Microsoft Touch Mouse

2012-01-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

For as long as anyone can remember, there has been mice and there has been touchpad input peripherals. Even though the technology for both has improved over the years, the sad fact of the matter is the number of truly unique mice or touchpads can be counted on the fingers of one hand. While Apple may have tried to combine the two, its hybrid mouse never lived up to expectations. Today, I will be looking at the Microsoft Touch Mouse, which promises not just a laser mouse but also a multi-touch enabled touchpad. Is this just another Magic Mouse in the making, or has Redmond finally made a hybrid that works?

Multi-touch sensitive touchpad built into the top of the mouse
Short and simple learning curve
Truly ambidextrous design
Productivity boost for power users

Less than optimal grip areas
Touch sensitive area can be a tad too sensitive
Windows 7 only
Only 1000 DPI sensitivity
No customization of the touch commands
Sluggish vertical scroll

Rotten Design
With its almost over exaggerated - yet gentle - sloped form and rather low palm arch, the MS Touch Mouse does not look all that special at first glance. In fact, it looks pretty much like another ambidextrous mouse, albeit with unusual ergonomics. This, however, is a classic example of first impressions being wildly off base. The first clue that MS Touch is not you typical mouse is the almost flat and rather long slope to the button area. The second hint is the fact that there is no obvious buttons to be found on this mouse anywhere. Also, there is not even a scroll wheel. The only thing which graces the black exterior shell of the Touch Mouse is a grid pattern of "X's" with small dots in between them and small recessed line where a wheel should be. When you add all these up, what you get is a decidedly odd-looking mouse.

Multi-touch Meets Mouse
There is no scroll wheel nor buttons because the front half of the MS Touch Mouse is not made up of your typical plastic. The front half of this mouse (delineated by the X grid pattern) is the integrated touch sensitive area. This makes visual acquisition of the "touchpad" extremely easy. Helping you know where you are, in relation to the rest of the mouse, is the grid pattern area. This textured section has a stippled - almost Braille - pattern to it that is only barely perceptible. This combination makes swiping with one, two or even three fingers easy.

Having said that, this mouse can recognize two- to three-finger gestures. Depending not only on the direction you move your finger(s) over it, but the number of fingers you use determines the command it sends on to the operating system. For example, three fingers drawn straight down towards you equals a minimize all command that brings up your desktop; swiping two fingers to the left or right "snaps" the activate window to either 50% left of right coverage (a real boon for multi-screen setups!).

You can still send the normal left and right mouse button commands by pressing down on where they should be. The entire front half of the Touch Mouse's shell will rock and you will hear a switch being activated. In other words, you need not rely on the touch area to get work done; the standard mouse features are all there, but they are just hidden from plain view. The only issue with the design of MS Touch Mouse is the glossy smooth plastic that dominates the two side grip panels. This is going to make gripping this mouse a tad more difficult than it otherwise would be.

The underside of the Touch Mouse is done in a pearl white color scheme that contrasts nicely with the black top. The four main features include the recessed storage area for the nano transceiver (about the size of a quarter); the sensor suite itself; power switch; and the battery compartment. The small storage slot is spring-loaded, allowing easy removal of the USB transceiver. The battery compartment can hold two AA batteries which Microsoft claims should be good for up to six months.

As with most of Microsoft's latest and greatest, the Touch Mouse relies upon the tried and true BluTrack sensor suite. This blue laser-based sensor allows the Touch Mouse to be used on nearly anything (except for glass or mirrored surfaces) without fear of tracking issues. The only disadvantage to this iteration is the fact that Touch only has a maximum sensitivity rating of 1000 DPI. This should be good enough for most people in a workplace setting, but it still is lower than what many mice in the same price range can boast.

All in all, the MS Touch Mouse may have a few potential ergonomic and design issues but it does appear to have all the ingredients needed for an innovative mouse. Let's try it out and see if it can live up to expectations.

Source - everythingusb.com

Call Of Duty ELITE For Android Released

2012-01-20T04:16:00.000-08:00

If you still can’t get enough of Call of Duty, Activision has another app for Android for you called Call of Duty ELITE. It isn’t a game but rather an app that allows you to see your game-related pertinent data and how you’re doing on your Modern Warfare 3 campaign.

The app even allows you to compare it with that of other players, so get ready to see how you stack up with the rest of the other gamers out there.

The nifty app also gives you the option to edit your custom class and have it ready to fire up when you go online. If you’re a hardcore player of Modern Warfare 3, there’s no reason not to get this app, especially since it is available for free.

With the Call of Duty ELITE, you not only get to further hone your skills as it tracks your stats, but also gives you a more wider perspective in mapping out your strategies. Talk about having an in-depth approach to the game.

Source - androidauthority.com

Samsung releases Maintenance Release for the Samsung Galaxy Note

2012-01-20T04:09:00.000-08:00

Maintenance releases are always appreciated since they add - in most cases - further features and enhancements to smartphones and today's released Samsung Galaxy Note maintenance release is nothing different. The Samsung engineers really took some time to think about how to improve the Android smartphone's overall functionality and user friendliness and the result is a maintenance release for the Note which adds some worth enhancements. From the lock-screen to regional settings in calendar to the keyboard, Samsung really tried to optimized the Galaxy Note as much as possible. Also on-board now is a new torch widget which allows the easy and convenient use of the LED flash as a torch.

Source - theunwired.net

Teche Blogs

Microsoft Touch Mouse

Call Of Duty ELITE For Android Released

Samsung releases Maintenance Release for the Samsung Galaxy Note