To keep with the fast-evolving computing landscape, Microsoft (News – Alert) Corp. has come up with its latest offering- the Arc Touch Mouse. According to Microsoft, its new mouse is designed to flatten for portability and pop up for comfort.
Microsoft’s Arc Touch Mouse features Microsoft’s first touch scroll strip for easy navigation. The users simply need to move a finger slowly for controlled scrolling or flick for hyperfast scrolling.
With Arc torch, the Windows-based PC users will no longer find it difficult to carry a mouse inside their laptop bags. By getting flattened with just the touch of a finger, the Arc Torch fits into the bag without the added bump of traditional mouse. Contrary to industry buzz that the mouse’s days are numbered, with the launch of its Arc Torch, Microsoft proves that mice are not only very much alive, they are going great guns.
Whether using touch screen or touch pad, people basically want ease of use and precision while using a computer and according to Microsoft, only a mouse can provide that.
“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. Still, the mouse category continued to grow and grow. The reasons people need external mice will not change: comfort and precision. The Arc Touch Mouse just demonstrates again how committed Microsoft is to continuing to bring great new mice to consumers,” Brett Ostrum, general manager for the Hardware Group at Microsoft, said.
According to Microsoft, Arc Torch is designed for the mobile lifestyle.
At less than 15 millimeters thick at its widest point, the Arc Touch Mouse was designed to deliver ultimate portability to easily slip into a bag, purse or pocket. It also goes from curved to flat with one simple movement, so working on the go is easier than ever — just collapse the Arc Touch Mouse to turn it off, and pop it up to turn on. It’s also extremely durable, tested to ensure years of performance.
Another interesting point about Arc torch is: it allows the users to take control with touch scrolling. With the Arc Touch Mouse’s touch strip, consumers can take control of their scrolling with a flick of a finger. Using a capacitive sensing technique and sensor pads, the strip corresponds to each position and velocity change to give users accurate, controlled scrolling no matter how fast or slow the movement. Move a finger slowly on the strip for controlled scrolling, or flick a finger for hyperfast scrolling that can be stopped with just a simple tap. The strip also has three tap “buttons” for added functionality: page up, page down and the middle click area, which is reprogrammable for whatever mouse function the user needs most. Switching from a scroll wheel to a touch strip is made easier with haptics, a vibration technology that simulates the bumps users would feel while using a traditional scroll wheel.
The Arc Touch Mouse comes complete with BlueTrack Technology, which allows consumers track on virtually any surface, and a tiny magnetic snap-in Nano transceiver stores conveniently on the bottom of the mouse. Two AAA batteries give the Arc Touch Mouse more than six months of battery life, and the two-color battery life indicators let people know when the power is running low.
Regarding the pricing and availability of this product, Microsoft announced that Arc Touch Mouse will be available for the estimated retail price of $69.95. Currently it is available now for presale on Amazon.com (News – Alert), BestBuy.com and Buy.com, and it will ship in early December in time for the U.S. holiday season. It will be broadly available online and in stores in January 2011. Microsoft backs this mouse with a worldwide three-year limited hardware warranty.
Source:http://it.tmcnet.com/topics/it/articles/100156-microsofts-launches-arc-touch-mouse-that-pops-up.htm
