And lo and behold, Microsoft launched the device's official Website, complete with a nifty little animation of the Arc Touch in action. In addition to that flexing form-factor (2.28 inches wide by 5.14 inches long), the device (which will ship in early December) has a 30-foot wireless range and includes a touch-to-scroll strip, a snap-on nano-transceiver and six months' worth of (advertised) battery life. Retail price: $70.
Early reviews seem pretty positive, and devote a lot of digital ink to that super-sensitive touch strip. Personally, I can see its advantages over a traditional wheel: fewer parts to get grimy, ability to "flick" rapidly through long menus, etc. There are also three tap "buttons," one of which is programmable.
Apple's music event Sept. 1, which saw a revamped iPod Nano with a touch screen, and Samsung's unveiling of its Galaxy Tab slate PC suggest that multitouch control is rapidly assuming its full adulthood. Yet despite all the buzz surrounding the category, desktops--and the mice that allow you to procrastinate before one with ever-greater efficiency--remain a dominant form factor.
"This is not the first time that the mouse has been threatened--look at 10 years ago when people started buying laptops that had integrated pointers and touch pads," Brett Ostrum, general manager of Microsoft's hardware group, said in a Sept. 1 statement. "The reasons people need external mice will not change: comfort and precision."
This is an image of the mouse's box that leaked from a German Website a couple weeks ago:
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