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Optical Mouse Saves Space in Cellphones

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the look-at-my-tiny-pointer dept.

Chris writes "Researchers at Philips have integrated a space-saving optical mouse into a mobile phone for the first time. Dutch researchers at the Philips Center for Industrial Technology have developed a compact, optical interface for portable electronic equipment. The team says that its new input gadget can be easily integrated in cellphones, laptops and PDAs, providing an space-efficient alternative to a mechanical trackball or touch-pad for example. The device is made up of a low-power red laser diode and a detector placed beneath a lens. Light from the 650 nm laser is focused on an object, such as a fingertip, creating an external cavity. It is not necessary to touch the lens. A small portion of this light is then reflected back and mixes with the light within the internal laser cavity."

6 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. No moving parts - very nice! by mellon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Being one of those jerks who talks on my cell phone a fair amount (I do try to be considerate, honest!) I have to say that reducing the number of moving parts in the phone sounds like a wonderful idea. My biggest problem with cell phones is how flimsy they are, and how quickly parts of them wear out. if this improves the MTBF for the phone, I say bring it on!

  2. Why... by Carik · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...does anyone need a MOUSE (or any pointint device!) on their cellphone? Frankly, I don't use much more than the number keys and the "start call" button. I honestly can't imagine why anyone would WANT to use their phone for something else. If I want to play games, I go find a computer or a console - or a deck of cards!

    1. Re:Why... by Rob+Parkhill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I had a nice Sony phone with a scroll-wheel/button on the side. It was sweet for scrolling through menus, phone numbers, etc. Very nice.

      Problem is, this mechanical bit was the first thing to die. I had a couple of these phones, and friends with these phones, and the scroll-wheel was almost always broken or flakey.

      An optical version of this, with no moving parts to wear out, would be a nice feature. And since you are not limited to one-dimensional movement as you are with a scroll wheel, new navigational ideas are possible (how about the entire alphabet on the screen, you just mouse over the the letter you want and tap, and it jumps to that letter in your phone book. I'm sure others can come up with better ideas.)

      And, of course, when DOOM is ported to a nice J2ME enabled phone, you're going to need something better than the keypad...

      --
      "Tomorrow's forecast: a few sprinkles of genius with a chance of doom!" - Stewie Griffin
    2. Re:Why... by Ben+Hutchings · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Any pointing device is called a mouse these days, whether or not it's much like a mouse, as the average luser doesn't know what "pointing device" means.

      On a phone it's useful to be able to move through menus, text fields, and hypertext pages (WML or similar) quickly and fluidly. A roller only covers one axis; a small joystick covers both but can't be miniaturised that far; something like this could be ideal.

  3. haven't you seen the Palm based phones? by SpiceWare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    such as Samsung SPH-I300? A pointer device could be useful to keep all those fingerprints off the touch screen :-)

  4. Scraping things across holes... by Jon+Howard · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ..especially oily fingertips, will eventually lead to nasty build-up partially obscuring the cavity.

    I hope they put a little glass window over these rather than leaving it exposed like the bottom of my optical mouse - human hands are just too oily for this kind of thing, especially those of us who are less sanitary than my OCD-laden self. ;)