Microsoft mouse turns blue

Despite being obsolete, there is one thing which a ball mouse can do which even the latest laser sensor can't. The former can work on almost any solid surface, even glass which confounds the more advanced optical and laser rodents. Too bad that the ball mouse suffers such lousy resolution and sensitivity.

But that would all change with Microsoft's latest sensor technology which hopes to bring mouse usage where it has never gone before. Though we suspect transparent glass may still remain the final frontier, the rumored Explorer Mini Mouse is based on the latest Blue Track technology which includes a blue LED emitter and wide-angled lens receiver. It is said to work on more surfaces than any previous optical devices in the market, which should please mobile users since they are the ones who are most likely to find themselves without a proper mousepad.

A Microsoft representative was unable to comment on this rumor. However, with a major hardware launch coming in September, we might just catch a glimpse of this new technology soon.

Via ZDNET blogs

Apple applies for touchscreen Mac patent

Rumors of Apple working on a touchscreen Mac have been circulating for years, and will only grow with the revelation that the company is hoping to patent similar technology.
A number of Mac sites on Thursday are pointing to a US patent application granted for what would appear to be the mythical Mac tablet. AppleInsider has a description of the device discussed in the application, which appears to bring a lot of the iPhone's multitouch functionality to a slate-like tablet computer.

Given Apple' focus on multitouch user interfaces over the past year, there has been a fair amount of speculation that the company wants to do something similar with a larger, more powerful computer than the iPhone or iPod touch.
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Rising fraud threats in virtual worlds

Virtual worlds are playgrounds not just for people who want some online fantasy role-playing, but for cybercriminals who are looking for places to launder money and steal data, according to a new white paper from cybercriminals who are looking for places to launder money and steal data, according to a new white paper from McAfee (PDF).

The in-game economies of virtual worlds are being hijacked by criminals who attempt to hide their profits through the exchange of virtual currencies, Dr. Igor Muttik, a senior architect at McAfee's Avert Labs says in a white paper entitled "Securing Virtual Worlds Against Real Attacks--The Challenges of Online Game Development".

"Typically, when a gaming account is compromised, attackers will convert the objects they steal into virtual currency--and then convert the virtual currency into real money," the white paper says.

Scammers also are increasingly attracted to virtual worlds, where they have numerous ways of trying to steal private data for fraud. For instance, sloppy scripting in some online games allows viruses to auto-execute and propagate. There are also phishing attempts and messaging spam luring members to malicious sites for "free" games.
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Green is gold at COMEX 2008

If COMEX 2008 is any indication, green technology will soon be, if not already, hitting the mainstream consumer. Among the latest laptops, digital cameras, PDAs, LCD and televisions, more and more retailers are selling rechargeable and renewable energy products.

Take rechargeable batteries. When it was first introduced, a pair of AA-sized cells would easily cost over S$20 (US$13.38) for a much lower capacity than its 2,000mAh alkaline equivalent. Pop by at COMEX 2008, and you can purchase a pair of high-capacity 2,700mAh batteries for S$10 (US$6.69). Thanks to new technology, some of these cells have an exceptionally low discharge rate and can keep up to 80 percent of their charge for up to a year in storage.

Solar-powered chargers are also getting more common. For S$88, we got a pocket-sized 2,000mAh battery (similar to the model by Brando pictured above) which can be charged via a car adapter, AC outlet or via built-in solar panels. It is actually quite impressive that, for a no-brand product, it claims to be able to juice up its internal cells within 7 hours under indoor lights and 4 hours in direct sunlight. There are two USB ports for powering up your devices, while a smaller plug takes in the bundled adapters for charging popular phone brands. Though it's really more relevant for those going on extended camping trips, this product can provide daily juice for your cell phone and save you a couple of dollars in utilities, too.

Patents.com lets you search through ideas (good and bad)

Got the next big idea floating around in your head but want to see if someone else has already come up with it? Digging through the mountain of patents on file at the US Patent and Trademark Office's Web site can be a bit daunting. To help in that search is Patents.com, which has an index of more than 450 million patents in 15 different languages. All of this is combined with an online marketplace where these patents can be bought and sold.
Like Google's patent search offering, Patents.com offers some great exploration, which is where I found the most value. The front page shows off some of the most recently approved and submitted patents, but the star of the show is the search tool, which goes from basic to "expert" mode with just one click. The expert mode gives you a whole new bag of search tricks like word proximity, a cheat sheet of commonly used patent jargon, as well as a "fuzzy" search that will look for alternate or misspelled words in patent titles or the actual copy.
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