Wireless Mouse with no Batteries 329
GI Joe writes "Hardcoreware.net have posted a review of a mouse with no batteries; it receives its charge through induction from the USB powered mousepad. Of course this means you must use the mouse on this mousepad, taking away some of the big advantages of a wireless mouse. However, they said that the mouse is otherwise very accurate, and has no lag at all since it uses RFID."
RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:2, Funny)
Ack, too many TLAs!
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:3, Informative)
You obviously haven't seen this [thinkgeek.com].
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:3, Informative)
Trackballs don't have that problem.
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:2, Interesting)
What I don't get is what makes this 'MOUSE' any different than a digitizer pad (most come with mouse-like pointing devices along with the pen style interface). Seems like it's a lot of bother over something that's been available for a dozen or more years.
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:2)
Which is great if your playing minesweeper. I prefer games which don't require a break every 5 mins to reacharge my mouse.
And before you say 'just pause the game every 5 mins' - that just destroys the realism for games that rely on it (read:FPS), even if
you could get some magic capacitor that'd manage 5 mins @ 100mA @ 5v (mouse power consumption reference here [dansdata.com]).
Anyway, how's this very different than graphics tablets tha
Re:RFID? Don't they mean RF? (Score:2)
Seems to me they just want to stuff in more buzzwords to sound flash.
There goes that... (Score:5, Funny)
Although now that I think about, I would like a mouse that tracked my brain patters. Free up an extra hand and such.
Re:There goes that... (Score:5, Funny)
Holy shit! With this they can probably track every move you make at 600 dpi or more! When will they stop???
Re:There goes that... (Score:2, Insightful)
--
Workrave [workrave.org] - Helps relieve the strain on your wrists without straining your wallet.
Re:There goes that... (Score:3, Funny)
that would be helpfull for so many slashdotters....
not only does it free up that hand, but your mind automagically goes to the proper pr0n page...
Re:There goes that... (Score:2)
you've read my mind... ba-ba-ching
Re:So uncool... (Score:2)
Re:There goes that... (Score:3, Informative)
Bleh.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Bleh.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Bleh.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Bleh.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bleh.. (Score:2, Informative)
Um... no. While a watch like you describe MIGHT exist (I've never seen one, nor heard of one working on that priciple) I promise you the majority of batteryless watches are electrically powered quarts watches.
They have a small knetic generator (you can google if you want to know how they work) which charges a power cell, which in turn runs the watch as though it was a (semi) normal quartz watch.
The Seiko Knetic is a good
Re:Bleh.. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Bleh.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, and whilst I think about it:
Normal wireless mouses contain batteries, which add extra weight, which makes them slightly harder to move around. So if you have a wireless mouse without batteries, but which was powered by hand movements, it's possible that it could still be easier to move around!
Re:Bleh.. (Score:2)
Re:Bleh.. (Score:2)
We'd be back to the old trackball days
Re:Bleh.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Bleh.. (Score:2)
I'd rather that my wireless keyboard not have caps/num/scroll-lock *BUTTONS*.... they are useless remnants of an older age. Just look how Scroll Lock has been repurposed for use in kvms.... and when i'm on a PC, I pop the num-lock keycap off... otherwise I hit it about 1/6th of the time I go for the 7 key. uhg.
(Posted by someone who's done something [gnufoo.org] about his Caps
Induction? What the hell? (Score:5, Insightful)
Self powered, never needs the batteries changed. And since precision doesnt matter the ball never needs cleaning, so it's not a disadvantage like it is for tracking.
Easily enough power could be generated for the optical system and a low power RF transmitter
Can you say RSI? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Can you say RSI? (Score:5, Insightful)
(Well, that, and I realized that buying batteries for the thing just to get rid of a cable that doesn't even disturb me was a horrible thing to do to the environment)
Re:Can you say RSI? (Score:2)
2. Rechargeable batteries.
3. Make a trackball self powered.
4. Patent
5. PROFIT!
Yo Grark
Re:Can you say RSI? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Can you say RSI? (Score:2)
Now, I have a few optical mice, although I still use a ball mouse on occasion. The real problem I have with mice is, oddly, the button clicks.
Re:Can you say RSI? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Can you say RSI? (Score:2)
Since then I've been using cheap wired opticals.. if/when they break it's no big deal to replace them.
Geared Balls... hehe (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can you say RSI? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Induction? What the hell? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Induction? What the hell? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Induction? What the hell? (Score:3, Interesting)
Ball moves slower than necessary = not enough induction.
It would need cleaning. Also, I doubt you could actually get enough power that way.
Re:Induction? What the hell? (Score:2)
Re:Induction? What the hell? (Score:2)
Experiment 1: Put one finger on top of your mouse, push down hard, and then use the rest of your fingers to grasp the mouse and move it around. It still moves, but how much would your wrist hurt after doing that for 8 hours?
Experiment 2: Connect a hand-crank generator to a variable
Seen this before... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.wacom.com for your batteryless pointing device needs.
Re:Seen this before... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Seen this before... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Seen this before... (Score:2)
I have a Wacom Intuos 2 tablet with a battery-less wire-less mouse. I don't like the mouse at all, because I cannot stand lifting the damn thing 1/4" inch to exit the tracking field to reposition the mouse. I quickly found that the mouse really is useful only for a 1:1 coordinate mapping between the pad and screen, where no lifting would be needed.
The battery-less wire-less pen, however, is excellent, and, after enough painful X server configuration, it even works great with the GIMP.
Re:Seen this before... (Score:2)
Wait For The Other Shoe To Drop... (Score:4, Funny)
Why complain? (Score:4, Funny)
I don't know about you, but i like wireless mice because they have no annoying wires, not because I feel constrained by having my mouse so close to the rest of my computer.
However, the downside of wireless mice is changing batteries. It's annoying to stop to replace the batteries, especially when you're in the middle of round of CounterStrike, trying to defuse a bomb at the same time as not get shot at by AK47s.
So, I'd love to buy this mouse, because otherwise, Terrorists Win!
Re:Why complain? (Score:2, Informative)
Well, I'm not sure about yours, but mine starts giving warnings (a blinking red light) when I've got a good hour or so of battery left. Defusing the bomb takes less than an hour (god bless Counter-Strike) so you can wait until you've done that before swapping the batteries
Personally (Score:3, Informative)
It only gets annoying when I want to move it and use it in another position for some reason (such as needing that bit of deskspace for something) in which case the wired mousemat is going to be just as annoying, if not more so (I'd have to move both the mouse and the mousemat as they work in tandem, whereas now I can get away with just moving the mouse).
Re:Why complain? (Score:3, Interesting)
why the hell? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:why the hell? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:why the hell? (Score:2)
My thought... (Score:2, Insightful)
Especially when the mouse has to be used with said mouse pad?
Re:My thought... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:My thought... (Score:2)
Re:My thought... (Score:2)
Re:My thought... (Score:2)
Re:My thought... (Score:2)
Heh. Yep. This really isn't all that exciting. Wacom tablets have had 'mouse' styluses for a while now. I seriously doubt anybody on the planet is using one.
I dunno, maybe if the pad covered my entire desk or something. But, no, even on a 12" surface, it's weird.
Re:My thought... (Score:2)
Um... I understand designers love those things because they like pretending to draw much more than they like 'mousing' art. Also, those pens have tilt and pressure sensing... mice don't.
Re:My thought... (Score:2)
I apologize for not communicating clearly. When I said "Mouse stylus" I mean a stylus in the housing of a mouse, not a pen stylus. Sorry, I really should have been more clear. Pen styluses are great for drawing. Heck, I bought a TabletPC just for that and have 0 regrets.
Have a peek here [amazon.com] and you'll see what I'm refe
Been done before :) (Score:2)
This mouse is also induction charged, although it seems this new one may have some of the bugs worked out, like the pad-heating problem...
RIAA.. they use the RFID tags to track you (Score:3, Funny)
Apart from the "cool factor" (Score:3, Informative)
Pehaps i'm unusual, but the major advantage of an optical mouse to me is that it can be used on any surface
AND the major advantage of wireless is that the mouse is in no way connected to the computer (apart from a distance/obstruction restraint for the wireless connection)
I'm not trying to start a flamewar but I just honestly can't see any advantages of this. Can someone point some out for me?
Wacom tablet? (Score:4, Insightful)
My Wacom Graphire came with a mouse like that, wireless, but had to be used on the pad only. That was, what, only 10 years ago. Glad to see something just like it finally make the fucking news! Oh, wait, it's not news, it's slashdot...
Holy crap! (Score:2)
Not good enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Old news? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Old news? (Score:2)
They used to use the tablet to sense the position of the mouse (so the movement was always relative to the pad, so it went a bit funny if you had the mouse at the wrong angle...), where as this one is an optical mouse powered by the pad.
Of course as I said in a different post it seems pretty pointless when you can get wireless mice with rechargable batteries and a docking station.
Re:Old news? (Score:3, Interesting)
I will also add to that...
Modern day (as in released this year) cordless, rechargable, optical mice with docking stations are not only more sensitive, but also have low battery indicators that give really good warning about a low battery.
I have to put my Logitech MX700 on the charger about once every few days or the light will start to flash by the fourth. Th
Great for the paranoid (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Great for the paranoid (Score:3, Funny)
Why not a wireless mouse... (Score:2)
I don't think it would be enough energy, but it maybe is. I haven't made the calculations.
--
Wiki de Ciencia Ficcion y Fantasia [uchile.cl]
Free mousepad, just like old Sun mice (Score:5, Insightful)
It reminds me of those old Sun optical mice with the metal grid-pattern mouse pads. I always like turning coworkers pads 90 degrees and watching the ensuing hilarity.
Re:Free mousepad, just like old Sun mice (Score:2)
Afroman did it FIRST (Score:2, Funny)
Utterly pointless (Score:2)
So what's the point? It's actually worse then a standard wired optical mouse because you have to use it on the pad.
If you want a "battery free" wireless optical mouse just get one with rechargable batteries and a charging station. No battery replacements and
Technocluelessness (Score:5, Funny)
Right; this mouse uses Subspace Communication (tm Star Trek). Not this old-fashioned RF stuff.
Ah. "RFID". Cue the "Princess Bride" I-do-not-think-that-word-means-what-you-think-it means quotes.
Let's see, RF at 3E8 m/s will cover one inch in about... 85 picoseconds. Yes, I'm sure RF propagation has always been the cause of your lag. Definitely when your mouse is on the moon and the computer is on earth.
Oh wait, I forgot. This device doesn't use RF. It uses... RFID.
I give up.
Re:Technocluelessness (Score:2)
Get rid of the mouse. It's unnecessary. (Score:2)
Or better yet, keep the optical thing, so the mouse moves accurately and doesn't annoy the living "F" word out
Re:Get rid of the mouse. It's unnecessary. (Score:2)
What the hell are you talking about? Do you even know what the laws of thermodynamics are? I guarantee they have nothing to do with converting heat to electricity. It's not particularly easy to convert heat to electricity, especially not directly, but it's far from impossible. In fact, that's where more than 95% of our electricity comes from in one way or another.
There are plenty of ways to convert heat to electric
What ever happened to the cell phone charge pad? (Score:2, Interesting)
My guess is these just take too long to charge your phone... or is there another reason these never caught on?
What would make more sense... (Score:3, Interesting)
you mean... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Why not power by motion? (Score:2)
Couldn't something like this be introduced in a larger scale (lots of room inside those mice) to power a cordless mouse? It's not like they sit static for great deals if time.
I'm sure someone smarter than me is aware of this method and can probable tell me why it won't work?
Re:Why not power by motion? (Score:3, Informative)
In the case of the mouse, it is unlikely that you could generate and capture enough energy to power a mouse. You would also have to factor in the very poor efficiency of converting mechanical to electrical ene
TANSTAAFPOC (Score:2)
We had pad-tethered mice almost 20 years ago (although it was the mice that were wired back then). We don't have them any more because people didn't seem to like the pad tether. Now these people are giving us a new mouse that provies all of the advantages of a wireless mouse -- excep that it's tethered to a wired mousepad.
In other words, it's really wireless in name only.
Yawn. This is SO 1979! (Score:2)
I had a direct entry tablet with pen for my TRS-80 Color Computer in 1979 that had a wireless mouse (ok, puck) attachment! Jeeze. You kids don't remember anything !
Another review (Score:2, Informative)
how come nobody is pointing (Score:2)
The perfect mouse (Score:4, Insightful)
Logitech is definitely onto something with their mouse dock. It's quite easy to slip the mouse into the dock when leaving the PC and take it back out when coming back, but with BT (and IR) mice, I find that there is still a problem: distance. I'm not sure about you, but having three displays on my desktop, the last thing I need is another device that MUST be there. Between my PDA's cradle, my sound system's remote, a satellite speaker, and various crap from ThinkGeek, the real estate on my desk is extremely scarce. My perfect mouse would be one with the design of an Intellimouse Explorer 4.0, based on RF technology to allow for reliable use several feet from the base. The cradle can then be placed somewhere where real estate isn't quite so scarce (a shelf, for example.)
As for my take on the battery-free tech, it's a toy. A cool, definitely nerdy toy, but still a toy. There's no reason anyone should be too lazy to slip a mouse into its cradle once every few days.
Re:The perfect mouse (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not laziness, it's forgetfullness. The last thing I'd want to do is wake up and go over to my computer only to learn that I need to wait two hours for my mouse to charge because I forgot to dock my mouse recently.
I prefer 4 AAA rechargable NmHi batteries sitting in a battery charger. That way you have the mouse as normal, and only need to change your behavior every few months to switch out the batteries.
Re:hmm... (Score:3, Informative)
In this case it makes sense because it not about being completly wireless per se, but about having the ability to switch between normal mousework and pressure sensitive pen work with a BUNCH of wires or batteries.
Mycroft
Re:hmm... (Score:2)
Re:hmm... (Score:2)
Re:Mouse (Score:2)
Re:I did not RTA, but.... (Score:2)