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Optical Mouse Saves Space in Cellphones
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."
Geez... As if the jerk talking on his phone during lunch wasn't bad enough, now he's gonna be flashing a damn laser pointer around the place too!
Since when has a mobile phone needed a trackpad/mechanical trackball anyway? We all seem to get along fine with up and down buttons...
Disclaimer: i live in the UK where we have decent networks and handsets. Go Nokia 7110, go!
Feel that power? That's mah MOUSING FINGER
More reliance on mice and pointing technologies.
Since it won't work as awell as a stylus (Hardwriting recognition) And you don't have as much room to find things as a nortmal 17" Screen, I'd have to wonder at the usefullness.
Cool points for using a laser, though.
Open Source Identity Management: FreeIPA.org
Most people who carry laptops carry a cell phone anyway.
This is one cellphone innovation that seems worthwhile.
One question, can you turn on the mouse feature separately from the rest of the phone? This would be important for use in airplanes, since cell phone usage is generally banned on planes.
I am the evil aardvark!
of this incredibly lame-looking thing.
-m
You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
I won't be getting one. The last thing I want to do is be clicking through pr0n-o-rama.com and accidently call my boss.
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!
...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!
When I first read the headline I was invisioning this optical sensor in the back of a phone and you'd move the phone around on a desk to move the pointer. Now that would be funny to watch in a restaurant.
And now that we'll be adding a far more functional mouse-like device to our cell phones and PDA's, we'll be able to use them for a far wider range of games now. Atari's Centipede has just been waiting in the wings to be ported to an even smaller device for portability and play, because by now you're surely bored of Snake!
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
It's a neat and innovative idea, but my first impression is that the usability metrics would suck. Unless, of course, the scrolling was throttled down to where it gets frustrating (1:1 mouse settings, anyone?).
"In my values, freedom is more important than 'serving users' in a mere practical sense." -- RMS
Somebody would complain because it didn't have three buttons.
So I have a tooth cell phone, that has an optical laser pointing device, and built in cameras?
shesh, I dont think anyone needs live feeds of me operating my laser controlled cell phone with my tongue all while making plans for which pubs we'll be visiting that evening. that's too 'geek' for me... but it would be hillarious!
dmarien
such as Samsung SPH-I300? A pointer device could be useful to keep all those fingerprints off the touch screen :-)
..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. ;)
>>Light from the 650 nm laser is focused on an object, such as a fingertip, creating an external cavity.
I want one that creates an INTERNAL cavity!
I'm sick and tired of having to clean out the ball and gears in my cellphone-mouse. I am worried about answering my phone and lasering my brain though. I'd prefer long-term radiation to instant death.
Now a combination death ray and cell phone -- THAT would be something!
With an optical mouse and web access, how long will it be before I can punch the monkey and win on my cellphone?
-- Adam
It's cool to use a laser for a mouse on a cell phone. Whoever said it earlier is right, it wins some serious geek/nerd points. But, why not one of those little dot thingies that some laptops have? Or, better yet, a little side scroll wheel a la MP3 players? Not that I see much use for the things anyway... Except for playing Snake or Pong, or whatever game you have on your cell phone. I know that on my Sanyo I have a really crappy game that is really hard to control using the * and # keys. Why won't someone port Doom to Sanyo?! =0)
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Reading the title, I thought it meant you could use your cell-phone to double as an optical mouse for your laptop.
I'm not sure how practical it'd be, but it strikes me as something that might be useful for those business users who'd like to use a mouse with their laptops (especially if they give computer-based presentations); the mouse would be one less extra thing to cart around with them.
-A
I think they are just doing this because they want to make it seem like a phone for $300 is a good deal. That is all... it is a marketing gimmic...
...And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." - Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)
incredible
how do such devices get past a certain stage.
inventor : "Hi, I've had this great idea for a new mouse, it's got a phone handset built into it"
vc : "Really, let's do it, I can't imagine anyone not wanting one of those"
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
I know cell phones already fry your brain, but carving a cavity in your fingertip sounds a bit excessive?
And how exactly is the cavity in my finger created with the laser? Will it smell from burnt skin?
How about bluetooth? Or a USB Dongle to make it wireless. Not one of those big bulky Logitech Dongles, but one of those nice ones that sticks out about an inch off of the usb port?
Trying is the First Step to Failing --Homer Simpson
Can we attach them to sharks heads?
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
Is it just me or did anyone else envision a businessman rubbing a cellphone back and forth on the side of his head to use their laptops while talking on the phone? :)
That's what, 1200 mm^27? I don't know about you, but I have problems with just four spatial dimensions, and they expect us to do this with 27?
I'll wait for this Euclidian version, thankyouverymuch.
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
"space-saving"
So, you mean it's saving some of the space taken up by the bulky trackballs that currently come standard on all cell phones? what an innovation!
This is closer to an optical trackpad than a mouse. Why is it useful? Well, you could use it to replace the up-down/d-pad that many phones have. Instead of two or four big mechanical buttons, you have one tiny non-moving lens. Smaller phones, less breakage.
Of course, in order for this to work well, there would have to be haptic feedback that you had moved an item, otherwise you'd have to stare at your phone to see where the cursor was. I suspect that this will only become popular in ultra-tiny phones (like ones that you can't buy outside of Asia), and perhaps in palmtops (although I'd much prefer a touch-screen).
I'm a very happy user* of a Microsoft Trackball Optical and it is the same thing yet they decided to leave in the trackball instead of using your finger.
The precision of these optical devices however does let anyone use them almost anywhere (except on glass, mirrors, etc). But if they want to call this a "mouse" it would need to go on the bottom of your phone while you move it around on it's back (or front?)
*there is a problem where by moving the wires the mouse become disconnected, likely a short. Luckily I use it with the USB port because I can bring it back online without getting on my hands and knees. Anyone had to ship one back to M$? I just found their replacement page here
Get your Unix fortune now!
The other day when I was forced to surf the web on my phone since my wireless PDA was being used to open a bottle of Corona Extra (la cerveza mas fina) I came upon your idea on slashdot where you proposed a spider-web launching add on. Needless to say, I was shocked! So once the beer was opened I used my Handspring PDA as a telephone and called my VC buddy immediately (though he didn't answer- after he installed that Golf Tee extension to his Nokia we can't get him off the links!)
Nonetheless I know he would be interested in funding such a usefull gizmo as he has a successful track record of supporting innovation.
If you are interested I can use my wristwatch to take a digital picture of the contract and fax it to your blue tooth enabled microwave ASAP.
Things are heating up!
Mekka Berzerkor, C.E.O.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
hmmm i wonder how this will aid in havin teenagers control robots to fight world wars?
This sounds like a good idea, but...
:-)
You know some marketing guy is going to insist that the mouse be used to select numbers on a virtual keypad.
from the look-at-my-tiny-pointer dept.
Hey, it's not the size of your pointing device, it's how fast you can double-click, know what I'm sayin'?
You know how a trackball is essentially a mouse turned upside down? This is the concept at work here.
I can't believe it took this long to come up with the optical touchpoint. I can't use those eraser-head pointers, touchpads are always interfering whenever I brush my palm on it while typing. With this technology, all you need is a tiny hole to put your thumb over. For greater accuracy, you could even have a trackball-sized device with the hole on the top and a smooth surface to move your hand on.
This can also be integrated into a regular optical mouse...your finger can control scrolling and zooming without a wheel.
Until we have MEMS displays at a virtual 50", we really won't need these in cell phones and PDA's. But it will be great for wearable computing; hold the controller in your hand and point by moving your thumb on the side of the case.
It's not that these things haven't been done before, it's just that you can now do it more reliably and with better accuracy.
...
"You'll put your eye out with that thing!"
Mmmm...Lasers in things that go next to your head. A sudden boom in designer eye patches?
"...you can steal my woman, but you ain't done nuthin' smart."
My first thought on reading the title was that they figured out how to make the phone a wireless mouse for your laptop/desktop. That would be cool - your cell is always laying on the desk, what if you could just move it around and throw away your your old tethered mouse? Less desktop clutter!
I was hoping to actually file a patent on this! You can demonstrate the effect by taking an optical trackball and using a fingertip or thumbtip in the cavity created when you remove the ball. I noticed the effect cleaning a logitech device several years ago. The MS trackball also works well. As to "bluetooth" I have used my logitech wireless this way, so I assume it would work for a bluetooth as well.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
The only pointing device that should be on hand-held devices is my finger! This is a step backward from touch-screens. Seriously, imagine trying to navigate your Palm or PocketPC with a trackball or mouse. I do not want to be fussing with a trackball while riding a rocking train or bus just so I can click the "dial" button.
Apparently you did not look well at the picture. The "cavity" is, in fact, a lens, covering the whole thing.
(OK, I'm just filling in a small hole here..)
What person will donate an airborne act of love?
All I want is a cellphone with a frickin' laser beam on it, is that too much to ask? Honestly, throw me a bone here...
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Light from the 650 nm laser is focused on an object, such as a fingertip, creating an external cavity.
/.ers, but that phrase seems a little disturbing -- maybe I just haven't had enough coffee. So what happens if the power is upped on this little gizmo? Does it focus on an external crater?
I don't know about other
I can just see it, "Sorry I didn't call honey, but my thumb blew off when I tried to phone home."
He who has no