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46 Comments
- dragonmantank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27It probably depends on their metabolism.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+20SUCK IT, high power Microsoft mouse! In your face!!!
- bmwboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Dugg for the correct use of "hybrid". bravo apple.
- lorensingley, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12It's innovations like this that really makes your competition ***** their pants. Well played.
- noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7They've pattented a more efficient wireless optical/inertial mouse hybrid yes.
- pgup, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12So they've patented a wireless mouse?
- noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5These mice don't rely on cheese, no cheese, no methane rich exhaust. Apples going for green mice.
- xerus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Finally a hybrid mouse. Now I wont have to take it to the gas pumps so often.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Don't mice already use very low amounts of power?"
The difference between 100mA and less than 20mA makes a huge difference when we're talking AA batteries. - Raian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I hope they market it as Mighty Mouse: with Velocity Engine
- wolfzero, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Maybe this will solve the age-old "wireless (optical) mouse on a glass desk" problem.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4No ppl, the keyword here is "low power". So they've patented a wireless mouse that has much much less power consumption.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Optical CMOS sensor power consumption: ~10mA while moving, ~2.5mA when "parking", and sleeping around 100uA.
MEMS sensor power consumption: 350uA during operation, lower for sleep.
It's easy to see why the MEMS approach is desirable. - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"basically they've patented the wiimote"
...in mouse form. The real question comes to "Why even include the optical sensor?", when new MEMS devices are becoming more and more sensitive to even the tiniest changes in acceleration and velocity. The DSP needed to process the Optical data is still one of the most power consuming components (as the calculations of acceleration and velocity inside of the tiny 8-bit processors found inside most mice are quick and very cheap power-wise). - monkeyrun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4short answer: no.
Wireless mouse use a lot of power. - rockets, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Yes, somebody needs to stop Apple and Microsoft from the frivolous patents
- arjayl642, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Seems like something Apple would do. But I'm fine connecting my Mighty Mouse via USB. It would seem to me that maybe the hybrid would be slower to conserve its energy, etc. I guess we'll have to wait and see if it is in fact better.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have a logitech mx1000 and i use it very often and dont really charge it that much, but, this technology sounds great, longer use/less charging = great, if we could do that for laptops?
- Phyrefly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, this is so useful. Really.
What's next? Hybrid mouse with hybrid engine powered by movement? - wordsofwisedumb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2That depends on the mouse. I have had wireless mice that go through two double A batteries once a week. I currently have a bluetooth mighty mouse that goes through two double A batteries every two months. And yes there are dongles that have charging stations but that is clutter on a desk and clutter on a desk is not Apple's style.
- heinous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that's funny, I can't find a SINGLE ONE BUTTON MOUSE ANYWHERE IN THE APPLE ONLINE STORE. Would you morons RTF press release? Apple hasn't even offered a one button mouse for oh, about 2 years. Jesus!
- Branden, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Wow, that's supposed to be a new feature? My Microsoft mouse is a few years old and it can do that.
- thunderer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I know what you're saying, but up until late July, their wireless mouse was still one button.
- djjuice, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm thinking like maybe a wireless mouse that can use one AAA battery or maybe even a watch battery and it charges itself when being used. Like the Seiko and Rolex watches that wind them self from just walking (centrifugal force?)
- hybrid8, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3***** the minifridge, thats so 1999, it better have a OLED display, be the iPhone with widescreen video playback, run windows and not be so damn expensive, then i might buy one.
- vcleniuk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'd bet it's a Wii / wireless mouse cross. Wii-mouse. sqiik.
- ApolloXLII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ thunderer
i dunno where you got that figure from, but i have had my wireless mouse with two buttons for well over a year now. - capiCrimm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3but does it have five buttons and a minifridge like my mouse?
- thunderer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And when you see the entire office in a conga-line, you'll know why.
- KSUdesigner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"And yes there are dongles that have charging stations but that is clutter on a desk and clutter on a desk is not Apple's style."
No it's not their style, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them incorporate an ipod/wireless mouse dock (obviously with alterations to their current wireless mouse) into a future imac model. - HonoredMule, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's actually a pretty good show of ingenuity. Too bad patent law will totally stifle it just so Apple can maximize profit from a single light bulb moment. In a sane world, Apple would have kept the idea under wraps until they had a product, then had a fair advantage with the time it would take other manufacturers to develop their own version. It will take another show of even more incredible ingenuity and engineering finesse to come up with a competing product that circumvents this patent. GO SYSTEM!!
- Grimboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1O RLY?
- thunderer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmmmm... I got it from apple-history.com.
You are talking an Apple wireless mouse, right? Not a Logitech or something that you bought through Apple? - icepick314, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2i have Logitech V450 laser mouse that uses 2 AA batteries...
i had that mouse for at least 8 months and have yet to change the batteries yet so i don't care whatelse they come up with... - MrMinit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hey, what about a kinetic mouse? :-) Both Casio and Seiko have produces such watches for a long time. A mouse is always in movement, so why can't we make this movements usable for something?
- Radan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Well, what I know, it's not the actual mouse they patented, but the way it handles batteries. What's "unique" about the Apple Mighty Mouse is that it can be used with either one or two AAA (or AA, can't remember) batteries without changing any settings or pushing any buttons whatsoever. You simply remove one battery and it will still work. Also there might be some other features included that I don't know about, which makes the mouse draw less power in some way, but as stated, I don't know about that :)
- themoose, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Wait, mice are high power?
- Glugory, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1But does it have two buttons yet? If not, FAILURE!
- Ac1d, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0cool idea, go patent it =D
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Run Windows? This is an Apple product, you know, those people who make OS X and are in direct compitition of MS(the makers of Windows).
- JuyLe, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4I want to patent something which looks like a tv, but which is connected to a pc, and i will call it "monitor".
- white, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7basically they've patented the wiimote
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1wow! stop the presses!
- Acura666, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1PC FTL?
- caudron, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Whatever. I'm gonna patent a hybrid low power mouse with TWO buttons! Take that, Apple. ;-)
Tom Caudron
http://tom.digitalelite.com - Acura666, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3PC FTW!
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