The Touch Mouse M600 essentially operates as a small mouse-sized trackpad for your desktop PC. It has no buttons, and instead covers itself in a touch screen surface, allowing you to drag your fingers and tap the top to serve as dragging and clicking functions. It’s geared to work equally well with left-and right-handed folks alike, and uses Logitech’s own Flow Scroll software to ensure that your scrolling experience will be as close as possible to that kind you currently enjoy via your smartphone and tablet.

And, in perhaps the best news of all, it runs on Logitech’s Unifying receiver that allows up to six different mice and keyboards to share one common USB port, a development I’m personally very happy about, as both my mouse and keyboard are wireless. And frankly, I’m tired of losing two whole USB ports to keep the two operational.

The Logitech Touch Mouse M600 can be had later this month, and you’ll shell out $70 to get hands on one.

It’s actually an interesting development, seeing how Logitech is trying to replicate the portable experience on your desktop system. It’s a clever enough idea, maybe even get a few people back in the fold by showing them that the experience can be comparable, but with a whole lot more power put behind it. And let’s face it–even the best tablets will have a tough time taking on even an entry-level desktop by the sheer nature of their design.

But what do you guys think? Is an interesting idea sufficient to gain some interest among those who prefer their mobile devices? Or is this just a pricey gimmick that can easily be supplanted by any common mouse? No matter what you think, head on down to the comments section below and fill us in!

The DeathTaker mouse offers up fully nine different buttons geared toward MMO gamers, as well as RTS gamers, and allows you to independently adjust the sensitivity on the X and Y axis, in a range from 100 to 5700 dpi, thus allowing you to adjust your gaming performance your way. You’ll also be able to install a series of metal weights (there are six of them, each weighing 4.5 grams apiece) that allow you to further adjust the mouse’s performance. It’s got an onboard memory to keep game block and reprogramming out of the picture, and the standard Scorpion user interface to set up your button assignment and macros. And just to top it off, it’s got a 1.8 meter braided cable, complete with gold-plated USB connector, which in turn will provide some improvements on the data transfer rate and give you a bit better response time..

Not exactly an unimpressive piece of hardware, which explains why they’re asking $79.90 for one of these, but still quite a bit for what amounts to a corded mouse. We’ve seen others in this very same market space offer up more features and some even do so for less money, so the DeathTaker (which is a pretty strange name for a mouse, if you ask me) isn’t exactly a real bell-ringer in terms of interest as far as I’m concerned.

But what do you guys think about this one? Figure that the DeathTaker, with all its customization options, is exactly the kind of thing you’d like to go into simulated battle with? Or do you figure that this is another piece of overpriced “gaming hardware” that can be supplanted easily with currently available gear? No matter what you think, we always like hearing from you, so head on down to the comments section and tell us what you think!

We first got word about the Mad Catz Cyborg MMO 7 gaming mouse back in November, but we knew neither pricing nor release date at the time we’d heard about it. We’d figured that Mad Catz would want this on shelves in time for holiday shopping, but unless the holiday in question is Valentine’s Day, that’s not going to happen. They missed holiday shopping by a little better than a month, as the Cyborg MMO 7 is now available, and selling at $130. So if you’re looking for a new gaming mouse with 13 different buttons and up to 78 different programmable commands, this is a great place to start.

Meanwhile, they’ve also added on a bit of a new item: the FREQ 5 headset has gone on pre-order, and will come your way for $150. This one’s packing 50 mm drivers, a noise-cancelling boom microphone that’s located handily in front of your mouth, as well as ear-mounted controls for volume and the like, always ensuring that you can hear your buddies over the din of battle. And you’ll even be able to use these with a variety of MP3 players and smartphones.

So now you’ll be able to lay hands on some new hardware, even if said hardware is a bit on the spendy side ($130 bucks for a mouse and $150 for a set of headphones with a boom mike is a bit tough to swallow). But still, for those of you who take your gaming seriously, you might want to check this one out.

What do you guys think about the Mad Catz lineup? Can you picture dropping that kind of money on a Cyborg MMO 7 mouse or the FREQ 5 headphones? Or do you think you can find better out there for substantially less? No matter what you think, head on down to the comments section below and tell us what you think about the Mad Catz offerings!

The obvious news from the earnings report was that the Revue sold out. This is obvious because we’ve known for some time now that Logitech was looking to get out of the Google TV market and into other markets. But if you were looking to get a Revue, don’t be too discomfited–word is that Vizio will have a new version coming out to match the Revue’s price in the not too distant future.

Also, the Harmony remote…basically, Logitech knows it’s been procrastinating on getting a new one out the door, so thankfully we’ll be seeing some new versions of this come out pretty soon. That’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned, frankly, as the Harmony One is an impressive piece of remote. No doubt users will love to see what the newest version can pull off. That and sales have been slumping on the old Harmony–likely because most everyone who wanted one has one by now–and Logitech’s likely looking to stop the hemorrhage of potential buyers by bringing in new models.

Outside of the home theater segment, though, Logitech also reports some solid earnings in the wireless mouse and keyboard segment, especially in regard to their tablet versions. This makes more than a little sense, as Logitech has always done computer peripherals very well in the past, so why not look for it to continue?

The key takeaway here, though, is for the home theater crew who’ll be getting a refreshed Harmony soon. Personally, I look for it to do well, as the Harmony has already shown itself to be a pretty sweet piece of hardware in its own right. Still though, it’ll depend on the specs somewhat, because it’ll have to surpass the original Harmony to get current Harmony users interested in a replacement that may not be necessary.

But what do you guys think? Figure the new Harmony can do well in the market? Or do you figure the Harmony users won’t be too interested in abandoning a perfectly good remote? No matter what you think, head on down to the comments section and fill us in!

If you favor your first person shooter titles on the PC, and there are plenty of gamers out there who do, the Ballista MK-1 is going to have plenty to offer you. It’s got independent X and Y axis DPI settings, so you can adjust the rate at which your mouse tracks not only from side to side, but also from up to down to your own specific shooting style. Plus, it’s also offering up a thumb selector so you can change your speed shooting mode on the fly, a maximum resolution of 5700 DPI, and a maximum movement tracking rate of 11,570 frames per second.

Pretty good so far, right? Well, it gets better, with fully 11 different macro keys available to you as well as 20 custom DPI settings based on specific genres of gaming, because the last thing you want is your FPS profile working during your RTS gaming. Plus, you’ll even be able to use this one when you have to do something on your PC other than game, as it’s got a desktop setting.

The price tag on this one is as yet unknown, but we do know that this will be making its way to us just in time for the kids to get out for summer vacation in the northern hemisphere, otherwise known as the second quarter of 2012.

A reasonably interesting idea, I’d say, and as long as they can keep the price tag to a minimum on this one, it should come out reasonably well. After all, PC gamers are no small market segment in their own right and should be happy to see a specialist tool like this make an appearance. But what do you guys think about this one? Is it a little too niche to find a space in your PC gaming? Or is it just the kind of thing you need to make sure your headshots take heads like no tomorrow? No matter what you think, head on down to the comments section and tell us what’s on your mind!

We haven’t heard much out of Genius lately–it was back last August, in fact–but it turns out it was worth the wait. See, their new DX-ECO wireless mouse contains a small gold capacitor that can be recharged up to 100,000 times according to Genius’s press releases, such that when your mouse loses power, you can just recharge the mouse itself via a USB connection and included microUSB charging cable. Better yet, the charge only takes minutes to go from dead to fully charged, so you won’t have to stop operating for long.

But that’s not all the mouse offers; the DX-ECO also offers up their BlueEye sensor technology that allows for smooth operation on most any surface you care to name, and they specifically named not only dusted glass but thick carpet as well, plus extra buttons, a scroll wheel, and DPI adjustable from 800 to 1600 with the press of a button. It works on items fully 15 meters–roughly 45 feet for those of you who favor the imperial–away, and comes with a USB pico receiver that can be stored inside the DX-ECO for travel.

Sure, it’s a little on the pricey side at $39.99, but when you consider the savings in batteries, this sucker should pay for itself in a couple years and then start saving you some serious coin.

Personally, I’ve been waiting for something like this for some time now. Why on earth not have a mouse and keyboard and the like that are wireless but recharge via USB cable? We’ve seen some attempts at this before with the Magic Trackpad, but this was strictly an Apple concept and didn’t get very far. Seeing it branch out into PC peripherals is a welcome treat indeed.

But what do you guys think? Does $40 sound too much for a mouse that can recharge and run without batteries? Or would you rather feed a much cheaper mouse with AAs? No matter what your take on this, we definitely want to hear from you, so hit the comments section below and tell us what’s on your mind!

The Mobee Power Bar, much like the Mobee Magic Bar from back last April, offers up a USB rechargeable battery pack in a handy cylinder shape so it can be placed right in line with the Magic Trackpad. But this time around, it’s going to offer up some pretty substantial charge time. Previously the Mobee Magic Bar was said to offer up six full days of charge on one six hour charge, but the Mobee Power Bar steps that all the way up to ten days of charge on that same six hour charge. Even better, the Mobee Power Bar is said to last for 500 charge cycles before the battery plain old won’t take a charge any more, so you’re talking about, roughly, 5000 days of operation before you’ll need a new one.

Some previously had had issues with the earlier lineup of Mobee devices–issues of reliability, mainly, with some seeing much less than optimal recharge times, or incorrect readings from the power indicator–but early word suggests that the Power Bar is actually a simpler product overall than the Magic Bar was, and so many of these issues have at least some likelihood of being corrected with the new version.

And it’s not as though it’s going to cost a lot to give it a try, either, as the Mobee Power Bar is set to release in March and sell for just $29.90 when it does hit.

I’m in favor, generally, of things that offer increased battery life, especially on products that I use on a regular basis. So if you’re a big Magic Trackpad user, then you’ll likely want to give this one a shot yourself. And at $30, it’s not going to break the bank for a trial. But what do you guys think about this one? Figure you’ll give the Mobee Power Bar a try? Or did you swear off it after trying the Magic Bar? No matter what your opinion, head down to the comments section and tell us what you think!

The Chameleon X-1 mouse, as you can see in the pic above, is an unusual dual-sided affair released as part of a marketing tie-in for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. On the one side, you’ve got a standard mouse, with a 1600 dpi tracking sensor, a presentation mode for those using it as a business tool, seven buttons and a scroll wheel to round out the up side.

But contained underneath is, much like the mullet hairstyle, where the party is. Because on the underside, you’ll get a full 16 button gamepad geared just for the gamer out there.You’ll be able to get these in your choice of–get this–Ezio grey and Altair white, and it will even boast leather mouse buttons (antique-style, no less) as well as the Assassin’s Creed logo.

Naturally, this has led to some concerns. Just for the sake of an experiment, take your mouse, and hold it like you would a game controller with your thumbs perched over the center. See how cramped it is? That could be a problem for more than a few gamers out there. And some are wondering if this version will include the improvements to battery life that previous installments of the X-1 dished out, or if this is essentially little more than a fresh coat of paint and a marketing tie-in designed to part a gamer and his (or her, depending) money.

The new Chameleon X-1 will make its debut out at the 2012 CES event, so hopefully we’ll have some pricing information too before too much longer has passed. But what do you guys think here? A nifty idea? Or a cheap gimmick geared to cash in on the Assassin’s Creed fanbase? No matter what you think, the comments section is waiting for you below to tell us just what you think!

The mice in question, Corsair’s M60 and M90, are both very much geared toward the first person shooter. The M60 is the lower-end model of the pair, packing in a range of selectable response times from 1 ms to 8 ms, a 5700 dpi sensor that can be dialed down by way of an included “sniper mode” accessible by a button on the mouse, allowing you to go for the head shot as often as possible. It also offers an aluminum body and a rubberized scroll wheel. The M90, meanwhile, steps up the package by offering up all that as well as fully 15 buttons total, nine of which are programmable.

As for the keyboards, the K60 and the K90, the K60 gives you 20 key rollover, as well as textured WASD keys and a matching textured 1-6 key with an ergonomic wrist rest. The wrist rest opens up so that you can store the textured keys inside for when you just want a normal set of keys. Meanwhile, the K90 steps things up by throwing in fully 18 dedicated macro keys that you can customize to your gaming experience.

The best part is all four of them are out right now, and you’ll be able to pick them up from not only Corsair’s website proper but also other retailers as well. The mice sell for $69 for the M60 and $79 for the M90, while the keyboards sell for $109 and $129 for the K60 and the K90 respectively.

Both not only look pretty sharp but also pack in some very impressive extra features, though the prices are probably a bit steep for a down economy, especially so considering the competition out there. But what do you guys think of these items? Figure it’s a bit much to drop that kind of cash on gaming gear? Or do you think that high-quality stuff like this can always find a place? No matter what you think, fill us in on it down in the comments section!

The black and orange color scheme you’ll find in the new Sensei Mouse and 7H Headset correspond to Team Fnatic, and reports from SteelSeries suggest that Fnatic actually had a hand in the development of the original models of Sensei and 7H. It’s worth noting, however, that at last report several teams had a hand in the development, so it’s something worth noting.

As for hardware, the Sensei Mouse not only offers up eight buttons, along with plenty of customization capability in the sensitivity settings, thanks to the fact that it’s packing its own ARM processor. It’s not too much different, at last report, from the first version of the Sensei Mouse that we heard about back in September, with the primary difference that it’s got a new color scheme. This version will sell at $99.99 and is available now, and represents a $10 price hike over the standard Sensei.

The 7H Headset, meanwhile, is still offering up 50mm drivers and ear cushions in leather and cloth that do a nice job, at last report, of blocking out external noise. This one, meanwhile, will retail at $139.99, also a $10 premium over the original 7H.

I’m not too sure just how much interest they’ll get out of offering up hardware that’s largely comparable, but with the major difference being a coat of paint in a pro gaming team’s colors. Still though, they do look sharp, so it’ll be up to you just how important aesthetics are to your decisions on buying gaming peripherals.

So what do you guys think here? Anyone out there interested in getting their hands on some Team Fnatic colors in their gaming hardware? Or is this a flash in the pan that will likely fizzle out all over SteelSeries? No matter what you think, we always like hearing from you, and the comments section below is just the place to fill us in!

I know, a bit on the cryptic side, but that’s because this thing is really very clearly split. See, the Wi-Fi Touch Mouse X7000 will, much like HP’s earlier release the Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse, hook into your home network so as not to force you to waste a USB port plugging in a wireless receiver or similarly-operating dongle. And it will even offer up a touch strip geared toward gesture use. It also packs in six programmable buttons, a dedicated Facebook key so you can go straight to Facebook from the click of a mouse, and a 30 foot ranges as well as nine months of battery life.

However, like I said, there’s a distinct down side to this one, actually, several. One, the touch strip only supports one-finger scrolling. Other such touch strips, like the Microsoft Touch Mouse, offer significantly more features. And the Wi-Fi Touch Mouse X7000 is somewhat ergonomically designed, but only for right handed people, which means left handed folks need not apply. And if you’re not running Windows 7, you won’t be able to use this one at all.

Still, if you’re a right handed Facebook lover with a new machine and a passion to drop $60 on a wi-fi mouse, then HP’s got your number right here. The question, of course, is, is the Wi-Fi Touch Mouse X7000 sufficiently useful to make it work dropping $60 on it? It’s got a lot of useful features, sure, but a surprisingly large number of handicaps involved.

So I’ll leave the question to you guys–would you pick up an HP Wi-Fi Touch Mouse X7000, even with its problems? Or does at least one of the down sides to this one get entirely too much in the way to be useful? No matter what you think about it, we want to hear from you in the comments section below!

The Mad Catz Cyborg MMO 7 may look like some bizarre construct out of William Gibson as imagined by Hieronymus Bosch, but it’s also going to offer up some really impressive utility for the gamers in the crowd. See, this sucker offers up fully 13 buttons, which in turn allows for fully 78 total programmable commands to be used with the thing. And in case you’re wondering how you get to 78 from 13, it’s actually not too hard when you multiply by six by way of a two-way shift key, and a three-position adjustable switch.

And the options don’t just stop with the buttons, oh no–you’ll also get an adjustable weighting system to make the mouse respond to your desired level of pushing, a set of switchable palm rests, pinkie grips, and a five-way stick just under your thumb. The buttons even have lock buttons, so you don’t have to click over and over again.

The bad news is we don’t yet know just how much these little menaces cost, and won’t likely until next week when Mad Catz promises a fresh set of details to arrive. It’s a safe bet that “soon” will be in the equation as plenty of MMO gamers out there no doubt want in on this, and with the holiday shopping frenzy getting at least hesitantly started now, Mad Catz is likely to want its presence felt.

So what do you guys think here? How much would you shell out to get this level of customizable control under your thumb and forefinger? Or perhaps you think this is vastly overdoing it? No matter what you think, we want to hear from you, so head on down to the comments section and tell us what you think about this one!

The Laser Mouse G9X offers up a next-generation laser and a DPI rating that’s adjustable on the fly in a range from 200 to 5700, so you can always get your shot off in a fashion most comfortable to you. You’ll also get sufficient memory for five different ready-to-play profiles, a weight tuning system that lets you install extra weight in the mouse for that precision shot, interchangeable grips and more. If you’re interested in one of these, best crack open the piggy bank as they’ll set you back fully $79.99 each.

Meanwhile, the Gaming Keyboard G105 offers up green LED backlighting for that “night-vision” kind of feel, as well as a set of six programmable keys, multi-key input system, instant media access keys and a game / desktop mode button to let you quickly disable Windows and Context Menu keys. Plus, Logitech asserts that the keys are of the longer-life variety, meaning they’ll be able to take more pounding without getting all sluggish and unresponsive, which is just the kind of thing you want to avoid when you’re out trying to save democracy for all humanity. One of these will also set you back $79.99.

A little pricey, admittedly, but with plenty of extra features and nifty design twists that will probably get PC gamers (and probably console gamers who use PCs, especially with that keyboard) interested. And they’re even both available now, whether for you or for that gamer you’re looking to do a bit of early Christmas shopping for.

So what do you guys think of Logitech’s new lineup of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hardware? Going to be the kind of thing you want in your arsenal? Or is this a tragic misfire? Either way, head on down to the comments section and fill us in!

Yes, the SteelSeries Sensei mouse is equipped with a 32-bit ARM processor, which is compared to roughly the same amount of processing power as a 1994-era Pentium desktop. And this strange new feature allows for incredible levels of sensitivity and customization. It offers a maximum sensitivity of 5700 CPI, and this can actually be doubled via the Double CPI feature which essentially uses that processor to overclock the mouse. You’ll also get an LCD display on the underside of the mouse to give you a variety of menu options, as well as a place to display a personalized name tag so that the mouse is less likely to be stolen or lost at LAN events. This was actually a requested feature, according to the folks at SteelSeries. Also you’ll get what’s called the Exact Aim system, meaning that when you move the mouse below a certain speed, the mouse automatically caps the CPI, lowering the sensitivity so that you can line up just the shot you want without worrying about sliding the mouse just a hair too far left or right.

You’ll even get the option to have some points of the mouse (like the scroll wheel and the mouse buttons, among others) light up in your choice of fully 16.8 million different colors. If you had it set to flash a different color every second, it would take you just over 194 days to come back to the first color.

No matter how you slice it, this is a pretty impressive mouse. And it’s priced like one, too; they’re currently shipping these out at $89.99, oddly enough in both dollars US and Euros.

So what do you guys think here? Is the SteelSeries Sensei the kind of mouse you want in your PC gaming? Or is it way too much cost for way too little payoff?  Either way, we want to hear from you down in the comments section, and check out the video for more details below!

The mouse has 5 LED lights underneath that reflect the image being scanned back into the mouse. Text can be converted in order to be edited in word processors and several image formats are supported such as JPEG, PDF and PNG. The software that comes with it allows you to paste, share, save, print and edit the scanned image.

The LG scanner mouse is already available in the UK from retailers such as Amazon, eBuyer.com, Dabs and Scan.co.uk but Americans may have to wait just a bit longer.

Why doesn’t it have any intriguing games? Because many of the video game genres we love to play with a controller – first-person shooters, RPGs, platformers, racing (the list goes on) – either don’t translate well into the realm of “full-body gaming,” in the first place, or developers are still having a hard time figuring out how to make these genres just as engaging when the controller is taken away.

Basically, Kinect is one of those ideas that sounds great on paper, only to find out later that pulling off something like this is actually really hard. But it’s okay! According to Molyneux, people will warm up to the Kinect eventually, just like they warmed up to the PC mouse back when it made its debut in the 1980s.

“You know what? This is exactly like the mid-80s when we got the Amiga and we started playing with a mouse,” he said in an interview with CVG. “I can remember everyone writing about how the mouse is the worst thing for gaming and it took a little while for the development community to start exploring and experiment with it. But out of that exploration and experimentation came Wolfenstein and DOOM and real-time strategy games.

“Before that we were all doing stuff with a joystick,” he recalled. “I think that any invention as big as Kinect just takes a while for us to get our teeth into. I agree with the skepticism from core gamers because there is no example yet of anything which is as dramatic or as exciting (as a game on a controller) or even an experience that lasts more than 15 minutes. When you get past the idiosyncrasies which every control mechanism has, Kinect is a wonderful device to innovate on.”

Kinect may in fact be a wonderful device to innovate on, but what kind of innovation are we talking here? Is this the kind of innovation where you make a lot of really neat mini-games that are fun for few sessions, or is the kind where the gameplay is actually enhanced to a point of deep storytelling and even deeper immersion? Of course, if you ask him, all of the ways Fable: The Journey (which he again insisted is “not on rails”) innovates fall into the latter category, but I’m still not convinced.

The problem with his analogy is that the PC mouse has actual, practical uses outside of gaming. Does Kinect? Not really, unless you count navigating menus with your hands and shouting “XBOX PLAY! XBOX STOP!” at your television as practical uses of new technology, but I’d rather navigate the Xbox 360 dashboard with a controller anyway.

There is one thing that Kinect seems to be innovating the hell out of though: annoying you with advertisements. Maybe I’m being a bit too pessimistic about this whole Kinect deal, but when we’ve gone months now without anything interesting besides a number of Kinect hacks, it’s hard not to be. What do you think – is Molyneux right, or is he just gushing without a filter again? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

See that? That’s the Amenbo mouse, and not only will you be using the mouse part located under this particular individual’s palm, but you’ll also have five extra protrusions for your fingers. While you probably wouldn’t want to draw with it or use it to run through Azeroth, you would be able to find a lot of possible use for this thing if you do a lot of 3D modeling work, or if you work with robots, as this would allow you to completely simulate a robot hand.

It’s very much a specialist tool, though I could see it working very nicely with some flight sim games, especially if you run it alongside a proper joystick. You could actually pull back on a throttle by pulling back your entire hand, for example. And some have suggested that this thing would absolutely clean house in a first person shooter environment, and I’m not inclined to disagree with that assessment.

There’s no word yet on pricing or release dates for these, so I’d like to open the floor up to you guys. What do you think about this? Is this the kind of mouse you’d like to spend more time with, or does this look like one of the more useless products you’ve seen of late? Do you think you could find use for the Amenbo mouse? Will Razer be trying to license one of these in rapid fashion, maybe call it the Gorgon? There’s room in the comments section for everybody, so head on down and tell us what you think!

That being said, the HP Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse is described as being an industry first. It is essentially a wireless mouse that uses a Wi-Fi connection as opposed to a Bluetooth or USB connection. And for those currently using a USB mouse, this will allow you to free up a US port on your computer. For those already using a wireless (Bluetooth) mouse, you may also see a benefit when it comes to battery life — HP is promising “up to nine months” which they say is “more than twice the battery life of comparable Bluetooth models.”

In addition, the HP Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse will be sporting five buttons, all of which are customizable. According to HP, they can be used for “common actions such as cut, paste, undo and redo.” Otherwise, the mouse has a four-way tilt scroll wheel, rubber sides and a range of 30 feet. And touching on that last point, this sounds like it could be nice for those looking for something wireless for a living room computer hooked to a television.

In terms of pricing and availability, the HP Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse should be hitting stores sometime in June with a price of $49.99.

And lastly, HP has also unveiled a lineup of accessories using their Link-5 technology. In short, the Link-5 technology will allow user to connect up to five (hence the name) accessories using one receiver. In other words, you can connect a Link-5 compatible keyboard and mouse to your computer and use only one USB port. The Link-5 accessory lineup includes a few keyboards as well as some mice. The prices on these begin at $24.99 for the HP Wireless Mobile Mouse and go up to $59.99 for the HP Wireless Mini Keyboard.

Does anyone remember when the Kinect was supposed to be a video game controller? You know, just a video game controller, not the thing that helps practice surgery or make blind people see or anything like that? Sure, it was always supposed to have a few extra functions–like running your DVD player–but they just keep coming up with weird new non-gaming ways to use this device.

Basically, what Win&I does is it lets your Kinect interface with a Windows 7 PC–and yes, it must be Windows 7–to give you access to a variety of functions. There are two different versions of the Win&I system: the home edition which allows you to access Windows Media Center as well as your internet browsers and other applications for the home (which isn’t too far off from what it was already doing on your Xbox 360 to begin with) and the business edition, which opens up some more nifty options like a laser pointer mode on PowerPoint, meaning that you can, essentially, point at those third quarter sales figures, draw a circle around them, all with your finger, and have the screen react just as if you were pointing a laser pointer at it.

How much will you have to pay out to get your computer to recognize your hand as a mouse? Surprisingly little–Win&I starts at 19.90 Euros (a little over $28 in US dollars). Of course, the business edition probably costs somewhat more, though just how much more is unclear. Still though, this looks like a great way to handle your PC functions, and yet another great use for Kinect.

Instead of the mouse and keyboard commonly associated with PC controls–and let’s face it, even the wireless versions of these have some serious problems of space involved–you can replace them both with something like the Veho Mimi, which has motion sensors and a gyroscope to allow it to serve as an air mouse, a full QWERTY keyboard to serve as, well, a keyboard, and even gamepad-style controls to give you control over your video games (another important part of home theater) as well.

It gets fully 20 hours of use on one charge, according to reports, and even has a ten meter (just shy of 33 feet) range, which should be plenty for even the biggest home theater spaces.

You can tell from the picture that this thing is a handful in no uncertain terms (it makes even the hefty Xbox 360 controller look downright svelte by comparison), but it’s still much slimmer than a full keyboard and mouse together would be.

This is actually available right now, and will set you back a hefty $119.95, but considering all it does it might just be the home theater PC control you’ve always wanted.

According to reports, Microsoft’s Sidewinder brand of PC gaming peripherals is getting put down due to a hefty glut of competition in the marketplace. Folks like Razer, with its variety of multicolored mice and keyboards, Logitech (I’m actually using a Logitech wireless mouse right now, and frankly, loving it), and several others has put a serious crimp in Microsoft’s overall market share. Thus, they’re pulling out.

Not that they’re not making peripherals any more, mind you–there are still plenty of those in the works, and you’ll be able to find them most anywhere–it’s just that they’re getting out of the gaming line of peripherals, which often end up with a few extra functions and some assorted bells and whistles to back things up.

It’s good to see that Microsoft can recognize when there are too many players in a game and move along to other, better markets–especially given that they’ve pretty much got console primacy right now with the Xbox 360 and they’re trying to get a foot in the door in the cell phone market. It’s probably for the best to dump the gaming peripherals market, though still, I can’t help but feel a little sad knowing that you won’t find Sidewinders any more. They were for many the first such gaming peripheral they’d had, so it’s a bit of a bittersweet occasion. You may want to get them while you still can, because word is they’ll be phasing out soon.

The prototype shows people very handily pulling off actions like pointing and clicking, selecting icons, and scrolling down pages with eyes alone, as well as switching between open windows. Even better, the system is set to offer auto-dimming functions when it senses someone’s not looking at it, which not only makes the experience more comfortable but also offers power-saving capability. Lenovo even showed off a game in which players could blast incoming asteroids just by looking at them.

Of course, this isn’t without problems–component size tops amongst them. The prototype Lenovo actually measures roughly double the thickness of a normal laptop (what, you mean they look like the old ones did?)  due to the size of the cameras that need including. And there’s no word on cost, but I get the feeling it’s going to be pretty prohibitive for most general user-bases.

But as they continue to develop their prototypes into more market-ready models, they’ll grow smaller and cheaper, almost certainly. And then the whole game changes again–consider a future in which you have no mouse, nor trackpad, and simply look at what you want to interact with and work from there.

It will definitely change the market as we know it, that’s for sure, and it will likely find a base for gadget users tired of using their hands and wrists for all their interactions. We’ll keep an eye on this one and hopefully have more market-ready product news soon.

The DeathAdder–sharing a name with the final boss (in some versions, anyway, other versions actually put the final boss onus on DeathAdder’s “mentor”, Death Bringer) of the old Sega game Golden Axe–Black Edition comes with new non-slip sides done in rubber to give you a better grip, as well as an ergonomic design, reducing stress on your hand when you’re gaming for a good long while. And we all know how easy it is to lose track of time whilst gaming. It also boasts Razer’s logo on the upper body of the mouse, as well as a set of five Hyperesponse buttons, sensitivity adjustment that you can change at any time, and a 3500 dpi 3.5G infrared sensor packing 1 ms response time.

Not bad at all, I’d say. Though you will likely find better dpi counts out there, and oddly, some from Razer itself. The Specter mouse runs at 5600 dpi, and we just had a go-round with Tt eSports’ Black Element, which comes in at 6500 dpi. But still, it’s pretty easy to see why gamers like the DeathAdder, and the DeathAdder Black Edition certainly doesn’t look like it’s going to leave anyone any too disappointed with its performance. Are there better mice out there? I’d say that’s the case.

You can actually pick one of these up right now, if you’re looking for a new gaming mouse and want to join in the fifth anniversary celebration. They’re available out at Razer’s company store for $59.99.

Touchscreens are already prevalent in handleld devices like smartphones and tablets, as evident with the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and countless Android devices. However, Apple leads the game in terms of multi-touch, with all of its devices supporting multiple inputs, and gestures like pinch, zoom and twist. However, a recently granted Apple patent might extend that further.

Apple has just patented a system by which a user can interact with a touchscreen device using hover and other non-touch gestures. This means you can place your finger or hand over the screen, and send signals without actually touching it.

This patent involves both trackpads and touchscreen devices. Soon we might see the technology in Apple’s Magic trackpad, which can recognize gestures like thumbs-up, or a hitchhiking gesture, which will correspond to UI commands.

It was just a couple months ago when we looked at Tt eSports for offering up the unusual move of a mouse that featured lower sensitivity, but the Black Element will have no such handicap. In fact, the Black Element is set to run at 6500 dpi, not to mention a USB connector plated in gold for fast data transfer. It’s coated in a layer of rubber to improve grip in situations that require a lot of rapid movement, a weighted design to improve balance, and 128 k of memory on board, which in turn gives you support for five profiles, and a maximum of 45 macro keys for your various games. And I promised you enhanced durability in the headline–rest assured you’ll get it–as the Black Element also boasts the Omron Gaming switch which will sustain a whopping five million presses before giving out. You’ll even be able to customize the color of the light emerging from the mouse with fully five different choices.

It’s clear that this is going for a top-notch gaming experience. It’s actually more sensitive than some breeds of Razer product (the Specter mouse comes in at 5600 dpi, for example), and it’s definitely got plenty of storage in there. Black Element is out to bump your game up a notch.

The only downside we’ve got so far is that we don’t yet know pricing and availability on this one. I don’t look for it to be terribly expensive–it is just a mouse, after all–and it should be available pretty soon. So if you’re looking for a way to keep your game sharp, you may want to think about a little hands-on time with the tricked-out Black Element mouse.

This particular mouse has a sealed bottom casing that will keep lint away from the sensor eye and allows the mouse to roll over couch cushions or carpeting the same way most would be able to roll across mouse pads or clean tables.

While the mouse has not been released yet, it will be coming to Europe in April but as of yet there are now solid plans to launch the device in the United States. It is also yet to be seen whether this mouse will work as well on flat surfaces as it does on soft fabrics.

The LG LSM 100 is the tool for you. The LG LSM 100 is actually a mouse that works just like any other mouth with any other compatible computer with one big difference. On the underside of the mouse is a digital scanner that records any document you would like by activating the scanner and running it over the document quickly several times.

Clearly there are several foreseeable problems with this, not the least of which is what happens when the scanning surface gets dirty. There is also a question of just how many times you need to run the scanner over a document to capture it. These questions will most likely only be answered when the device has been released. When that will be is yet another unanswered query.

We all know how portable or external hard drives work–plug them into a USB slot and you’re packing storage. But we also know that, most of the time, the USB drive is just solid plastic on top. That’s where the Float steps in–they took that flat surface on the hard drive and turned it into a trackpad, so that you can move your cursor around on top of your portable hard drive.It’s also got a carbon fiber casing, a few LED lights and a glass base for some more aesthetic embellishment, as well as USB 3.0 for super-fast transfer speeds.

It’s kind of obvious in retrospect–you’ve got all that dead space just sitting there and it’s connected by USB anyway, so why not use it–and it also leaves me wondering why no one’s thought to build, say, a corded mouse with a thumb drive built in, so that you can store things to your mouse.  Saves room in your laptop case, after all, and the more room you save in your laptop case, the lighter your load, and the better a job you’ll be able to do with carting things around. This happens to be the basic principle behind the LaCie Float, and it’s frankly a good one.

While it’s unclear when exactly we’ll be able to lay hands on one of these (they’re still in the design phase right now), the word is that they’ll be packing storage between 256 gig and one full terabyte when they actually go to production. There’s also no word yet on just how much these will cost, which is a shame, because I certainly wouldn’t mind getting hands on one.

While Microsoft was asking $160 for one of the Arc Touch Mouses on pre-order, tech blog Engadget reports that the stores are asking just $60 for the device in person. That’s a $100 price cut, folks, and actually makes the price of the fancy mouse a bit more palpable. I use a $100 Logitech G9x gaming mouse personally, but paying $160 for the Arc Touch mouse is kinda crazy. Am I wrong? Tell me what you think in the comments.

Anyway, just to recap the Arc Touch Mouse, it’s this crazy mouse that Microsoft makes that is supposed to be very comfortable and very mobile. It’s wireless, promises it can go 6-months without a battery change, has a 30-foot range, uses Microsoft’s new “BlueTrack” technology that even allows it to work on glass and other non-textured surfaces. And finally, it’s ambidextrous so those of you who use your left hand can get in on the fun.

No word on when we can expect this mouse in (online) stores, or even when it plans to move out of the Microsoft Store. Do you guys think that $60 is a good price for this mouse?

The GKM571R is a small, palm-sized keyboard (pictured above) that offers 2.4 GHz connectivity, a little trackball in the corner to serve as your mouse, and even a lid to cover the whole setup and let it rest unobtrusively on your coffee table when not in use. It’s very much a sedate sort of setup, great in upscale home theaters that don’t want to advertise their geekish nature quite so much. Subtlety is the order of the day here, and you’ll get your hands on this one for $99.95.

Meanwhile, the much more in-your-face system, the GKM581R is an oval shaped keyboard that looks very much like a full-sized keyboard (with the obvious difference being that it’s shaped like a big egg) that offers a whole lot more function than its smaller brother, but for a lot less style. This one has a whole row of dedicated hotkeys for your media, and a bigger trackball to get your cursor action on. And this one comes to you for ten bucks less–just $89.95.

You’ll be able to pick them up by the end of the year–hopefully in time for some Christmas giving action (or other holiday, depending) and of course hopefully in time for all the weekends you’ll be spending on the couch avoiding the upcoming winter weather. Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon, here I come!

Sensitivity in a mouse basically determines its rate of reaction. A high-sensitivity mouse will send your perspective frantically whipping around with each stroke of the mouse. I’ve seen some events where a person’s pulse can affect a mouse’s tracking. So with something like the Azurues Gaming Mouse, you don’t get much sensitivity, so it takes bigger motions to trip the mouse and make it move.

The Azurues Gaming Mouse–geared toward FPS players–starts at 400 dpi. And that’s not a misprint, either–400 dpi. It goes up from there into 800 dpi and 1600 dpi, and the mouse even includes an optical engine. It used to be that 1600 was the highest sensitivity a mouse could achieve, but that has long since been surpassed (as in years ago, long since) and some gaming mice will actually clear 5000 dpi.

The Azurues Gaming Mouse also boasts a non-slip rubberized coating, adjustable weight (so now you can feel like you’re pushing a rock around and have the console on screen react accordingly) as well as a braded cable and low friction feet.

While we don’t yet know the pricing, or when this will actually be available, this will likely be a boon to larger, stronger folks who go to use a mouse and find themselves sweating to make their mouse move a precise couple of millimeters to the left. I’ve had that problem once or twice but then I use a cheap mouse to begin with. So if you want a mouse that’ll put up a bit of a fight, this is one you’ll want a look at.

We’re talking here about Elecom’s recently announced M-BT6BL Series laser mouse, which now works under Bluetooth 3.0. We do know that Bluetooth 3.0 is set to offer some interesting new features and big improvement, like Wi-Fi hand off resulting in 24 Mbps data transfer. We also know that Bluetooth 3.0 is actually already a smidge behind the times (despite the fact that not a whole lot of Bluetooth 3.0 stuff has even shown up yet), which makes the announcement something of a surprise.

As for the M-BT6BL Series itself, it comes in an extremely compact size (the dimensions on this tiny little thing are just 74.3 × 52.3 × 33.4 mm, and it weighs in at a breathlessly small 43 grams, without the two AAA batteries required to run it), and it boasts a 800 / 1600 DPI resolution.

Now, none of that of course is specifically bad. In fact, it’s pretty nice, though considering the folks at Elecom are putting these out next month (at least in Japan for now, so if you’re dying for a chunk of new Bluetooth 3.0 goodness, better get a hold of your favorite importer) for $52 US, one important question comes to mind. That question being, is it worth $52 to get hands on a wireless laser mouse that may or may not be any better than any other mouse with comparable resolution? I confess to enjoying wireless mice–have a nice Logitech here, though it’s not Bluetooth, but rather connects to a USB plug-in receiver–but I can do a lot better price-wise than what Elecom’s asking.

The value portion here is largely up to you, and look for this one soon if you want to lay hands on it.

The folks out at Asus aren’t letting any grass grow under their feet following the announcement of their breakup with Garmin–quite the contrary. They’re putting up new products in rapid fashion, and the WX-DL is just one. It’s a mouse, as I mentioned, but with a special capacitive touch top that’s got extra controls built into it.

More specifically, the WX-DL (the DL is apparently its designer, David Lewis’, initials) is a wireless laser mouse that offers up not only the touch sensitive surface, but also a multimedia remote for things like your media players. You can see the play / pause button built into the front-most part of the touchpad, as well as the center mounted launch button.

The mouse itself, for its part, carryies a 1200 dpi laser sensor and a 2.4 GHz wireless connection.

Mac users will be out in the cold on this one, as the WX-DL is only compatible with Windows PCs, though its $80 price tag will likely keep some interested folks away from this one. It’ll be left to you to decide if you’re willing to pay $80 for a wireless mouse that serves as a multimedia remote–frankly, I don’t look for sales on this one to be any too brisk given the current economic environment, especially when wireless mice aren’t that pricey to begin with and, even if they are, wired USB mice are dirt cheap.

But still, it’s a nifty idea, even if the commercial success isn’t all that hot.

Named after a variety of Terran units (otherwise known as humans for those of us who don’t get much Starcraft time), including a kind of psychic sniper / covert ops agent, a suit of oversized powered armor and an aircraft respectively, we’ve got specs for all three.

First,the Spectre mouse, a five button affair with 5600 dpi laser sensor, 1 ms response time, and the Actions Per Minute Lighting System that changes the color of the light emitted from the LEDs in a bid to give you performance feedback. You’ll be able to get these for $79.99 US when they show up, and pre-orders are now being taken.

Second up is the Marauder keyboard, a full size and fairly normal looking keyboard with the Actions Per Minute Lighting System that changes the color as you type to show you how fast you’re moving. It’d probably be great for your normal typing too–you can show everyone how hard you’re working by how many actions per minute you’re executing from your keyboard. Pre-orders are now being taken, and you can get this one for $119.99 US.

Lastly, we look at the Banshee headset, which provides customizable adjustments for equalizer, pitch and volume, along with once again the Actions Per Minute Lighting System. Though what actions the Banshee headset measures per minute escape me, in all honesty–is it counting how many times I adjust the volume? Interestingly, this costs what the Marauder costs–$119.99 US–and as was the case with the previous two, pre-orders are being taken.

These should be showing up in stores soon, but you’ll likely want to take advantage of the pre-order if you’re interested just to make sure you get your foot in the door.

The SteelSeries Cataclysm mouse looks to give recent releases like the Razer Naga line a run for their money with14 available buttons that can handle over 130 different commands, a “fine tuned ergonomics” system (which I believe means it just fits better in your hands than others do), fully 16 million color illumination options, four levels of pulsation response, and storage space (yes, a mouse with storage space) sufficient to hold a character profile, and software to manage fully ten others.

You’ll be able to pick one of these up about the same time Cataclysm emerges, and you’ll shell out $99.99 for one of these, so if you’re looking for a sweet-looking complement to your MMO experience, this might be a direction you’ll want to check out.

7. Panasonic’s 103 Inch Plasma TV

This one doesn’t make a lot of sense, actually. Admittedly, Panasonic’s 103 inch television is big, and offers a variety of features, like two megapixel resolution, Real Black Creation, contrast management, and a size approximately similar to four 50 inch plasma displays. But here’s where things get strange–four fifty inch plasma displays out at Best Buy would run about $4500, and that’s retail for four 50 inch plasma Panasonic Vieras. So then why is the Panasonic PDP a whopping $70,000? Don’t know offhand–the extra features help–but one thing’s clear: this was never recession friendly.

6. Transmission Audio Ultimate Speakers

6000 watts of speaker, folks. Six. Thousand. Watts. That’s a lot of speaker power, even spread over twelve speakers. And when you throw in an Audio Laboratory BP-1 dual-mono power amp and a BC-1 preamp, along with forty 15 inch subwoofers, you’ve got a speaker system that’s incredibly powerful. Transmission Audio even says it can put out a whopping 146 decibels. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the “dangerous sound” level starts at 85 decibels. This one’s actually on par with a shotgun blast or fireworks. So it’s not surprising you’ll shell out over two million bucks on this one–it might be the last sound system you ever buy.

5. Pat Says Now’s Diamond Mouse

Computer mice are generally not something you think of as an ultra-expensive device. But these will shatter that perception wide open through the introduction of those classic artifical price-jacking elements: gold and diamonds. You’ll get a three-button wheel optical design, options sufficient to make it useful with either PC or Mac (USB or PS/2), 800 dpi resolution, and a three year warranty. You’ll also get your choice of three colors of gold and 59 brilliant-cut diamonds. And the price for this little wonder? Try over $20,000 US.

4. The Blackberry Amosu

Blackberry is one of the standards when it comes to business cell phones, but if you tried to slip this in your expense report I think you’d probably be fired. Or possibly murdered. But anyway, the Blackberry Amosu was named for its designer, Alexander Amosu. It’s made of 18 carat gold and studded with 28.43 carats worth of diamond. And in case you want that in individual diamond count, it takes 4,459 individual diamonds to make up 28.43 carats. Each one takes 350 hours to produce, and can be customized with the owner’s name or company. It’s therefore not at all surprising that this one runs about $400,000.

3. The Hovering Lounge Chair

Admittedly, a chair that’s nothing more than solid acrylic sounds about as comfortable as, say, sitting on the floor, but HoverIT’s Hovering “Lounger” chair boasts a little something extra. Like the name implies, it hovers. Supported by magnetic fields that will, according to HoverIT, “soothe headaches and ease muscle and joint pain” by virtue of exposure to the magnetic fields that keep the chair aloft. And while I’m not sure if you could even use your laptop in this hovering lounge chair, I do know how much this chair costs: $13,366.

2. The Diamond iPad

This list is full of things that’ll make you do a double take, but the diamond iPad (which we actually talked about back in March) is extra special. Sure, by itself it’s a few hundred bucks, but when you add 11.43 carats of diamonds, well, you’ve just jacked the price up beyond all recognition. All the way up to $19,999, in fact. It doesn’t do anything a normal iPad wouldn’t do, it just does it for several thousand dollars more. You can’t even take it out in public without basically drawing a big sign on your back that says “Mug me! There’s more money in my wallet!” It gets even worse to consider there’s a gold version out now, for almost ten times the amount.

1. The Luvaglio Million Dollar Laptop

17 inch LED screen…128 gig solid state drive…Blu-ray player…all of these sound like perfectly normal features to expect on a laptop, right? And those are what you’ll get with this Luvaglio laptop, so where does the “million dollar” part come in? On the price tag. That’s right–they mean that literally. And where do they get the gall to charge a million bucks for a laptop with such low-rent features? Easy–they tack on diamonds. Lots of them. And even some in some colors that are really hard to find. It’s hard to conceive of a diamond as having color, but it’s true–”clear” diamonds are chemically pure, and these almost never occur naturally, so there are colored diamonds out there. One of which actually comprises the power button of the Luvaglio. Thus, it’s a million-dollar laptop…that costs one million dollars.

Prudent saving is the way to get through a nasty recession, folks, but with stuff like this out there longing to break our budgets, sometimes it can be tough to be frugal. But still…it’s always fun to take a look at some of these bigger ticket items, even if you know you’d never want, use, or even consider buying them, even if you had that kind of money to throw around on a diamond-studded iPad.

all pics copyright their owners.

They share the same specs as the original Razer Naga: ergonomic design, a whopping 17 customizable buttons with macro functionality, custom interface addons, and a $79.99 price tag.

The key difference, of course, is the design–the Razer Naga Maelstrom, pictured above, comes with a nice big vortex stamped on it whilst the Razer Naga Molten favors more of a scorched earth sort of design, with lots of orange-y glowing cracks, reminiscent of gaming in Mordor.

You’ll be able to lay hands on these in November, just in time for Christmas shopping or for your own gaming enjoyment.

The Mobile Mouse 4000, which is basically just a wireless mouse in pink that costs a whopping $40, will go to help breast cancer research through the direct way of providing ten percent of its take (that’s $4 on every sale, in case you want the math handled for you) and through the indirect way of promoting awareness by way of people asking you things like: “Dude, what’s with the pink mouse?”

I’m a little shaky on this one, personally–we might well be better off painting much lower cost mice pink ourselves and shipping off a check for eight bucks to Susan G. Komen–but every little bit helps, and if you’re looking for a new mouse anyway, consider one that does a bit of good in the process.

Almost like a winch for a mouse, the Mouse Bungee basically holds the cable for your corded mouse up and out of the way so that you can use the mouse normally, but without the attendant risk of snags and tangles in high-tension situations. It plays it out, retracting the cable as needed.

We don’t know yet how much it’s going to sell for when it finally does come out, but we do know that it’s set to hit shelves in the fourth quarter of this year, which means it’s only a matter of time until it finally does hit, seeing as we’re now in the fourth quarter of the year. So look for it to hit soon.

While it’s essentially your standard ergonomic mouse with a none-too-shabby 5600 dpi accuracy, the key takeaway about this is the extra light it offers. See, it’s not really the mouse that’s doing this, but the accompanying mousepad. It’s made of a florescent material that leaves a bit of ghost light behind when hit by an LED. Like, say, the LED on the underside of the Tron mouse. Thus, you get lightcycle-esque light trails left behind by the mouse as you move it.

A clever item, no mistake there, but will it be worth the $99 they’re asking for it? That remains to be seen, but for big Tron buffs, it’s almost certain to hit wish lists.