

Mouse Uses RFID Instead of Batteries 208
ValourX writes "NewsForge (part of OSTG, like Slashdot) has a review of a mouse that is powered by RFID (and yes, it works with Linux). It's cordless and uses no batteries -- you just have to keep the mouse within 2 inches of the mousepad for it to work. What else could be powered by RFID?"
s/RFID/Induction (Score:5, Insightful)
More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:1)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:5, Informative)
No power is wasted. This is actually an induction antenna; think of it as a transformer where one coil is in the mouse pad and the other is in the mouse. If there's nothing to pick up the power, no current flows (or at least, very little). The technique is used all over the place.
The only thing I'm wondering about is what happens about stray bits of metal placed on the mouse mat. If you're not careful, power will get transmitted to them; not only does this waste energy, it can be potentially dangerous... you wouldn't want to discover your wedding ring getting hot after using the mouse for a short while...
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:5, Funny)
No worries. As usual, they won't sell these mice to the left-handed heathens.
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:5, Funny)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2)
I've tried a couple of assymetric "ergonomic" mice, but they just felt wrong.
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2)
These have been around for a long time (Score:5, Informative)
(b) Mice powered by induction from a special mousepad (or top-of-the-mousepad) have been around for a very long time. Presumably these didn't catch on for the same reason that optical mice that required a mousepad with a grid didn't catch on -- people don't like being forced to have a particular mousepad.
(c) Tesla owns your ass, mouse-people -- he powered lamps with remotely transmitted power twenty-five miles away.
Re:These have been around for a long time (Score:2)
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2, Insightful)
If you dont want to waste batteries just use a mouse with a cord.
Re:More Like: Inductive Coupling (Score:2)
That probably wouldn't work too well with this environment.
Re:Good for capillaries in the hand (Score:2)
Wireless? lol (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll stick with my real wireless mouse thanks very much, no batteries just charge it once a week (or when I remember to put it back in its cradle).
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:5, Funny)
And, since there's no battery, you're charging... magical gnomes?
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:4, Informative)
http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/video/mite.html [le.ac.uk]
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:3, Informative)
A mouse pad does not move. Hence no problems with it's cord being tangled.
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
But a small animal could chew through the cord, the way my cats like to do.
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:5, Insightful)
No thanks, I'll stick with an truly wireless mouse.
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
However, try an optical mouse on a Dell standard mouse pad
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
If you are going to use a mouse mat, make sure it has a woven cloth surface and *not* plastic of any sort.
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
My optical mouse works the best on a newspaper and works really bad on a standard one-colored mouse pad.
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:5, Insightful)
You are absolutely right. The pad is wired (and thusly powered), which does still tether you to the computer. And although the OP is mildly misleading, the point of this device is that the actual mouse does not have any wires attached to it.
To most people, the advantage of a wireless mouse is the freedom to move the mouse without worrying about what the cord is going to get snagged on. This gives users that freedom without requiring them ever to replace/recharge their batteries.
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:2)
(Yes, I know how dumb that looks - WUSB transceiver with a battery dangling out, attached to a mouse pad for a battery-free mouse
Basic Electronics (Score:2)
Re:Wireless? lol (Score:3, Informative)
The biggest problem with wired mice is the cord getting tangled up, running out of cord while you're gaming or in the way as it's used (curling up and ending up on the mousepad, for instance). With this system, the cord never moves once it's positioned. You can mouse around the pad as much as you want and the cord never gets in the way.
Wacom? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Wacom? (Score:1)
Re:Wacom? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Wacom? (Score:2, Informative)
I bought one of the bigger ones because I wanted the resolution for my wife's freelance graphics work.
The pen is pretty awesome to use in a graphics program, it's incredible how much more freedom you have with it instead of the mouse.
Re:Wacom? (Score:2)
Re:Wacom? (Score:2)
I remember when I got my first WACOM tablet or something for Win 95. Good times.
Re:Wacom? (Score:4, Funny)
Actually it's not that close. An 18"x18" square has only 56% of the surface area that a 24"x24" square has. Thanks for playing, though. There are some lovely parting gifts on the way out.
Re:Wacom? (Score:2)
You sure about that? The largest tablet Wacom makes is 9x12.
And I should add, that model retails for over $700. Which is quite a bit if all you want is a battery-free wireless mouse.
(The cheapest Wacom tablet b.t.w. is $99. Worth every penny if you use the pen, but easily five times what a wireless mouse would cost.)
Correcting myself... (Score:2)
I apologize, the largest is 12x18.
Though I still think my point about the price is still valid. Wacoms ain't cheap.
Re:Wacom? (Score:4, Insightful)
The Wacom Cult (Score:3, Informative)
Well, this probably isn't owned by a crazy, quasi-religious cult leader [freedomofmind.com]* for starters.
*Specifically, Sun Myung Moon [unification.net].
May be good for graphics, but not for everything (Score:2)
best not to have a 'pad' at all. I like just grabbing the mouse and/or the keyboard and take it to the kitchen ( where I can still see the computer display on the 84" projector screen ) and control the video that is playing ( usually French video capture, music or news ) while making coffee/eggs/etc. Heck, I like being able to use the mouse on the arm of a couch, a table, or whatever surface is nearby. It is
What else? (Score:5, Funny)
Paranoia.
Re:What else? (Score:5, Funny)
The mousepad.
Re:What else? (Score:2)
My refrigerator? Manufacturing plants? Entire cities? Silly me, I hadn't realized that RFID could be used as a power source. Maybe all those passports and Real ID cards will have some utility after all.
Re:What else? (Score:2)
You're kidding, right? (Score:5, Informative)
Two, bateryless cordless mice are old news. I've got a Graphire 2 next to me that's done that thing for three or four years.
Re:You're kidding, right? (Score:1, Troll)
What else can be powered? (Score:3, Funny)
Been done before (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Been done before (Score:3, Interesting)
So this guy runs his 2.5V*~100mA= 0.25W mouse with 0.25W/60W = 0.4% efficiency? You people make me sick.
Trickle Charging (Score:1)
Ummm.... (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:Ummm.... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Ummm.... (Score:2)
Inductive coupling works (electric toothbrushes are charged this way too), but it is not very efficient, esp if the mouse is not right above the coil. my current batteries now hold out a few days, but with such an inefficiency added to it it may be more like a few hours.
Re:Ummm.... (Score:4, Informative)
FTFA: "The NB-50 mouse pad does have a cord, and it connects to the computer via USB."
This is for people who don't want a wire on the part that moves, but don't mind having a wire on the part that stays put.
I know I don't tangle up my keyboard's wire nearly as often as I do the mouse wire, but I got an optical mouse partly because I don't like to be restricted in the area on which I can move said mouse. I do tasks that are conductive to large mouse movements, precise dragging and whatnot, so this isn't for me. Still cool, though.
what else could be powered by RFID? (Score:2)
Re:what else could be powered by RFID? (Score:2)
Re:what else could be powered by RFID? (Score:2)
w00t (Score:1, Funny)
Re:w00t (Score:2)
A pad?? (Score:1)
Re:A pad?? (Score:2)
From the article (Score:5, Insightful)
Well there's a sentence that sure didn't end the way I wanted it to... Where's his sense of adventure?
Re:From the article (Score:2)
Sounds like microwave-oven warnings. Are they microwaving the mouse ...to get it to talk?
Re:From the article (Score:2, Funny)
Well there's a sentence that sure didn't end the way I wanted it to... Where's his sense of adventure?
His co-worker was originally assigned to the article, but he met an... unfortunate end and his half-written article was never published. This journalist wasn't about to make the same mistake.
RFID mouse (Score:1)
Difference between this and digitzer pad... (Score:5, Interesting)
If your entire desk's surface was one big induction loop, this would allow you to have this mouse work over the whole of your desk (assuming there's enough power coupling). Beware the magnetic media, though!
Good thing I read the f'in artical (Score:3, Funny)
Then I read the article and it made more sense.
Great! (Score:2)
Way back when, or something old something new (Score:4, Informative)
The simplest bug I know of is antenna, half wave rectifier, carbon microphone. As the load varies (carbon mike changes resistance with sound pressure) the amplitude of a harmonic is modulated and radiated by the same antenna.
So's my toothbrush. (Score:3, Interesting)
The toothbrush has a battery that is inductively recharged when it's sitting in it's base.
I have used the toothbrush over 6,000 miles from it's base which is amore useful range than the 2 inch range of the mouse.
A wireless mouse with a battery that got recharged when you left it on the mouse pad but didn't have to be near the mousepad to work would actually have some utility. They need to add a battery.
Re:So's my toothbrush. (Score:2)
Frying the naughty bits (Score:2)
What else could be powered by RFID? (Score:2)
Battery length (Score:2)
I have to feed my mouse weekly, but I use rechargable batteries. But it's better than paying for new batteries monthly.
Shouldn't this be in YRO? (Score:2)
This has been done. (Score:2, Interesting)
If you buy Wacom's cheapest Graphire pad, it comes with a mouse. From my experience, the input device must be within 1/2 inch of the pad in order for it to work.
Whatever the case
I have an invention (Score:2)
I'll patent it and make billions!
This is different from old tech how? (Score:2)
My default mouse is the wireless one on my Wacom tablet.
No batteries - never have been.
This is different in WHAT major way???
--
Tomas
Tesla's Dreams in Action (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.teslatech.info/ttmagazine/v1n4/valone.h tm [teslatech.info]
http://www.braincourse.com/wirelessa.html [braincourse.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla [wikipedia.org]
Clueless (Score:2)
And why exactly is this news, anyway? I've had my Wacom tablet for five years, which has a pen and a mouse, neither of which has a battery.
Hardly a new technology... (Score:2)
Reminds me of when Microsoft or Logitech (I forget who) touted their innovative "Optical Mouse", almost 20 years after Sun had optical mice.
Re:Defeats purpose. (Score:1)
Re:Defeats purpose. (Score:2)
Re:Defeats purpose. (Score:2)
For future reference, mice are also very good as thrown projectiles: they're reasonable light, aerodynamic, and made of hard plastic. In addition, the corded variety can be used as a whip.
Re:Defeats purpose. (Score:2)
Very Useful in some cases- (Score:2)
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1510
Re:Defeats purpose. (Score:3, Insightful)
For me, one of the nice things about having a wire
Optical Mice with Pad (Score:5, Interesting)
I've seen a couple posts where people have said "Hey, the first optical mouse let me throw away the pad." and have just got to drop a quick note here.
I have several optical mice that *need* their pad, as it has a grid for the optics to read as you draw the mouse across it. So it took them awhile to figure out how to get the optical mouse to work with no pad. Just as it will take them awhile to figure out how to give the entire population of the Earth cancer by using Inductive style power beamed from satellites to power those mice.
Re:Optical Mice with Pad (Score:3, Insightful)
And most likely, they'll figure out a wa
Re:eh? (Score:2)
Re:Corded mouse pad (Score:3, Insightful)
This seems like it's just a really, really nice idea for desktops, where my MX700 needs to be cradled every night and still occasionally runs out of juice at just the wrong time.