Swiftpoint
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ICYMI: Hop on a bike and tour the world
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A British man was the first to bike the length of the UK, all within the world of Google Maps and his virtual reality headset. If you're intrigued, his blog is really the best place to get the details.
Swiftpoint mouse review
It's no secret that one of our major gripes with some of today's laptops are their wonky and uncomfortable touchpads, and well, apparently Swiftpoint understands the pain. No, that tiny, oddly shaped optical mouse that your eyes keep gravitating towards up there isn't just any minuscule mouse -- it's designed to be used in place of a laptop's touchpad... on the palmrest itself. Wait, what? Yep, the idea is that you can still use your laptop anywhere -- on your lap while sitting on a couch or train -- but unlike other mobile or desktop mice, you don't need to find another surface to rest it on. It's certainly a creative and very futuristic-looking gadget, but more than that the $69.95 Swiftpoint has some other neat tricks up its sleeve – it latches onto a tiny USB stick to charge, can last for over an hour on a 30-second charge and you can tilt it to scroll. It all sounds extremely promising, and even took two years to finally make it to market, but is it at all comfortable to use? And more importantly, accurate enough to effectively navigate within Windows or Mac OS X? We've been using the Swiftpoint to push around the cursor on a number of laptops over the last week, so you'll want to hit the jump for those answers and more.%Gallery-99292%
Swiftpoint's tiny mouse finally up for pre-order, shipping in August
It's been a long couple of years since we last heard from Swiftpoint, but the company is back with a (tiny) bang and introducing its eponymous ultraportable mouse. Touting a pen-like grip, tilt-scrolling, and a 30 to 40 percent better efficiency than your touchpad, this little thumb accessory wants to be seen as the solver of an eternal problem -- namely, getting all the utility of a desktop rodent without having to deal with its full size. Whether it lives up to that lofty goal will require some fingers-on time to determine, but the Swiftpoint does a very credible job on the battery front: it can turn a 30-second charge into an hour's use and can last 3 to 4 weeks on a fully juiced cell. It all sounds quite appealing, but be prepared for some sticker shock as the pre-order price is £67 in the UK or $70 in the USA... and that's with a 10 percent early bird discount included. We might just wait till these hit the sales before grabbing one. [Thanks, Patrick]
Simtrix trots out radically designed Swiftpoint mice
Sure, we've seen input peripherals stretch the core meaning of the word "mouse," but few have done it better than Simtrix. First up in the Swiftpoint series is the TriPed (on left), which was designed to be held much like a pen if needed and is aimed primarily at tablet PC / tabletop computer users; according to the firm, it "provides seamless transitioning between mouse, pen, and text entry." Moving on, we've got the equally zany Slider, which looks to grab more attention by being able to operate when sliding over a keyboard. Granted, folks with ergonomic / split boards are probably out of luck there, but that's not to say your thumb still wouldn't love this critter on a traditional mouse pad. Mum's the word on pricing and availability at the moment, but we'll keep an ear to the ground for whispers of either.[Thanks, Dave]
