November 10, 2009

WarMouse, in collaboration with the OpenOffice.org community, revealed  a new open-source mouse developed specifically for users of the OpenOffice suite.

The corded pointing device, memorably dubbed the OpenOfficeMouse, features an unconventional amount of inputs, and will no-doubt be more than welcome in the line-up of the worlds weirdest mice. It packs in a massive 18 programmable buttons, all of which can be double-clicked, in addition to a scroll-wheel, 512k of built-in flash memory and support for over 60 separate configurations. With that many buttons let’s just hope its target users are incredibly dexterous.

Adding to the devices overall appeal is the ability to not only make OpenOffice users lives easier, but equally cater to the gaming crowd. The OpenOfficeMouse can make light work of various gaming hits, including popular titles like World Of Warcraft and Call Of Duty. Mouse designer, Theodore Beale detailed that “you can do far more with this mouse than most people are likely to realize at first”.

Sadly, OpenOffice failed to detail when the confusing new point-and-click would be hitting stores, but we did learn that when the multi-button mouse does arrive it will set you back $74.99.

By Roman Loyola
November 3, 2009

People have strong opinions about computer mice-after all, a mouse (along with a keyboard) physically forms a personal connection between you and your Mac. Apple‘s new Magic Mouse has a creative new design that, upon first impression, you’ll either love or hate.

The Bluetooth Magic Mouse has no visible buttons. It is a two-button mouse, but there’s no visible separation between right and left. I’m right handed, and I use my middle finger for right click, and my index finger for left click, and in my five hours of use, I never accidentally clicked the wrong button.

The buttons actually click; when you press down, you can see and feel the button depress, and there’s an audible click that sounds authentic. You don’t have to take your finger off the mouse to double click. When I simply rested my hand on the mouse, however, I clicked it.

The Magic Mouse has only two buttons. There are no side buttons, like on the Mighty Mouse (now called the Apple Mouse), nor is there a scroll wheel or scroll ball button. In fact, the Exposé or Dashboard functions found in the Apple/Mighty Mouse are no longer in the Magic Mouse.

Perhaps the most innovative feature about the Magic Mouse is the Multi-Touch support, which effectively replaces a scroll wheel or scroll ball. To scroll a document up, down, left or right, you glide your finger on the mouse in the appropriate direction. Your fingers don’t even have to be at the top of the mouse; you can swipe the area just above the logo if you want, and the scrolling works.

The two-finger swiping, however, wasn’t so easy for me to perform. Two-finger swiping can be used in iPhoto, for example, to move between photos. I found it difficult to keep the Magic Mouse still as I swiped two fingers left or right.

The Magic Mouse has a plastic top, and aluminum bottom with two plastic rails. Moving the mouse on my desktop with and without a mouse pad wasn’t smooth at all-it was a grating sensation.

Below is a ten-second video of the Magic Mouse System Preference, which has built-in video tutorials on how to use Multi-Touch.

Following the Magic Mouse’s launch, Apple has also released software updates for Leopard and Snow Leopard to support its Multi-Touch features.

Genius MousePen i608
P2,990
www.geniusnet.com

Compatible with both Windows and Mac computers, the Genius MousePen i608 is especially made for creative digital painting. Its 6×8-inch working area and cordless pen gives freedom  to move your hand as you draw. It also comes with a sensitive mouse for auxiliary navigation.

MousePen i608′s pen features 2 buttons and 29 programmable shortcut keys so you can have instant access to Internet and Office tools. It has a 1024 level pressure sensitivity for thickness so you can control your strokes. The pen is also storable in the tablet’s clip.