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Smart Mouse with E-Mail and IM Alerts 225

Posted by CmdrTaco from the who-is-looking-at-their-mouse dept.
lilrock writes "CoolTechZone.com takes a look at the world's first smart mouse from Logitech, the MX610, that has e-mail and IM alert buttons. It also has auto turn on/off functionality as well. According to the article, 'All these standard features aside, what has us impressed are the e-mail and IM notification buttons. Though the idea behind them is simple, it's interesting how Logitech comes up with such exclusive features. Basically, you will have to configure the indicators to alert you when you receive an e-mail and/or an IM message from the person of your choice. The buttons will alert you by lighting up, and lead you directly to the message once you press them.' " Because I for one am constantly staring at my mouse when I have a gigantic monitor right in front of me. Cough.
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Smart Mouse with E-Mail and IM Alerts More

Smart Mouse with E-Mail and IM Alerts

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  • Handy with a screen-saver (Score:5, Insightful)

    by delphi125 ( 544730 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:18AM (#14123556)
    Perhaps some people use screen-savers, but would still like to have a visible indicator of when e-mail arrives?

    • Re:Handy with a screen-saver (Score:4, Interesting)

      by the_unknown_soldier ( 675161 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:20AM (#14123560)
      A good idea, especially with IM. When you have 20 windows, and you have an msn/whatever window blinking at you annoyingly, having a button that will immediately go to that message sounds handy. It will stop the blinking very quickly! I like it.
      • they should make it vibrate or something, maybe not vibrate that could interfere slighty with what you are doing but it could give off some touch sensory feedback

        • Re:Handy with a screen-saver (Score:5, Funny)

          by JonLatane ( 750195 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @02:29PM (#14124626)
          they should make it vibrate or something

          I can see the IM conversations now.

          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: do you like it?
          SexyMomma45: yes, yes, faster faster!
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          SexyMomma45: FASTER!!!!
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          DesperateMale1234: 1
          **You have been disconnected from the AIM network for abuse.

    • Re:Handy with a screen-saver (Score:5, Interesting)

      by garcia ( 6573 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:21AM (#14123562)
      Or are at work and are doing something elsewhere and aren't constantly looking at their screen. Perhaps they hide their taskbar alerts for AIM because they aren't supposed to be using IM clients at work. Their boss might know that a flashing taskbar item is an IM but a flashing mouse button might not be known yet?

      Other than that, I really don't see a use for it myself.

      • Re:Handy with a screen-saver (Score:4, Insightful)

        by aussie_a ( 778472 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:56AM (#14123675) Journal
        Actually (despite the unethicality of IMing at work when not allowed) you bring up a good point. People who play games often don't see the IM window (and having those pop-ups for everyone is annoying when trying to play a game). But if you get IM'd specifically by a person you want to talk with, you can stop the game.

        Having said that, it would make more sense for IM programs to add this functionality. A mouse is reaching a bit.
      • Or are at work and are doing something elsewhere and aren't constantly looking at their screen. Perhaps they hide their taskbar alerts for AIM because they aren't supposed to be using IM clients at work. Their boss might know that a flashing taskbar item is an IM but a flashing mouse button might not be known yet?

        Odds are, if you need to sit down and think hard to come up with circumstances where a new feature would be useful... it's not really all that useful.

      • "Other than that, I really don't see a use for it myself."

        I dunno if I'm going to rush out and buy one, but I wouldn't mind having this particular mouse. I frequently walk past my desk and have a quick look to see if I have any messages. Since my monitor goes off after 20 minutes or so, I have to wiggle the mouse to get it back. If the mouse (or the keyboard) were to blink when I recieved a message, it'd save me that little step.

        I agree with the 'ho-hum' feelings towards it, but I wouldn't say it's usel
      • It would seem unlikely to me that a workplace that forbids IM would allow you to carry in your own hardware, especially stuff like this.
    • Wait you can see your mouse?

      Mine get's put into the keyboard drawer, and with touch typing I barely even look at the keyboard and mouse , That's what the screen is for.

      Besides That's why my email notifier makes a noise, and my IM client reads IM's to me. So I don't have to pay attention to just one sreen at a time.
    • I've been using my keyboard's Scroll-lock LED for that purpose for a year now. When it blinks, I know I have e-mail. No need for fancy-pantsy mouse.

    • So... you sit in front of your computer starting at flying toasters waiting for someone to talk to you?

      Pathetic...

    • Perhaps some people use screen-savers, but would still like to have a visible indicator of when e-mail arrives?

      Except that these days most laptops have a dedicated mail led, and for those using desktops there's always the scroll-lock led free and available ... This is just a christmas gimmick, really.

  • Useful if it has a long range (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Tango42 ( 662363 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:21AM (#14123567)
    Because I for one am constantly staring at my mouse when I have a gigantic monitor right in front of me.

    As long as it has a long enough range, it could be useful to just take your mouse with you when you go away from the computer - to work on some paper based thing, prehaps.

    • Oh, come on. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by twitter ( 104583 )
      As long as it has a long enough range, it could be useful to just take your mouse with you when you go away from the computer

      You and I both know that this is yet another attempt to get around M$'s single screen interface. Because M$ has yet to make virtual desktops work, most people don't have it and suffer desktop congestion. A brave few have ventured into the expensive world of dual monitors, but they are still limited to the screen space and that's not enough for them. Others, such as Nvidia, have d

      • Microsoft has virtual desktops as of XP PowerTools, a free download from microsoft.com.
        I'd take dual monitors over virtual desktops any day though, as virtual desktops completely hide a window. If I'm not using it nor monitoring it for updates, why does it matter where it is? Dualies is the way to go, keep irc/aim/what have you on one monitor and game/a movie on the other, easily monitor stuff like this.

        On a related note I had the same idea re: notification when I got my Razer Diamondback that has a blue LE

  • I'll bite (Score:2, Interesting)

    by markdavis ( 642305 )
    OK, I'll bite to be the first: "But does it work in Linux?" :)

    It does sound like a great idea, especially if the LED is very bright. Right now, I wrote some scripts to play sounds at intervals when important Email messages come in. But sometimes it can be much more annoying than a nice LED.

    Every time you think the mouse is a dead deal, somehow Logitech does come up with something new and useful. And I will admit that I was one of those "what the hell is with this scroll wheel crap" people. And after a

    • Re:I'll bite (Score:5, Funny)

      by generic-man ( 33649 ) * on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:49AM (#14123648) Homepage Journal
      Please consult the Linux Hardware FAQ.

      LINUX HARDWARE FAQ

      Q: Does (new, interesting bit of hardware) work in Linux?
      A: No. Start writing drivers, you slacker.
    • OK, I'll bite to be the first: "But does it work in Linux?" :)

      I know this has become a "joke" (and I use the term very loosely) here at slashdot, but the company most likely did a cost-profit anaylsis, and decided against providing Linux drivers. Until Linux gets more mainstream usage at the home, you can't expect everything to run in Linux. Until then, you'll have to continue to write your own drivers.
      • Well, if a company finds out that it will be expensive to support Linux, a Linux driver will still emerge somehow, given that the company is cooperating (by providing specifications) with third party developers who want to create open drivers.
        If they don't provide specifications, then the hardware will be ignored, unless there is a high demand among developers to have support for XXXX hardware. An example of this is the broadcom wireless drivers [slashdot.org], which started out as a reverse engineering project.

  • After a respecifiaction of the mouse (Score:5, Funny)

    by Hinhule ( 811436 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:22AM (#14123569)
    It now features a vibration instead of a light altert.

    In other news, female use of computers up 500%.
  • Now that would be innovative.

    • Re:Where's the pr0n button? (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Yeah, I was gonna post something about the inevitable threads that were gonna pop up on this one.

      1) What I want is something simpler, not more complicated -- there are two many flashing and blinking things ruining my concentration already!
      2) Who in their right mind would design yet another interface type to deliver the same message?
      3) But can I make it work with linux?

      But the porn angle is always better. I'll form a company to take seed money for the following much needed productivity enhancement:

      The iP

  • Spam? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by A beautiful mind ( 821714 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:24AM (#14123586)
    Why is someone spamming from CoolTechZone.com and gets accepted?

    The last two stories from CTZ were probably posted by the same user under different names, but what is common in both users is that they both specified http://slashdot.org/ [slashdot.org] as url (when clicking on their nicks). I don't think it's too far fetched to assume that someone is spamming with the intention to post inflammatory/poorly written stories to /. to drive ad revenue, apart from the editors of course.
    • I don't think it's too far fetched to assume that someone is spamming with the intention to post inflammatory/poorly written stories to /. to drive ad revenue, apart from the editors of course.

      Yes, but which editors are doing it? The CTZ ones, or the slashdot ones? Or perhaps in a crazy co-incidence, both? Slashdot benefits from controversial articles that piss off the readers, because angry readers post. Hell, they've done a pretty half-ass job with this one, and already they've gotten two extra posts from
    • Not just that, but a few years ago I got a free unknown-brand mouse with my order which already had an indicator for mail. Back then I found it a stupid feature and put the mouse with the others in case some user needed a spare one.
      This is far from something new.

    • Don't we all...

      Visit this super hyper mega ultra amazing site!!!!! [ruralescapes.co.uk].

      Such is life when you try and eek out a living on line.

    • Then let's talk about all the Xbox360 stories posted in the last week. Microsoft has paid a lot of money to ensure that they get headlines everywhere. All news is good news, as long as the name is spelt right. /. has obliged by posting between 3-6 stories per day about the Xbox360.

      Unlike Jon Katz, there is no nice option to say that I don't want MS's spamvertisements on my /. view. They keep shoving the stories in the Xbox 1 category!

  • Screen Savers? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Voltageaav ( 798022 )
    Who cares about the people who still use screen savers? They probably still have those prnters where the paper has the holes on the side and the actual "floppy" disc drives too.

  • Could Use the buttons for other stuff, if only (Score:4, Interesting)

    by putko ( 753330 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:25AM (#14123588) Homepage Journal
    Although the article makes fun of the output LEDs/buttons, that isn't such a bad thing; if you could make them do what you want, it would be really neat. Especially for someone who does system administration, who needs to somehow prioritize various distractions.

    However, I went to logitech's site and discovered the following:

    They don't provide (at least I can't find it) details on how to talk to the mouse to use the buttons/LEDs for input/output. You have to use their "SetPoint" software, which only works under Windows. And maybe it doesn't work the way you want it to.

    So the mouse can't be used for other systems, and you can't program the mouse to work the way that you want it to work. Which is too bad.

    Even if Logitech provided "open source" software, that wouldn't help folks who want to really use the hardware for neat things -- they need the technical specs that the "SetPoint" authors used to make the software work in the first place.
    • I bet this is just the hardware engineers at Logitech going: - Hmm... Jake, we got two I/O pins free on our MCU. - You don't say... - Maybe we could hook something up to them? - No? Why? - Aw, come on! A pair of flashing LEDs. - Ooooh, LEDs... *drool*
  • Several efficiency/organization experts have pointed out that email and IMs tend to be overused and abused: they tend to take the highest human IRQ and are constantly interrupting whatever else it is that you are doing. This little device can only further the problem.

    At the office it took some convincing but I finally managed to talk some people into setting their email poll to once every 30-60 minutes to give them time to finish one task before another task started up. They all report being much happier

  • *Blink blink* (Score:2, Insightful)

    by newell98 ( 539530 )
    Because you can NEVER have enough blinking lights :P

    Seriously though, I doubt the software requires that much overhead, and the extra feedback could be usefull to some people. Personally I won't be buying one, but I can imagine that some people might find it handy.

  • All we need now... (Score:3, Funny)

    by confusion ( 14388 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:29AM (#14123606) Homepage
    are some volume buttons and a treo style keyboard on the top of the mouse, and we can ditch the traditional keyboard altogether.

    Jerry
    http://www.cyvin.org/ [cyvin.org]

  • Useless, for the most part. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rspress ( 623984 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:41AM (#14123627) Homepage
    My mouse could be neon green with 60 flashing lights on it and I would never notice it. I just went to the AT&T natural voice site and created a few female voice messages with the text I typed in to alert me of mail from certain people or business. Since she has an English accent it is different from my regular computer voice. I am using OS X so I just create a mail rule that will color the background of the message and then play the sound file for that person. Since I leave mail running in the background most of the day I will always know when I get an email from a person that I know, even if I am not looking at the computer.
  • Hey, Logitech! I'm a big guy with big paws. How about making a wired optical mouse with two buttons and one wheel that's about 50% larger than every mouse you currently make? These little buttons all over the sides and top just get in the way. I have the MX310 and it would be great if it was bigger and had 3 less buttons. You could make two or three sizes of the same thing and sell more mice that way. You know, instead of tacking on more garb... er um... features.

    Also, opaque plastic please. The old optica
    • Hey, Logitech! I'm a big guy with big paws. How about making a wired optical mouse with two buttons and one wheel that's about 50% larger than every mouse you currently make?

      Why don't you just amputate your hands and get prosthetics? Sheeesh. People always expect companies to do all the work for them. People should get out of their chair and do something themself for once. Hell, I'm going to head over to your place right now and chop off your hands myself.
    • Hey! guy with big paws!
      I have big paws too, and I have no problem with tiny mice.
      You just need to rest the lower palm on the desktop, and move the mouse with your thumb and pinky. I find I can use the mouse at a 1400x1050 resolution easily, without actually moving my hand. That way, you make a movement similar to typing , where you don't need to move your arms. Maybe, just maybe, big hands and tiny mice can get along well.
    • Are you kidding? They can't even make an ergonomic mouse for people who are left handed. And it seems that people want mice with so many buttons that you can't move it without hitting something, at least that's all you see at Best Bye and Circuit Chitty anymore. Hopefully, they'll still keep the basic soap type wheelmouse for some time.
    • Hey, Logitech! I'm a big guy with big paws.

      Well, there are other alternatives [jennycraig.com].

  • Why the mouse ? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by stud9920 ( 236753 )
    Why the fuck would you want you fucking mouse to do this ? A mouse is there for interactivity in a GUI, or more generally to represent the analogy between hand movements and virtual movements.

    Why should the mouse ever check for email ? I have a programamble computer to do things like that.

    This is the worst case of slashvertisement ever ! I'm sad I'm not a subscriber so I could ask my money back !

    • Re:Why the mouse ? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by beuges ( 613130 )
      I agree. If they really want to have their input devices provide feedback based on new mail, IM's etc, then surely a better device would be the keyboard?

      Almost every new keyboard I've seen already has a row of about 10 buttons at the top as shortcuts to email, etc. I would think an LED behind each shortcut button would make more sense - if you have new mail, the email shortcut would light up, and so on. Especially since the keyboard is generally directly below the monitor, and so is usually within your p
  • who looks down at their mouse anyway? In the past, my mail server used to sit beneath my stereo anyway, so I just ran one of the keyboard LED programs you can easily find with a little bit of searching to see how many messages I had in my inbox when I got home. The server, of course, was headless. What I did was rip the logic board out of an old keyboard, drill some holes in a front drive bay panel, plug the 'keyboard' into the back of the computer using another hole drilled in the back, and voila..insta

  • Its for powersaving (Score:3, Informative)

    by jlebrech ( 810586 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:51AM (#14123654) Homepage
    So you know vital details, like you got spam when your screen has blacked out.

  • Yuck (Score:5, Insightful)

    by beforewisdom ( 729725 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:53AM (#14123659)
    Am I the only who dosen't want email or IM alerts?
    • My ADHD can't handle one more flashing device telling me something has happened on the internets.

      Please, give me a mouse that emits white noise, and laserbeams anyone who is trying to approach and distract me.

  • Surprisingly Effective - With a catch (Score:5, Informative)

    by grimsweep ( 578372 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @10:53AM (#14123660)
    I picked up a MX610 to replace a mouse that just didn't meet my needs. Specifically, I wanted a mouse with plenty of programmable buttons that didn't require me to move my hand position.

    I'm surprised at how well the blinking catches my attention. When I'm using my laptop in class, a meeting, or the library, audio indicators are out of the question. On-screen indicators are great, but unless they're persistent, I often miss them. The MX610 does a decent job of letting me know I recieved an IM or an e-mail.

    The drawback? It's currently exclusive to M$ applications with no mention of further support. I have to use MSN messenger to talk to some of my friends, but I can't stand Outlook. >:(
  • ...for Patel's Corollary to Zawinski's Law [catb.org]:
    Every input peripheral attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those peripherals which do so expand, however, are ignored in favour of ones which still have a clue.
  • Because I for one am constantly staring at my mouse when I have a gigantic monitor right in front of me.

    Most people don't stare at their mouse constantly, BUT a flashing LED on your mouse will be quite visible in your pheripheral vision. Actually it will probably be more visible then a small icon or text flashing in one of the corners of the screen. Our pheripheral vision is quite good at recognizing movement, bright colors and flashing light, all of which were very useful to our cavemen anscenstors and

  • this is old news.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by tomcres ( 925786 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @11:10AM (#14123726)
    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/08/003425 2&tid=126&tid=99 [slashdot.org]This was reported on /. over three months ago. Nothing to see here... move along..
    • This was reported on /. over three months ago. Nothing to see here... move along..

      I can't count... September was two months ago. No wonder I keep getting in trouble with the IRS :|

  • Total lack of Linux support from Logitech (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 27, 2005 @11:15AM (#14123739)
    If you run Linux, you can forget this.

    Logitech refuse to support using Linux with their products - just ask anyone with a DiNovo mediapad keyboard. All they have to do is tell us the protocol, which won't cost them a penny, but they won't. Asshats.

  • This is stupid (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Megane ( 129182 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @11:20AM (#14123751)
    How many of you have keyboards with E-mail buttons and LEDs? How many of you actually have the driver installed that makes them work? How many of you aren't even using Windows and couldn't install the driver if you wanted to? The only special button on the keyboard I have hooked up to a Windows box that works is the stupid suspend button, which I would never use, but it does get hit by accident sometimes.

    Yeah, the extra buttons on those common-as-dirt Compaq USB keyboards sure are useful when plugged into an OS X box. And now your hand will be between you and the lights most of the time. Oh yeah, and this will be real useful for left-handed mouse users.

    • With Linux/X11, and at least KDE and GNOME, you can program those extra keys to do whatever you want. Executing shell scripts, running programs, you name it. All you have to do is run xev to get the key codes that they generate. If they don't generate a valid keycode, you just specify them in your keymap file (I've never had to do that). I can use the "multimedia" keys on both my Logitech wireless keyboard and my laptop for pretty much whatever I want. I got the volume keys working in both KDE and GNOM

  • HP Keyboards do the same (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rjforster ( 2130 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @11:20AM (#14123752) Journal
    When I worked at HP (the part that became Agilent) we had HP PCs with keyboards that included an email LED (next to the Caps, Scroll and Num lock LEDs). It also had some quicklaunch buttons but they aren't so interesting.

    It was really useful to not have to unlock the computer just to check if you had been sent that email yet.

  • New mouse (Score:4, Funny)

    by squoozer ( 730327 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @11:38AM (#14123826)

    My mouse just failed so I went out and bought a Hyper Super Tech X40d2mfgv2 Extra III. It's the most amazing mouse ever. It has 104 programmable keys and three fantastic lights.

    Am I the only one that thinks mice are becoming a little over complicated? Three buttons and a scroll wheel should be enough to anyone :o)

  • Because I for one am constantly staring at my mouse when I have a gigantic monitor right in front of me. Cough.

    Turn your head the other way.

    Cough again.

  • Why the hell not build a mouse right into your blackberry (I don't have one, I hate that product.) Then you'll have the mouse YOU ever wanted, but count me out.

  • That's not that smart ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Flambergius ( 55153 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @12:39PM (#14124074)
    The previous two post had to do with genetics/biology, so I guess I was a bit pre-conditioned ...

    Smart mouse with e-mail and IM alerts ... cool, they've genetically engineered a mouse to able to use email and IM ... neat trick, I get the IM, but the email asynchronous communication does require fairly high abstract thinking ability ... oh, wait.

    Seriously, for a moment I was alright with a mouse messaging with other mouses and reseachers.

  • Need for on off switch (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Flying pig ( 925874 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @12:48PM (#14124118)
    One thing I have never understood is why wireless mice do not seem to have battery on/off switches. Although they go to a low power mode after a while, some of them get retriggered when moving around in a briefcase, and the battery life is shorter than it needs to be. Is a physical switch really that difficult?
    • My mouse [amazon.com] may not have a power on/off switch but it gets remarkable battery life. I think the new laser mice are more efficient than their LED predecessors.
  • Microsoft's best product is their mice. Simple is beautiful. [microsoft.com]

  • worthwhile underlying concepts, bad implementation (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mungojelly ( 853032 ) on Sunday November 27, 2005 @03:04PM (#14124760) Homepage
    First off I'll second all the objections to this ridiculous product: It's unnecessarily limited, proprietary, non-compatible, and probably-- anyone know for sure?-- absurdly patented. That said, there are two underlying concepts embodied here which I think are worthwhile as we look towards future interface design.

    One: More I/O is almost always good. The human brain is in large part a pattern recognizing machine; put meaningful information anywhere in someone's environment and they'll adapt to make use of it. If this product was aimed at slashdotters, the ad copy could have read: "Mouse that displays two bits of information!" It's not much, but it's more than your mouse used to be telling you.

    Two: Input and output work well in connected loops. It's much more intuitive that if somewhere lights up to tell you about something that needs your attention, you respond by touching there. If properly implemented, this kind of integrity to a mini I/O situation could help us in making meaningful connections and associations. For instance, if there is a button somewhere that lights up when we get an IM from a particular person, and brings up an IM window to that person when pressed (whether it's lit or not), then that button represents that person on multiple levels.

    We are primed and ready to make emotional connections with the things around us. One might have thought that having a light that shows HD or network activity would be silly-- in fact it's often practical-- but more than practical, it's often reassuring. For decades now, when a computer looks like it might be hung, I look to the HD light to reassure me that it really is doing something. That light has an emotional meaning for me.

    So, yes, this particular product is a ridiculous implementation, but the ideas which are being ridiculously implemented are themselves worthwhile. There's something missing in all of the vibrating mice and email buttons they've come up with so far, but that doesn't mean that we should never explore I/O that goes beyond 101 keys and one big glowing square.

    <3
  • I hate the fact that it's impossible to buy a keyboard without loads of useless extra keys. Now the mice designers are at it too. Excuse me while I rush off to stockpile sensible mice...

    (Yes I am typing this on an IBM Model M keyboard)
  • Also known as ADDM - Attention Deficit Disored Mouse.
  • Because I for one am...

    This is the most common grammar mistake made on the Internet, I swear.

    Because I, for one, am...
  • >it's interesting how Logitech comes up with such exclusive features

    No, it's not interesting, because they don't. My Trust mouse from about two years ago (since replaced by a Diamondback) would flash the additional LED under the scroll wheel when an email was received. As somebody already said, some HP keyboards have additional LEDs (and buttons) for mail/IM.

    In any case, Trillian has a plugin which flashes the standard (Caps|Scroll|Num) indicators when a message is received. Very useful when playing game
  • The suggested retail price of the MX610 laser cordless mouse $59.99.

    Does anyone remember luxury mice costing no more than 30$? Is it just me or am I wrong about this? This one costs something like 50 IIRC and that's like 2 the price I used to pay for top-of-the-line mice. Can anyone from germany or any other Euro country confirm this?

    Or am I just not remebering prices for stuff like this correctly?
  • I 2002 I bought a Yahoo! branded mouse (grey color, USB) with a light at the back for email notification. It should work with the provided driver, but never tried it since the mouse worked without external drivers, both in Windows and Linux (but without the back light)
  • Cough.

    I think everyone at Slashdot need to get checked for bronchitis.
    Seems to be alot of **coughing** going around.

  • Not so interesting... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by woolio ( 927141 ) *

    interesting how Logitech comes up with such exclusive features.

    Ahem! I have a feeling there are a few *cough* patents that are the root of such evil^H^H^H^Hexclusivity... In many senses, computer mice are like toilet paper... There really much left in terms of *useful* innovation, but that's where marketing depts take over... For example, the 3rd button/scrollwheel has its uses, but most things work quite well without. (I'd bet that most Linux users don't even realize that their scrollwheel may not wo

    • Quoting the last line first:
      And Mac users will probably be the first to say that even two buttons are overrated...

      Heck, even a mouse is overated. Back when I used CP/M, before everyone had a mouse...

      Ahem! I have a feeling there are a few *cough* patents that are the root of such evil^H^H^H^Hexclusivity...

      Back before everyone had a mouse you could erase a whole word with a single ^W.
  • This is definitely not the "world's first" smart mouse... Mickey and Jerry [tomandjerryonline.com] aside, scientists created a smart mouse at Princeton six years ago - check it out [princeton.edu]. Luckily you can catch these suckers with a smart mouse trap [biconet.com].
  • A better product would be a pepper pot that gives an alert, but then that would interrupt your dinner.

    in summation: you are at your desk, you don't need it.
    you are at your desk, you might not want it.

    making the pepper pot *look* like a pager is one thing too. Just a single small device that forwards alerts from PC to you.

    Sounds like this would sell to the heathen masses of PC world buyers who go 'ooooooh look at that mouse....does it make my games run faster?'

    0.o
  • dumb == good

    every frickin time. As soon as you see something labelled "smart", nuke it. It's bound to contain stuff which will screw yr life *every* time.

    This advice brought to you by the letters Foo and Bar

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