BIZ BITS: ON THE GO August 2005

Waves of Wireless
Microsoft’s Optical Desktop

It’s almost as if science fiction sneezed on your workstation with Microsoft’s Optical Desktop. The keyboard comes with a wireless IntelliMouse and a fingerprint reader, which enables you to be free from usernames and password cheat sheets, and still log onto your favorite websites with just the touch of your finger. Just push and hold a key to assign it to a destination—as you would with a car stereo’s preset buttons—and launch Messenger, Mail and your favorite files including documents, pictures and music files. You can sit up to six feet away from the receiver and click away to your heart’s content with the mouse. Its scroll capabilities entail Tilt Wheel Technology to toggle between open windows. $85 www.microsoft.com

Headset Hullabaloo
Jabra JX10 Bluetooth Headset

Just because you have to have a headset for work or driving doesn’t mean it can’t be stylish. Jabra has seen to that with the JX10, a Bluetooth minimalist device designed by Danish company, Jacob Jensen. State-of-the-art voice reception and clarity comes combined with elegance. It adjusts automatically to the ambient noise level through automatic volume control, a feature based on Digital Signal Processing, which also ensures a significant reduction in background noise. A carrying case and desktop charger will accompany the headset when it becomes available later this year. So get ready for a fashionable four to six hours of talk time and up to 80 hours of standby time. www.jabra.com

Laser Mouse
Logitech’s MX 1000 Laser Cordless Mouse

Forget Danger Mouse, hello Laser Mouse! Logitech, the leading manufacturer of computer mice, has produced the world’s first laser cordless mouse. It’s called the MX 1000 Laser Cordless Mouse and it’s 20 times more sensitive to detail and tracks with accuracy on more surfaces than other mice. It is physics in action: the laser beam emanates through a polished silver ring on the base, illuminates the surface beneath the mouse and then reflects back up through the same ring where the surface detail is captured by the sensor. The sensor has the ability to capture 5.8 megapixels of detail each second. As the mouse is moved, the sensor sees minute changes in the surface detail, which then translate into cursor motion on screen. The mouse also has Tilt Wheel Plus Zoom, which allows you to scroll in three dimensions: up and down; left and right; and in and out—great for tweaking the fine points of a slide show or report. By applying pressure to the left or right of the wheel, one can scroll horizontally through wide documents in applications such as Excel. The MX 1000 also incorporates a speed scrolling system. The rechargeable mouse hits the market this month for $79.95. www.logitech.com