Touch Mouse and Touch Keyboard is announced by Microsoft. The Sculpt products, though quite nice, are iterative updates of existing gear, but the Wedge Touch Mouse and Wedge Touch Keyboard are truly cool, and offer further evidence of the Microsoft’s renewed commitment to great design,
Windows 8 is just a few months away, and while the touch-centric OS would suggest we'd be abandoning our keyboards and mice for finger-friendly tablets, Microsoft's hardware division has other plans in store. The company has announced a handful of wireless keyboards and mice that are designed to play nice with mobile hardware (including Windows 8 tablets). We had a chance to check them out in person a few days ago; the peripherals will connect to PCs and tablets via Bluetooth, and operate without dongles — handy, if you're using a device with limited USB ports (or none).
In a similar vein, the tiny Wedge Touch Mouse has a matching soft-touch surface and is also Bluetooth-enabled. Like other mice in Microsoft's lineup, it has BlueTrack technology, allowing it to be used on a wide variety of surfaces. The mouse, which runs on a single AA battery, also shuts down whenever you power down whatever device it's paired with.
According to Microsoft, with the keyboard retailing for $79.95 and the mouse going for $69.95.
The underside battery compartment is designed so that when it’s flipped upside down and held against a tablet surface (so that the covered keys are against the tablet screen) it grips easily in your fingers. The keypad itself, meanwhile, is delightfully compact, but doesn’t feel too cramped. It also has novel hotkeys across the top for launching new Windows 8 menu functions — the Charms that appear from the right side of the screen.
The Sculpt Touch Mouse and Sculpt Touch Keyboard — both of which are $50 — are larger and more full-featured than the Wedge models, if not as exciting. The keyboard also features Windows 8 hotkeys.
But the big story here is Microsoft design. Windows 8, Windows Phone, the Surface tablets and now these input devices are all evidence of a company firing on all cylinders at once, putting design first and foremost. These are thoughtful hardware releases. It’s great to see from a company that once put so little emphasis on human-focused design.
I recently added this web site to my bookmarks. I like reading your posts. I have been looking all over for this! It was excellent and very informative. I think this is one of the most vital info for me. It's really a great and useful piece of info.
ReplyDelete