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Although there has been much innovation in mouse design, particularly over the last few years, there have been few fundamental changes in the design of the devices.
The biggest change has been the addition of a scroll wheel – everything else (extra side buttons, laser tracking, and so on) has either fallen by the wayside or hasn't taken off across the market.
While we were very impressed with Logitech's MX Revolution, it wasn't as much of a innovation as the company's MX Air appears to be. Put simply, it's a mouse designed to be used in the air as well as on a desk.
The mouse includes similar tracking technology to what's included in Nintendo's Wii controllers, so it can pick up its own orientation and movement when away from a surface. That means it can be used like a remote control, so it could be a handy tool for both home-theatre PC users and business Powerpoint types alike.
Installation was a piece of cake, and the Logitech RF receiver is a small, inconspicuous USB dongle. The mouse also comes with its own mains-connected charging cradle. As a conventional mouse, it's useable, although anyone used to recent ergonomic mice, including the MX Revolution, will find it quite small and oddly shaped.
Instead of a scroll wheel, there is a kind of vertical trackpad, running your fingers along which produces scrolling. It's clever, but it neither adds to, nor detracts from a conventional scroll wheel's function. In addition, there are a few customisable buttons.
The button names light up in orange when the mouse is being used, which makes it look good, but the glossy black plastic is especially susceptible to fingerprints and smudges.
Once you pick it up off a desk, it continues to work, which is disconcerting at first. The best way to use it in this mode, though, is to hold it like a remote control, from which point it makes a lot more sense.
While you won't be doing any painting in the air (we weren't able to get more than a few unrecognisable squiggles), it's surprisingly accurate. It does take a fair amount of practice to be able to use it quickly, but it works very well as a remote control, particularly for Windows Media Center.
The extra buttons come into play here, too – hold down the Vol button and swing the mouse from side to side to change the volume.
The MX Air is a very neat idea that will appeal to owners of TV-connected computers, but users who are tied to their desks will be better off with a more conventional device.
See also:
An accurate Vista-ready A6 graphics tablet that offers a welcome break from a mouse 04 Apr 2007
Ingenious controller for CAD and other types of 3D software 05 Feb 2007All Keyboard & MiceTags: Mouse
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