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The ToyBox

Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

Forget Bluetooth - this wireless mouse from HP connects via Wi-Fi

By | May 12, 2011, 7:38am PDT

Summary: Rather than operate via Bluetooth or RF-equipped USB dongle, HP’s Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse uses the same receiver as a computer’s wireless connection.

Wireless devices tend to have a pretty limited range of connection options, but a new mouse from HP adds a new one to the fray: Wi-Fi.

Rather than operate via Bluetooth or a RF-equipped USB dongle, HP’s Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse uses the same receiver as a computer’s wireless connection. This not only frees up a USB port, but also allows for owners of Bluetooth-less computers an additional way to use a mouse.

This, HP says, doesn’t come with any performance sacrifices. With a battery life of 9 months and an operating range of 30 feet, the Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse’s technical specifications are still comparable to its Bluetooth counterparts.

But there’s a catch: HP’s crafty new device requires Windows 7 to work. Deal breaker? That depends on which side of the OSX/Windows fence you are on. In any case, the requirement does limit the mouse’s potential range of customers.

The WiFi Mobile Mouse will be available in June for $49.99.

Here’s a (sort of awful) promo vid for the device.

[Via Crave]

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Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications.

Disclosure

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton has no investments that may conflict with his work with ZDNet. Similarly, he has not worked with any companies that he may write about in his technology coverage.

Biography

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications. He lives in New York, and is a graduate of Amherst College.

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RE: Forget Bluetooth - this wireless mouse from HP connects via Wi-Fi
astonatkin 14th Nov
@bob@... We operate via Bluetooth,HP???s Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse uses the same receiver as a computer???s wireless connection.Great work!!!!!
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0 Votes
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Now that is clever
Economister 12th May 2011
If it works well
How typical of HP to forget about Mac users.
@bob@... Why not berate apple for not making Windows peripherals?
Oh so the HP peripheral is really a Windows peripheral. Is that what you're trying to tell us?

And here I thought the OEMs were 'unbiased...'

lol..
@bob@... @redking44 Yeah! Damn smug Apple not making hardware for Windows =@
@bob@...
who cares about mac users? How many people really are going to make an effort (at least initially) for a segment that makes up less than 10% of the market? I mean, seriously, if a full 1/2 of the people that own apples buy's one of these, it would still be just a blip in the total sales.
0 Votes
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@mgrubb@...
Yeah, well, the only reason you have USB ports at all is because peripheral makers decided to make mac peripherals.
So empirical evidence trounces your troll.
I mean, seriously, if a full 1/2 of the people that own apples buy's one of these, it would still be just a blip in the total sales. associate degree | degree program
I mean, seriously, if a full 1/2 of the people that own apples buy's one of these, it would still be just a blip in the total sales. online degree | online bachelor degree | accredited degree
@bob@...

Why not? I wish I could. Anyway it's too confusing as it has more than one button wink
@tonymcs@...

All mac mice have more than one button. As I have told you before. Repeatedly.
Why not berate apple for not making Windows peripherals? online degree | online bachelor degree | accredited degree
Oh so the HP peripheral is really a Windows peripheral. Is that what you're trying to tell us? associate degree | degree program
Oh so the HP peripheral is really a Windows peripheral. Is that what you're trying to tell us? online degree | online bachelor degree | accredited degree
@bob@... We operate via Bluetooth,HP???s Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse uses the same receiver as a computer???s wireless connection.Great work!!!!!
Logo Design Contest
0 Votes
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GREAT article! I can't wait for this device.
No Linux version, either. Why am I not surprised...
@ScorpioBlue
see response to @bob above. Same deal. when linux has a 20 or 30 % market share, then I'm sure people will start making hardware for them specifically. until then, while Linux has a 1.5% market share, don't expect much.
@mgrubb@...
Well I'm sure if somebody has a mind to on the Open Source side, they could reverse engineer the driver for that and make it work. That's typically how things work.
@mgrubb@...

That's a less than 1% market share thank you.
And it's the biggest 1% in the whole wide world. It seems to occupy a lot of minds over in Redmond.
I worry about connectivity issues. Even though I am now using wireless mouse (Microsoft Arc) I could not find reliable wireless mouse for quite some time. Tried regular wireless Microsoft and Logitech mice as well as bluetooth versions. Most of them were losing connections. If HP can maintain reliable connection between mouse and PC then it is great but I do not want to be beta-tester happy

Another thing. This mouse would not work when WiFi is off. For example if you bring your laptop on the plane. It could be more than mildly inconvenient.
Creative, but seems overengineered. Now I'm not a network geek, but it sounds like the computer would be running a soft access point (Wi-Fi Direct?) to use this mouse. That makes me assume that firewall changes would be needed to allow traffic. And hopefully it's on a different channel than other Wi-Fi networking traffic or rapid mouse movements might cause collisions and reduce throughput. Anyway, I enjoyed my el cheapo $10 Bluetooth optical mouse install the other day--plugged in the tiny USB dongle and it just worked!
0 Votes
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Over engineered ??
knudson 12th May 2011
I have a Msft Bluetooth mouse and a micro Bluetooth bud for my laptop.
With 4 USB ports, doesn't matte.
And the Bluetooth works with my headset.

I'd worry too about opening ports, and interference with wifi as mentioned above.

PS the Msft mouse is nice, but it eats batteries like crazy.
So what happens when you don't have a private wifi network? I'd rather have a dongle than a router in my laptop bag.
0 Votes
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If it connect via WL router than u will not be able to carry it out of your n/w as in case of BT n RF usb dongle one
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elissamornben 16th Sep
All mac mice have more than one button. As I have told you before. Repeatedly. coach factory online
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