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Input Devices Portables Hardware

Bluetooth Mouse That Stores And Charges In PC Slot 175

Posted by CmdrTaco from the now-that's-clever-packaging dept.
Road Warrior writes "The road warrior will appreciate the Mogo MouseBT. The Bluetooth-enabled mouse is a business-card sized mouse that stores and recharges inside your laptop's PC card slot. It will recharge in less than an hour and it will sell for $69.99. It will be interesting to see how the ergonomic of the mouse feels. The product will be introduced at CES."
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Bluetooth Mouse That Stores And Charges In PC Slot More

Bluetooth Mouse That Stores And Charges In PC Slot

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  • The look of this thing reminds me of the Shinza MAPP mouse by Masamune Shiro [shinza.com].
    • The look of this thing reminds me of the Shinza MAPP mouse by Masamune Shiro.

      Uhh...how? Just because it's blocky? Sorry, I just don't see it. The mouse in the article is flat, rectangular, and cordless. The mouse you linked to is not flat, of a complex shape, and corded. Perhaps the article's mouse has a stand alone complex or something.

      Since I'm posting, I may as well throw this question out there: Why does this thing have a stand to prop it up when it's outside of the pc card slot? It seems that littl

  • Great (Score:2, Funny)

    by Jethro ( 14165 )
    That's excellent! 've been looking for a semi-cheap bluetooth mouse for my laptop, so this will be just wonderf... oh wait, macs don't have PC Card slots.
    • oh wait, macs don't have PC Card slots.

      powerbooks do. ibooks don't.
      • I have a powerbook, and it most certainly does not. Maybe old powerbooks did, but new (2+ years) old ones do not.
        • Actually, only the 15" and 17" models have PCMIA slots.
        • With the exception of the 12-inch PowerBook, all PowerBooks from the original PowerBook G3 onward have a single CardBus slot.

          That said, CardBus is a dying standard. HP has already changed to ExpressCard, and other manufacturers probably will follow suit in the relatively short term (as in weeks or single-digit months). I hope that this manufacturer has factored that change into the design, as the new ExpressCard slots are neither electrically nor mechanically compatible, AFAIK....

          • As far as that goes, what can you really do with a PCMCIA slot that you can't also accomplish with a powered USB or Firewire port? Most modern notebooks should dump PCMCIA, PS/2, RS-232, SCSI, VGA, and that old standby, the Centronics Parallel port.

            Add instead DVI, 4 USB 2.0 ports, a 6-pin FireWire 400 and 800 port, a couple of audio i/o jacks, and maybe a GB Ethernet port. Almost everything else is available as a USB-to-whatever adaptor cable.

            • CardBus (and its successor, ExpressCard) are ideal for extremely low latency data transfer. The theoretical latency for CardBus is very short, and the maximum throughput is also blisteringly fast (just over a gigabit). That said, about the only people who care are pro audio folks, and FireWire's latency is so close that even most of them don't.

              If people want to add a second video card to their laptop, CardBus or ExpressCard is the way to do it. Ditto for adding a NIC, Fibre Channel card, etc., since th

      • iirc the ibook does have a pcmcia slot but its under the keyboard with no external access and an antenna cable ending just next to it.

        • The airport slot isn't PCMCIA. If memory serves from my MkLinux development days, it's a raw, big-endian data and address bus pair (original airport hardware) or a PCI bus (airport extreme versions). The former differs from PCMCIA in endianness and removability. The latter differs mainly in removability.

    • The powerbook does.
    • Actually the 15" and 17" PowerBooks have PC card slots.

      http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html [apple.com]
    • Sure they do. At least, on the 15" and up Powerbooks.
    • oh wait, macs don't have PC Card slots.

      My Powerbook does.
  • where does my bluetooth card go? Not everybody has built in bluetooth, and I'm sure as hell not having a dongle that can snap off and has to be disconnected every time I pack up my laptop. End result is PCMCIA bluetooth, and I've only got one slot for that.

    Still, damn if it isn't an interesting idea. Maybe this will appeal to the powerbook crowd.

    • Re:So (Score:3, Funny)

      by JonN ( 895435 ) *
      You would only need a bluetooth card in when you are using the mouse. When you put the mouse in the slot, there would be no need for the bluetooth card to be in there.
    • I got a Dell bluetooth adaptor for 20 bucks on ebay - it is installed inside the laptop in a little port. Does not use any PC slots or USB ports.

    • Mini-PCI cards are another option, and that's what I'd probably go with if I needed BT.

  • Frequent battery changes? (Score:3, Informative)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:24PM (#14402755)
    What types of batteries does the MoGo MouseBT require?
    MoGo MouseBT comes with a built-in, rechargeable battery, and is recharged when it is docked in your laptop's PC card slot. That's a major advantage over other wireless mice, which require frequent change of batteries.

    I have two wireless mice and a wireless keyboard all powered by batteries. I'm not quite sure what they mean by "frequent change of batteries". I routinely get three or more months of frequent use out of my mice and six months or more out of the keyboard (and I'm not even using lithium batteries!)
    • I have one of those wireless bluetooth mice, and I honestly have no idea how often I need to recharge the batteries because I hardly ever use it... what I do know though, is that I have to change them just about everytime I use it because I go so long inbetween uses... it's a real pain, hence I use it even less, hence I wasted 70 bucks or whatever it cost.
    • Three months still isn't that much. I have a Logitech MX1000 wireless mouse, which also has a built-in rechargable, and it's been running just fine for more than a year now. In fact, I don't think it's even possible to change the battery yourself on this one - which just *might* come back to bite me some day, of course, but for now, I'll take it as a sign that it shouldn't be necessary to do it, ever. :)
  • I've always been afraid of getting a wireless mouse for my laptop. I'm worried I will accidentally leave it somewhere since it's not tethered to the laptop (which I definitely won't leave somewhere accidentally). On the other hand, I did damage a laptop screen once with the cord of a mouse. The cord got caught behind the hinge and as I pushed the monitor backwards the cord acted as a fulcrum and popped the screen off it's hinge.
  • Microsoft cordless usb laptop mice are comfortable, work very well and run for at least 6 months on a couple AAA batteries. Oh, but wait, this is slashdot...
  • When I got an eMac a year ago, I grabbed a cheap Kensington USB wireless mouse so I could right-click and use a scroll-wheel as I'm accustomed. It was a regular-sized mouse, not a teeny laptop version, but I was still impressed that the mouse itself had a compartment for storing the USB wireless dongle. That made it a much easier object to pack in a suitcase, without cables and without having to find the loose dongle buried in the luggage. Comfortable for such an inexpensive mouse, too. I'm just not ha

  • The important part is what they DON'T tell you... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:25PM (#14402769)

    From TFA:
    ...an intelligent battery management system with an integrated, minute battery that recharges in just minutes inside your laptop.

    With no batteries to replace, the MoGo MouseBT recharges in less than an hour in the PC card slot of your laptop.


    Interesting...I wonder just how long those 'minute' batteries last before a recharge is necessary...let's check TFA.

    From TFA:
    ...
    No word whatsoever on how long these batteries will last. That's not promising.

  • My favorite type of Slashdot story with a twist (Score:3, Funny)

    by Chairboy ( 88841 ) on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:29PM (#14402819) Homepage
    I, personally, love slashvertisements. As a nerd on the run, I rarely have time for news that doesn't matter, and that counts DOUBLY for advertisements.

    And not only is this an advertisement, but it's an ad for a product that hasn't even been released yet! Fantastic! When my private DC-10 next touches down a year from now after months of writing code and making executive network decisions from the air, I'll be able to pop into some store and pick one up! Maybe!

    For the good old fashioned slashvertisements, I sure wish Slashdot would just put a 'Buy it now' button in the story so that I can do as I'm told (BUY BUY BUY) without having to puzzle out confusing websites or being forced to interact with humans on the other end of a telephone call.

    That would be... fantastic.

  • Comfort?? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by AC-x ( 735297 ) on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:29PM (#14402822)
    What ever happened to comfort? Those mini-mice you can get are bad enough, but this looks worse then those apple puck mice. Where do you rest your wrist?

    It may look cool, but just looking at it is giving me carpel tunnel!
    • Last time I checked you weren't supposed to rest your wrist. Matter of fact you were supposed to lock your wrist and do mouse movements further up the arm.

  • Oblig. Richard Gere (Score:5, Funny)

    by digitaldc ( 879047 ) * on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:29PM (#14402828)
    It will be interesting to see how the ergonomic of the mouse feels.

    Kind of like a gerbil.
    • It will be interesting to see how the ergonomic of the mouse feels.

      Ergonomics, what ergonomics? The thing is the size and shape of a business card, I can't see how holding a stack of business cards is even remotely comfortable in my hand. (Even though they have contoured the shape slightly)

  • Bluetooth battery usage (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ritz_Just_Ritz ( 883997 ) on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:29PM (#14402832)
    If this is meant as a mouse for a laptop I am curious to know how bluetooth usage will affect both the battery life of the mouse itself AND the battery life of the laptop. While this is definitely "cool," I don't think the form factor is very functional and then there's the battery issue.

    • No details to be found about amount of charge required. It won't be very useful if it's stealing power from an already strapped laptop battery. They should just cover it with solar cells and let it charge using ambient light.

  • That's just stupid.

    I don't frequently have my laptop on for "less than an hour" without using it. When do they suppose the mouse should recharge?
  • It is a little tough to see from the images, but it appears that this mouse has no moving parts. This is probably a good thing. Are the two mice buttons and scroll "wheel" are touch sensitive? It also appears that the bottom of the mouse is not in contact with whatever surface you are using for a mousepad. It has a little arm that props it up a bit, so your fingers can grasp around the edges. How does it get translational information? Is it an optical mouse that can "see" further than a typical mouse

  • Cool, but practical (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TheSkepticalOptimist ( 898384 ) on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:34PM (#14402883)
    I am big on ergonomic design because when programming for a living, I don't want a lousy keyboard or mouse combo to cause me pain and misery.

    Most notebook mice comprimise on ergonomics for style, and I can see this one having this problem. If your debating if this mouse will work well for you, take a box of cards and rest your hand on it and move it around for a few hours. I think most people's issues from using mice is that they grip them too hard or pound on the buttons, perhaps a slim design like this one will get people used to the idea of simply resting their hand on a mouse and tapping the buttons rather then putting the mouse in a death grip.

    I guess for short stints this product would work well and its nice to finally find a use for that PC Slot. Anything is better then those touch pads or track sticks in the long run.
    • I am big on ergonomic design because when programming for a living, I don't want a lousy keyboard or mouse combo to cause me pain and misery.
      I'm sorry, there isn't enough space in this mouse for both pain and misery. You'll have to choose one or the other.
  • It is usually an option, one I did not choose when I configured my recently purchased Sager NP5720 - I use a cordless USB with batteries which will supposedly last for more than a year..? (Cordless MS laser mouse I purchased at Costco)

    IMO bluetooth is not a technology a lot of people have embraced - Was'nt it going to be the next wireless/communications revolution...
    • IMO bluetooth is not a technology a lot of people have embraced

      I guess you don't know any Mac users. We're busy using our Bluetooth-enabled phones as remote controls [salling.com] for iTunes and DVD Player, and Powerpoint clickers, among other things. People haven't embraced it on Windows because it's a pain in the ass to set up. On the Mac it just works.

      Here [slashdot.org] is a post from a 2003 /. discussion on what a failure Bluetooth is. You should read the whole discussion.

      ~Philly
    • neither is any of the propietary interfaces for wireless mice! at least many laptops have bluetooth, no laptop has the required intefacte for a logitech or a microsoft wireless mouse. So if you want a wireless mouse BT is better, they should all be BT rather than propietary anyway.

  • Heeeeeey kids! (Score:3, Funny)

    by thaerin ( 937575 ) on Thursday January 05, 2006 @03:38PM (#14402937)
    Hey kids of America. It's machine painted plastic mouse-in-a-slot. Mogo's favorite mouse for over two months. Who needs constant comforting ergonomic stimulation when there's mouse-in-a-slot? You just use the mouse, put it in the slot, pull it out of the slot, use it, and put it in the slot again. The mouse is not on a wire and unattached to the slot, so there's no worry if you don't put the mouse in the slot. And clean up is as easy as putting a mouse, in a slot. So why spend another day not putting a mouse in a slot when you can be using a mouse-in-a-slot?
  • The subject says it all. You'd think they'd be cheaper since they are based on a standard platform with chips readily available.

    But in reality you can get a basic cordless mouse for under $20, even a freakin' laser cordless mouse [microsoft.com] for $40, while you can't find a basic optical bluetooth mouse [google.com] from a legitimate retailer for less than $60-70 and they are usualy $80+ in retail stores.

    What is the deal?
  • I would, however, hope that a little design/engineering work would be done. It's FLAT. I hate those tiny little baby-mice things I see everywhere. They don't feel right. The smallest mouse I can stand is the wireless laptop mouse from logitech (the one I currently use). But this sort of thing would be perfect if only it could be made thicker and more mouse-like feeling. The way it feels is EVERYTHING of course.

    I imagine some sort of spring-loaded outer shell or skeleton that pops up when it's not in a
  • Oh yes! At last my dream will be fullfilled an application for an inflatable mouse. It would be perfect for this, and there sure would be enough space on a PC card for the fabric. You don't need much more "height" to make this mouse comfortable/ergonomical.

    The problem is inflating it...
  • Something I've never understood about having the ability charge portable devices on the road. I can somewhat understand using the last hour of juice on your laptop to charge up your ipod but what would you do with a burnt out computer and a fully charged bt mouse. If you're a true "road warrior" wouldn't you use your trackpad in lue of wasting precious minutes of battery that could be used to check your myspace messages one more time? And if you're at home with a an ac adapter, is it that much trouble to
  • Apart from the sales reps who will want this device to try to convince their non-technical customers that they (the sales reps) are the real digital superheros of this information age, only a few executives with big egos and no sense of self worth will find a real use for this device. Why not innovate a little bit beyond the mouse. Were this a PC-card touch-pad that could sit in one hand and be controlled by my thumb, I might be interested. [Note to self: send patent application for PC-card thumb pad devi
  • You should only feel a mouse on its ergonomic if the mouse says it is ok.
  • While the idea of a flatpack mouse is interesting, battery-life concerns (why does anyone need a bluetooth mouse for their NOTEBOOK?) and the ergonomic horror apparent from the photos lead me to give this one a pass. I'll stick with my compact, ergonomic, lightweight, batteryless, cord-storing, and inexpensive Logitech notebook mouse [amazon.com], thanks.

  • Road warrior? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tony ( 765 ) on Thursday January 05, 2006 @05:24PM (#14403924) Journal
    The road warrior will appreciate the Mogo MouseBT.

    Yes. Yes he will. Whether fighting for fuel, or just hangin' out in the Thunderdome, the Road Warrior will certainly love this. If only it came with a sawed-off shotgun option, or a recharge-with-pigshit option, it'd be perfect.

    What's that? You're talking about regular people who travel with a laptop?

    They aren't fucking road warriors! They don't kill, they don't fight; fuck, they don't even do anything FUCKING INTERESTING! They are generally the most pretentious, most boring people in the fucking world! They are not road warriors! If they wanna call themselves a "road warrior," they can meet me in the Thunderdome. Chainsaws, baby, mono-a-mono.

    Any article that refers to assholes with laptops as "road warriors" automatically rates the roundfile.

    Jeez.

    Now, where's my lithium?
  • How's this work? Normally my laptop is OFF when I'm not using the mouse.. so it won't charge.. hope that's not the ONLY way to charge it!

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