrow with a pretty specific list of things he's apparently heard we'll see, including new iMacs and plastic MacBooks, revved Mac Minis (including one that runs OS X Server), a new multitouch "Magic Mouse" (ha!) and some sort of multitouch desktop trackpad accessory. That pretty much covers every rumor and vague whisper we've heard over the past few months, so it's actually a fairly conservative set of predictions, outside of that trackpad -- which itself may or may not be related to this multitouch input device patent from a couple weeks ago. We'll see what happens tomorrow morning -- at this point we're half expecting a tablet, a pony, and some sort of multitouch waffle maker as well.
Apple's next mouse may be mighty, but probably not a "Mighty Mouse"
Talk around the water cooler (in particularly geeky offices) is that Apple is on the verge of launching a new, touch sensitive mouse to go along with the computers it hasn't announced and the keyboard it hasn't announced. No doubt the company wants the mouse to be mighty, but it's unlikely the Cupertino-company will call it "Mighty Mouse" this time around. Man & Machine, which specializes in making computer peripherals for the medical industry, has won the trademark on the term "Mighty Mouse" from the United States Patent and Trademark Office as it pertains to tech, though CBS still holds the mark for the cartoon mouse who comes in singing to save the day. In its press release announcing the win, Man & Machine doesn't mention any other "Mighty Mouse" maker, though it does note, "Others have used the name Mighty Mouse for their computer mice and have sought registration of that trademark, but now the United States government has spoken." The big question now: what will Apple call their new, touchy-feely pointer and clicker? While I'm partial to "Danger Mouse" (both the musician and the British cartoon), Apple does have friends at another mouse-house. Then again, with the touch sensitivity likely to be touted, shouldn't there be some tie-in with Lenny and George and a mouse you can pet? [via TechCrunch] Engadget's Nilay Patel adds some legal analysis here.
Mighty Mouse trademark awarded to Man & Machine, Mister Trouble can stop hanging around now (updated with analysis)
Trademark registration number 3691042, you just made someone very happy. This week, the US Patent and Trademark Offices awarded Man & Machine with the rights to the name "Mighty Mouse" when it comes to computer mice / "cursor control devices." So of the two peripherals shown above, it seems the beaut on the right is the one with legal claim to the moniker. Good thing, too, since its claims on "Cool Mouse" and "Really Cool [Mouse]" died just before Christmas last year. We gotta say, it looks as good of a time as any to replace the old point-and-click, eh Apple? Update: Nilay here, with some trademark law nerdery for you. This trademark has a long and convoluted history, as you'd expect. CBS and Man & Machine actually both filed for the Mighty Mouse mark as it relates to computer mice in 2007 -- and CBS actually filed for it first, in May. Here's the kicker, though -- Man & Machine not only filed for this particular trademark in December of that year, but it also simultaneously sued Apple and CBS over their use of the name. Saucy! Both trademark applications were then put on hold while that case was sorted out -- and after two years of bickering, they finally settled the case and CBS abandoned its registration in June of this year, allowing Man & Machine to resume its registration. Since Apple and CBS were essentially precluded from opposing that renewed registration, it more or less sailed right through, and here we are. Simple, innit? Oh, and for our occasionally misguided friends in the media: it's important to note that CBS and Man & Machine were the involved parties here, and they ultimately settled their dispute out of court. Apple was simply along for the ride, since its agreement was with CBS. If you're going to run with any sensational version of this, we'd suggest something along the lines of Apple screwing this up by not just buying Man & Machine for this mark years ago -- we're certain it would have been cheaper than the millions everyone's undoubtedly spent litigating this since. Got that? Good. [Via TechCrunch] Read - USPTO database entry for Man & Machine's "Mighty Mouse" registration Read - Man & Machine's Mighty Mouse product page
New Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse arrive at the FCC
Well, well, what's this? A new Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse have arrived at the FCC, and they've got new model numbers of A1314 and A1296 -- the current wireless keyboard is A1255 and the Mighty Mouse is A1197. That's pretty much all we know for now, but these keyboard dimensions are also smaller than the current model, which rules out a return of the numeric keypad -- sorry to dash your hopes, Excel jockeys. Is this the new keyboard rumored to accompany an iMac refresh? We'll have to wait to find out -- but on a similar note, AppleInsider says Steve Jobs himself is leading the development of this new mouse, featuring some kind of multitouch and potentially housed in an aluminum shell. That would certainly explain those multitouch mouse patents we've seen in the past, as well as bring the desktop mousing experience in line with the multitouch action found on the MacBooks -- AI says the new mice somehow enable iPhone-style kinetic scrolling, which would definitely be interesting. So... you want to maybe schedule an event to launch all this stuff, Steve? Update: And... Apple's managed to yank the images out of the FCC filings, which is about as fast as we've ever seen that happen. Update 2: Revised images have been posted, carefully cropped to show only the relevant FCC labeling -- although model numbers remain. This is absolutely the fastest we've ever seen the FCC database change, it's rather impressive. Update 3: AppleInsider's revised their post to say an aluminum mouse is just speculation, so this thing could be plastic after all. Read - Apple Bluetooth keyboard at FCC Read - Apple Bluetooth mouse at FCC Read - AppleInsider post on new mouse
Here it comes to save the day: New Mighty Mouse
"Twenty five years after introducing the world to mouse-based computing, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is now hoping to deliver significant advances to the input device by applying the company's extensive research and development in multitouch technologies," AppleInsider reports. In other words, "new mouse." I own the often maligned Mighty Mouse, both wired and wireless. We have an on-again, off-again relationship. On one side, I like the feel of the thing. The extra weight added by the Bluetooth model's batteries is especially nice, as is the smooth surface. It travels well in my bag, absorbing bumps and jolts without complaint. The little trackball nubbin is another issue. It requires more cleaning than I'd like to perform, and makes me wish for an old ADB mouse. Popping the ball out and cleaning the rollers was a quick and simple job. I've used the Mighty Mouse paper trick -- rub the ball on a sheet of paper or a few seconds -- with mixed results. AppleInsider reports that the current model is back ordered across retailers, and that its replacement won't be white plastic, will ditch the trackball and feature "...expanded touch sensitive housing and 'multipoint touch detection mechanism' technologies." The new mouse could ship with the rumored iMac update. [Via Gizmodo]
Shadowy modder gives Eee PC a risky back alley trackball implant
Remember that guy who uber-hacked his Eee PC with a GPS, Bluetooth, draft-n WiFi, FM transmitter, SDHC card reader, modem, USB hub, 2GB RAM? Well, we got one more for him. This enterprising gentleman, fed up with suffering through the three-finger scroll of his Eee PC 901, integrated the trackball of his Apple Mighty Mouse into the netbook's palm rest. Of course, this took some time and effort: in the end, the trackball leads had to be unsoldered from the mainboard, the trackball itself soldered to the mainboard, and the whole shebang installed under the surface of the netbook itself. But you know what? It works. That is, until the Mighty Mouse itself craps out -- as they have been known to do. Still, it's all in a day's work for a heroic modder. Right? Hit that read link for the step-by-step, but not before you peep the vid after the break.
Ask TUAW: Return to open, messed up Mighty Mouse, PDF alternatives, Boot Camp expansion, and more
It's time once again for Ask TUAW! For this round we take questions about cleaning a malfunctioning Mighty Mouse, opening files and applications with the return key, expanding a Boot Camp partition, finding alternatives to Adobe Acrobat, caring for your notebook battery, and more As always, your suggestions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!
Company sues CBS and Apple over 'Mighty Mouse' name
A firm named Man and Machine is suing both Apple and CBS for trademark infringement for using the Mighty Mouse name to describe a computer input device. Man and Machine makes hygenic water- and chemical-resistant keyboards and mice for hospitals and laboratories. Man and Machine claims CBS (who owns the cartoon property, which may or may not be pictured) did not have the legal authority to license the name to Apple. Man and Machine holds a trademark for use of the Mighty Mouse name in conjunction with an interface controller. It claims it first used the term in 2004, but only filed for the trademark in December 2007. CBS's trademark (which covers Apple's device) was filed in July 2007, indicating its first use was in 2005 (when the Mighty Mouse came out). Thus the tension. It's unclear if Man and Machine licensed the Mighty Mouse name (as Apple did) and whether or not that will influence the outcome. [via 9-to-5 Mac]
Apple and CBS sued over Mighty Mouse name, lawyers come to save the day
When you were shopping for waterproof and chemical-resistant mice for your lab computers, you were confused when you wound up with Apple's Mighty Mouse, right? That's what Man & Machine, maker of the other Mighty Mouse, believes is happening, and they're suing Apple and CBS over use of the product name, since their hospital and lab-friendly mouse came out a year before Cupertino's model. Turns out that CBS -- who have owned the cartoon of the same name since 1955 -- sold the name rights to Apple, but Man & Machine are contending that the name in the context of computer peripherals belongs to them. Man & Machine want money damages and a court order blocking Apple's use of the name. They should have just called it Danger Mouse. Oh, wait.[Via The Inquirer]
Mighty Mouse take apart
I recently purchased a wireless Mighty Mouse. Several users have complained of a sticky roller ball, and I was concerned until I was shown this step-by-step, illustrated take-apart. You'll only need an X-acto knife, a tiny screwdriver and some patience to remove the ball, clean it off and reassemble your mouse. Perfect!I've bookmarked this one for future reference.Thanks, Grant!
Ask TUAW: time shift in iPhoto, HDTV to a Mac, backing up, and much more
Last week, Mike did a great job with Ask TUAW and we had a bumper crop of questions. We won't be able to get to all of them this week, but we'll be looking at a number of different issues including: shifting times in iPhoto, getting a Mac and HDTV to work well together, comparing the 24" iMac to the Power Mac G5 in gaming, setting recurring events in iCal, backing up, customizing Mighty Mouse tracking, and getting Gmail in Mail.app.Remember: everyone's welcome to post questions for Ask TUAW; we're happy to help! Just leave questions for next week in the comments. Now let's get to it.
Widget Watch: MightyMonitor
MightyMonitor is a cool little widget for users of the wireless Mighty Mouse or Apple Wireless Keyboard. It gives you a fuel gauge for the batteries in the aforementioned peripherals. I assume it is just reporting the same battery level information you can get in the Bluetooth tab of the Keyboard & Mouse Preference Pane, but it does keep it front and center, so you know when it's time for a new set of batteries.Unfortunately, I have neither a wireless Mighty Mouse nor an Apple Wireless Keyboard on this machine, so the widget (as you can see on the right), isn't doing much. For for those of you who do, however, MightyMonitor is a free download from MacUpdate.[Via PowerPage]
Help cement a Wii victory at Engadget
Just when you thought you were done with all those pesky 'best of 2006' lists, Engadget offers one you might actually care about -- peripheral of the year. As you might have guessed, the Wii remote is one of the options, and just like Reggie, it seems to be kicking ass and taking names. Voting ends April 15th, and it's just one vote per person, so if you'd like to go help let everyone know that the Wii controller is way cooler than the 360's HD DVD drive, get voting. We sort of feel sorry for the other entrants. Look the Mighty Mouse is cool and all (it's so smooth!), but there's nothing like your Wii remote. Well, except perhaps your remote, but until you're using that to get your Zelda on, we don't want to hear about all that.
The 2006 Engadget Awards: Vote for Peripheral of the Year
Now's your chance to cast your ballot for the 2006 Peripheral of the Year! Our Engadget Awards nominees are listed below, and you've got until 11.59PM EST on Sunday, April 15th to file your vote. You can only vote once, so make it count, and may the best tech win! The nominees: Apple wireless Mighty Mouse, Belkin Cable-Free USB Hub, Logitech MX Revolution, Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, Nintendo Wii remote, Verizon V640 ExpressCard EV-DO. %Poll-269%
