MultitouchMouse
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Sanwa trots out a multitouch mouse of its own, the MA-TOUCH1
Not so fond of the Magic Mouse, are you? How's about a flattened version, sans Bluetooth? That's exactly what we're being presented with here, as Sanwa's MA-TOUCH1 looks like the lovechild of Apple's own multitouch critter and Logitech's M505. In truth, the only real design cue this guy snags from the Logi is its Unifying Receiver, signifying that it relies on wireless USB rather than BT. The design scheme is definitely of interest -- rather than being curved to fit the shape of a relaxed palm, it's totally flat up top, supporting four-direction scrolling and two-finger swipes. She's on sale now in four different colors (red, white, black and silver), with ¥4,300 ($52) standing between you and something you may or may not ever actually use to control your cursor.
Speedlink Cue does the multitouch hybrid mouse thing
Honestly, while Apple's Magic Mouse is a bit of a pioneer in its application of a multitouch surface on a "regular" tracking mouse, it's not exactly easy or comfortable to perform multitouch gestures with it. Plus there's the little problem of no official driver for Windows. Speedlink's Cue mouse looks to be solving at least one of those problems, maybe even both. The wireless 1000 dpi optical mouse is naturally PC-compatible, with software to allow you to configure your own gestures, and it has a somewhat flatter and more extensive touch surface than the Magic Mouse, which might make gestures a bit more doable. Basically, it's somewhere in between the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad, minus the hyperbole, and plus clear demarcation of right and left click. It'll retail for €40 when it ships in November (about $56 USD).
Microsoft prepping Magic Mouse-like Arc Touch Mouse?
Microsoft isn't saying anything about this one just yet, but there's a growing amount of evidence that the company is set to take on Apple's Magic Mouse with its own Arc Touch Mouse. As istartedsomething reports, that includes a product listing for an "Arc Touch Mouse" at several European retailers (with a $70 price tag), an arctouchmouse.com domain registered to Microsoft in late March, and some Microsoft Research projects that show that the company has indeed been working on multitouch mice since at least late last year (one of those prototypes is pictured above). Just one big coincidence? Probably not, but we'll have to wait to hear from Microsoft to know for sure.
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 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.
Microsoft multitouch mouse prototypes in action (video)
This week the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) went down in British Columbia, and among all the pointing and the clicking the gang from Engadget Japanese were on hand to take a closer look at those wild and wooly multitouch mouse prototypes that Microsoft Research has been working on. Apparently Orb's hemispheric touch sensor supports a healthy helping of gestures (just the thing for point-and-shoot gaming), while Arty and FTIR certainly seem to know when you're clicking something. These are just prototypes, of course, but the video provides a fun look at some of the things you might soon see integrated into your computing experience. Peep for yourself after the break.%Gallery-74960%[Via Engadget Japanese]
Microsoft Research shows off multitouch mouse prototypes
Rather odd timing, given some recent developments in the Apple camp, but Microsoft Research has just surfaced some of its incredibly wild multitouch mouse prototypes. Each one uses a different touch detection method, and at first glance all five seem to fly in the face of regular ergonomics. The craziest two are probably "Arty," which has two articulated arms to cradle your thumb and index finger, with each pad housing its own optical sensor for mission-critical pinching gestures, and "Side Mouse" which is button free and actually detects finger touches in the table immediately in front of the palm rest. Of course, there's plenty of crazy in the FTIR, Orb Mouse and Cap Mouse (pictured), which rely on an internal camera, orb-housed IR camera and capacitive detection, respectively. Of course, there's no word on when these might actually see the light of day, but it should be quite obvious that Apple's not the only game in town thinking about this stuff. Check out the utterly enlightening video of these things in action after the break. %Gallery-74670%
Apple applies for multi-touch mouse patent
Ooo la la, what's this? Apple filed a patent application for a "mouse with optical sensing surface." That's right, a multi-touch mouse building upon the touch-sensitive mouse patent app we've already seen from Apple. This beast would allow for a buttonless pointing device which could sense the position of your digits for a myriad of gestural and positional control. Whether this is a patent to safeguard a brewing idea or actual product in the pipeilne is anybody's guess. Surely this filing, along with those for a backside touch interface and touch sensitive bezel give us a clue as to Apple's product mindset. Multi-touch MacBook touchpads anyone?[Via PC Joint]
