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Your Entire PC In a Mouse

slash-sa writes: A Polish software and hardware developer has created a prototype computer which is entirely housed within a mouse. Dubbed the Mouse-Box, it works like a conventional mouse, but contains a processor, flash storage, an HDMI connection, and Wi-Fi connectivity. It is connected to a monitor via the HDMI interface and connects to an Internet connection through standard Wi-Fi.

25 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Now if I could just type... by X0563511 · · Score: 2

    I kind of don't like the idea of all the expensive stuff being inside the things you have your hands on and move around all day.

    --
    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  2. Not a gaming device though by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is clearly not intended to be a gaming device. When I get pissed off and wing my mouse across the room in frustration, I don't want to destroy my entire computer in the process.

  3. Heat? by ELCouz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Mouse will be hot (Not very hot but enough to sweat more)

  4. In inevitable questions of why... by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I say, "Why not?"

    It's a crazy idea. I don't think it's going to fly particularly well, but hey, if they want to try something unique and crazy, I'm not going to stop them.

    I mean, ten years ago if you told me that one of the best ways to stream stuff to my TV was through a stick the size of a zagnut bar that plugged directly into my HDMI socket, I would've told you you were nuts.

    Bring on the crazy ass designs. Let's see where this goes.

    --
    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  5. Re:Now if I could just type... by Iamthecheese · · Score: 2

    As you say, computers in the keyboard have been around for a very long time. So with less space, fewer ports, and fewer options (and assuming the user wants a keyboard) What's the advantage in having it in the mouse? There may be a use case I haven't considered but so far all I see is a gimmick.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
  6. Re:Now if I could just type... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Funny

    This. Replacing a 102-key device with a 2-key device is not progress. Point-and-click is really just point-and-grunt. Two grunts to double-click.

    Obligatory Onion article.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  7. Dongle by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do you know that you left yourself wide open* for male anatomy jokes there?

    * Not intended to be a "goat_" joke.

  8. Re:My mouse gets really dirty... by dinfinity · · Score: 2

    HDMI cables are (and will be) pretty stiff.
    Considering that you'll probably need a HDMI->microHDMI-adapter 'on the go' to actually connect to the display at hand, I don't see this being very convenient as a mouse (let alone when attaching an external HDD to the USB-port as well).

    Just clicking some standard micro-PC with some plastic hooks onto some standard mouse would be more usable and almost just as portable. In fact, if you buy this product, you'd be best off buying an actual mouse with it and connect it to the Mouse-box (there's an Inception-joke waiting to be made here).

  9. Re:Keyboard by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the keyboard: Commodore-64
    In a phone: Apple iPhone
    In the monitor: Apple
    In a flower-pot: Apple ("daisy monitor")
    In a flash drive: pendrivelinux.com
    In a mouse-pad: ?
    In a power cord: ?
    In a toaster: http://www.embeddedarm.com/sof...
    In eye-glasses: Google-glass
    In undies/bra: ?
    In a coffee mug: ?
    In a coffee maker: http://null-byte.wonderhowto.c...
    In head-phones: ?
    In a hat? (red hat :-)
    In green-eggs-and-ham: ?

  10. Re:Now if I could just type... by KiloByte · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Enjoy using a mouse with a bunch of cables attached to it. Not so ergonomic, you see...

    As this mouse needs a display anyway, it'd be so much better to put the brains in something that doesn't move.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  11. Re:Now if I could just type... by CastrTroy · · Score: 2

    Sounds a lot like the Intel Compute Stick. maybe not powerful enough for everyone, but for a lot of users, it would be the ideal device. It would be so great to not have to worry about syncing files or even how software licenses transfer between machines when you can put a full powered computer in your pocket.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  12. You Forgot Something by organgtool · · Score: 5, Funny

    No screen on the mouse? Lame.

  13. Re:Now if I could just type... by Dupedupeshakur · · Score: 2

    I've got it! How about we put the computer in the keyboard since it has more room! More economical. Here's my prototype: http://static.giantbomb.com/up...

  14. Re:Keyboard by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 2

    Yeah! Stick the computer in the keyboard!

    You can even have a flatscreen connected to it, with a hinge so the user can adjust the angle. Then stick on a battery so it can be used for a while away from a wall socket, and you've got an innovative new product!~

    --
    Not a sentence!
  15. Re:Now if I could just type... by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 2

    Like your smart phone?

  16. Re:Now if I could just type... by towermac · · Score: 2

    No, you'd plug that little teeny Logitech RF thingy into the mouse, not a cable.

    If you wanted to gripe, ask if they also sell a thin and supple mini hdmi cable. All the HDMIs I have seen pride themselves on how stiff and robust they are. Hell, the old SCSI cables that were half the size of a garden hose were more supple.

  17. Re:My mouse gets really dirty... by towermac · · Score: 2

    Anybody that has worked front line IT knows what hand cheese is all about.

    Everybody makes it.

  18. Look at the photo - mini HDMI connector by dbIII · · Score: 2

    That's a tiny connection so it's going to have a thin mini-HDMI cable plugged into it with maybe full sized HDMI at the other end. In mechanical terms that will make it very similar to a normal USB mouse.

  19. Imagine... by xornor · · Score: 2

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!

  20. Computer in a Joystick by billstewart · · Score: 2

    Why put that computer into a keyboard when you can put it into a joystick? (Jeri Ellsworth's C64-Direct-to-TV)

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  21. Re:Once upon a time by Eythian · · Score: 2

    The batteries typically last for 6+ months at a time.

    For the other two points, if you can't use a mouse, you have bigger problems than wired or wireless.

    The main pro is that there is no cable to catch on the other crap that's on my desk. Also, I use the mouse left-handed, but usually games are set up with a right-handed configuration by default, so I just pick up the mouse and move it for those cases, without having to sort out a cable.

    In a pinch, they double as a wireless presentation clicker too.

  22. Re:Now if I could just type... by blackbeak · · Score: 2

    And a flashlight function too! You might need to sneak out of the workplace after you've up/downloaded the goods.

    --
    Everything and its opposite is true. Get used to it.
  23. Re:Now if I could just type... by houghi · · Score: 2

    People have been using mice with cables for a LONG time. In almost all the offices where I have worked, mice are wired.

    Sure, you could just use a keyboard for that, but many people drag that around their desk as well. What you could do is use a special box and put the hardware in that. Oh wait. I just invented the PC.

    There are basically three things that you need for desk PC.
    1) The screen
    2) The keyboard
    3) The mouse

    Having a PC in a screen is already done. You can go into a store and buy them.
    Having a PC in the keyboard is something I had with my C-64. So nothing new there
    Having the PC in the mouse is new.

    Instead of moaning how bad of an idea this is, YOU make something that you think would work.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  24. Re:Now if I could just type... by T.E.D. · · Score: 2

    ...the Slashdot is clearly very strong with me too, as I didn't bother reading what you were replying to. :-)

  25. Re:Now if I could just type... by lennier1 · · Score: 2

    Exactly!

    Throw in a Thunderbolt port and you'll also be able to offload more connections to a compact docking station.
    Leverage the low-quality graphics features of modern x86 CPUs and adapt Intel's Wireless Display tech or something similar and boom, you'll also be able to sell mobile displays with a kickstand so your office PC can turn into a laptop whenever the situation requires it. Same with simply using the projector in your conference room as an external display.

    With all the necessary product lines under one roof and the necessary business partnerships on top of it, why exactly isn't Lenovo selling this yet???