Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Yesterday I talked about the keyboard and how it is rooted in the history of computers, but this week is also important for another input device: the mouse.  The 40th birthday of the mouse also coincided with history being made, as Logitech announced that they had shipped a billion mouses (or mice) since they started production.  But how did it start, why is it so good and what is the future of the mouse?  Read on.

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Anybody who is fed up with new formats of media and still has only vinyl switch off your monitor now.  Boosted by their success in the High Definition DVD war with Blu-ray they have decided to expand the Blu franchise with Blu-spec CD.

Details are sketchy regarding the actual advantages due to a poorly translated Japanese press release, but what we do know is that it aims to overthrow the CD.  Unsurprisingly, they are burned using the Blu Laser Diode (hence the Blu) and even more unsurprisingly they will cost around the $20-$35 mark.  Obviously, we don’t know what you are paying for but the general consensus is that it will be significantly better sound quality. 

There’s a strange twist to the Blu-spec CD—find out after the break.

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Just imagine watching Monday Night Football with the players looking like they are running right at you.  Talk about experiencing the excitement of the game without actually being there.  Or fighting the bad guys in your favorite video game (and you thought the Wii made the fighting seem realistic).

Scientists have finally broken the barrier that had prevented this type of technology by creating the first updatable three-dimensional displays with memory.  Dr Nasser Peyghambarian, chair of photonics and lasers at the University’s of Arizona’s Optical Sciences department, said, “This is a prerequisite for any type of moving holographic technology.“  Although there is still work to be done, scientists are still very optimistic they are getting much closer to this becoming a reality in the next five to ten years.

Find out much more about holographic TV after the break!

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Contrary to popular belief, the first laser wasn’t really reverse-engineered from Megatron of the Transformers. It was actually created by a guy named Theodore Maiman by shining a high-power flash lamp on a ruby rod with silver-coated surfaces. And if he hadn’t made the first laser work on May 16, 1960 at the Hughes Research Laboratory in California, there wouldn’t be laser etched Nokia Prism phones, laser printers, or convenience in the laser-powered supermarket check-out counter. Just think how much we would have lost if not for that one great innovation. Today’s the day to be thankful for it, because it’s the laser’s 48th year anniversary. Here’s to many more years, and I hope they finish my laser death rays in time for the 50th anniversary!

Via [Google]

• Trickster celebrates its second anniversary with its players
• Blu ‘revolution’ continues
• As the mouse reaches 40, what’s for the future?

Sections: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous, Web, Google

Boy, it seems like when Microsoft finds something they’re good at, they milk it dry, doesn’t it? Well, this is definitely holding true for their line of Laser mice, as today, they have added the Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and 7000 to their already expansive line.

The 6000 is the more mobile-centric of the two devices, as it uses a 2.4Ghz receiver, that snaps into the mouse. It’s powered by one AAA battery, which should last you quite awhile, given the mouse’s relative small size. The 7000 (pictured above) uses rechargeable Li-ion batteries, making the whole mouse a little bigger. You can also charge the 7000 with its included charging dock. Both mice have Microsoft’s HD Lasers and Vista buttons. The Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and 7000 will retail for $50 and $70, respectively, in March of this year.

Read [GearLog]

• Random Amazon game deals
• Xbox 360 Arcade units confirmed to include 256MB onboard memory
• Microsoft using Office’s AutoUpdate feature to check licensing

I recently had the opportunity to play with not one but two very cool lasers, getting some hands on with an Elite Series laser from Wicked Lasers and a Viper Series laser from Dragon Lasers.

Product: Wicked Lasers
Model: Elite Series
Price: $499.99 through $699.99

Product: Dragon Laser
Model: Viper Series
Price: $99.99 through $399.99

The Viper series and Elite series are the two models that I had to

play with, however both companies offer lasers starting at at $100 or less.

Aside from playing around and amazing my friends with just how far they will shine, lasers can be very useful. They can be used by astronomers to point out stars, builders or contractors, doctors, spooks and spies, someone lost in a remote location and even to ward off your enemy or an intruder. After all if it was dark and I broke into a house to have a laser hit me in the chest, its safe to say I would turn around and run the way I came.

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