HP pets network-connected mouse
Bluetooth not good enough for you?
What's worse: HP launching a mouse that connects over Wi-Fi, or that the company hosts a show dedicated to add-ons - the HP Personal Computing Accessories Forum 2011, held in Cannes, no less - to do so?
Said input device is the industry's first, HP claims. The mouse "offers consumers wireless connectivity and impressive battery life" and "eliminates wires and external receivers" - all points that can be equally said of Bluetooth mice.
HP claimed the Wi-Fi rodent will deliver a nine-month battery life, saying that's double what you'll get out of a Bluetooth mouse.
Possibly, yes, but if it's battery longevity you're after, proprietary 2.4GHz cordless mice, such as those from Logitech, Microsoft and others do much, much better than Bluetooth too. But they do use up a USB port with their dongles, which HP's mouse doesn't.
Interestingly, HP also unveiled a 2.4GHz proprietary connection mouse priced, like the Wi-Fi one, at £40. It'll be out in July. The Wi-Fi Mouse will ship this month. ®
COMMENTS
So..
I need to keep a spare corded mouse on standby incase something happens to my wifi router?
Ill stick to my CORDED (Yes, corded.. in 2011!) keyboard and mouse.. The battery life is spectacular!
No Go For Gamerz
The fragmeisters will keep away in droves imho, as the lag will be unacceptable......
@AC 12:39
Did you miss my use of the term "consumers"? Perhaps I should have used "sheeple", but the inimitable MsBee doesn't like that term ...
This machine (my main day-to-day portable & desktop device) is a 7 year old HP Pavilion 5000 series laptop, with docking station ... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is my mantra.
Re: So..
Actually I reckon it's peer-to-peer connect rather than via an access point or router.
However, the thought of a WiFi mouse that allows you to connect to a network and pick a machine on there to control is an interesting one. Purely from a technology viewpoint of course and in no way a "fun with your colleagues" one......
9 months?
What HP marketing isn't telling you is that consumers, for the most part, are on a 6 month hardware replacement cycle ... Waste, America! (Thanks, Apple ... )
