Bend it with a touch
Mouse Review: Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse
by Trevor Tan
05:55 AM Jan 21, 2011
HAVING a small, portable mouse often comes at the expense of style and usability. This is not the case with Microsoft's new Arc Touch Mouse ($89).
The Arc Touch is about 1.5cm at its thickest point and slips easily into any bag compartment or even your pocket. A magnetic USB nano transceiver is snapped underneath the mouse. With its symmetrical design, it caters to both right- and left-handed people.
You can't use the mouse when "flattened". To turn it on, bend it until you hear a click. The rubberised bend is curved enough for your palm to cup the mouse comfortably. The only complaint is there is no space for your pinky, though you could just stick your pinky under the mouse.
Instead of a conventional scroll wheel, you scroll using a touch-sensitive strip. Tap on the top and bottom of the strip to access the Page Up and Page Down functions, respectively. Haptics technology on the strip simulates the usual bumps of a conventional scroll wheel.
You can also double-tap the middle of the strip to perform a middle-click, which can be assigned to do different tasks for different applications. For example, when using IntelliPoint software, I assigned the middle click to perform the "back" action.
However, there are no such luxuries for Mac users. In fact, when you first connect the transceiver to your Mac, the mouse is recognised as a keyboard. Don't fret though, as the mouse will still work just fine. You just cannot assign the middle-click to do specific tasks.
The Arc Touch, with its Blue Track technology, is able to work on virtually any surface - the only time it failed to function was when I used it on a clear glass surface.
As using a transceiver takes up one valuable USB port on your laptop, I wish the mouse were Bluetooth-equipped instead. But then maybe it would not have the six-month battery life on two AAA batteries as claimed by Microsoft. TREVOR TAN
Source: www.todayonline.com
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