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"BlueTrack" Mouse More Advanced Than Laser, Optical

Posted by Soulskill on from the perfect-for-my-granite-workstation dept.

ThinSkin writes "Just when you thought laser and optical mice were enjoying their reign on mousepads worldwide, Microsoft has to come along and introduces their 'BlueTrack Technology,' a mouse tracking system that aims to work on virtually any terrain short of mirrored and reflective surfaces. ExtremeTech reviews the Explorer Mouse and Explorer Mini Mouse, both of which are powered by Microsoft's newest sensor, to see just how well this technology works. Testing on granite, carpet, marble, and other surfaces, the reviewers were impressed with the responsiveness of BlueTrack, but they also noted that laser mice were competitive on these surfaces as well. Even though the mice didn't get a recommendation from the reviewers (price being a major concern), they did admit that this BlueTrack is the best tracking system available today. MaximumPC has some pictures and a brief technical interview."

4 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Oh just stick a 2-axis accellerometer inside by GreyWolf3000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...and be done with it.

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    1. Re:Oh just stick a 2-axis accellerometer inside by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Have you tried using an accelerometer as a pointing device? I played with a £400 device with six-axis accelerometers and it didn't have enough precision to track a movement to the right and then a return to the same starting point as returning to its original position. The only reason the Wii controller is accurate is that it constantly recalibrates itself from the bar under the display. Attach a bowling ball to your mouse, put it on a frictionless surface, and then move it with an elastic band, and you'll get an idea of what an accelerometer-based pointing device built with current technology would feel like.

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      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  2. Warning for incredible retarded web design by aliquis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The linked review is one of those pages there the article uses at most 15% of the space but still had to be split amount 6 pages or so.

  3. As a Linux user by FlyingBishop · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I can also say that I've always enjoyed Microsoft's mice, especially their Intellimouse Explorer, and will probably continue to do so.

    And this sounds like a nice step forward. But $100? I could get a secondary monitor for that price. Or enough ram to max out my 32-bit system. Or a new hard drive so I can raid my system. The list goes on. Also, I'd prefer to be rid of my mouse at this point. Unfortunately, hitting those slashdot preview/submit buttons is a pain in the ass without a mouse.