The Mouse Skype Phone

Following on from the Combimouse featured earlier this week, where part of the split keyboard is utilised as a mouse, the Taiwan-based Sysgration company’s concept of cutting down on the clutter of peripheral devices by retaining a traditional notion of a mouse but expanding on its functionality seems somewhat more appealing.

The ASG142 Skype mouse Phone offers what appears to be perfect combination of a USB based internet handset and mouse via a flip-top lid that reveals the keypad and caller id screen.

The full feature set is as follows:

• Build-in mic. and speaker
• Independent sound chip to handle Softphone VoIP Voice Quailty
• Only one USB cable to handle both Mouse and Phone
• Big 1.3″ LCD screen with backlight support
• Dot matrix caller-ID
• Volume Control
• 800 DPI Optical sensor
• Auto detection (or manual switch) between Mouse and Phone.
• USB 1.1 Interface PnP. No external power/sound card required
• High quality for full duplex communication
• Handy, style, portable for notebook & PC
• Patent Pending

In theory this is a great idea, though it will be interesting to see how solid the mouse feels to use and whether the flip up top has any give in it that could make using the mouse feel rather uncomfortable. Of course, the obvious downside (and there is, in fairness, a downside to most things) is that you will not be able to use the mouse whilst in the middle of a Skype call unless you’re prepared to rub your face along the desk as you’re speaking.

There are no details concerning prices at this point in time but you can keep abreast of the latest news concerning this concept via the official website which is accessible via this link.