Microsoft has announced a bunch of new hardware for their 30th anniversary of building hardware. No, it’s not another tablet, but new keyboards and mice. The main selling points are that the devices work with Windows 8 computers; and with Microsoft pushing touch on its mice – probably so you can use the touch gestures on Windows 8 – it probably will make using the upcoming OS on your desktop a bit easier than before.
The Wedge Touch Mouse is a Bluetooth mouse that can simply sit on a table and connected to your PC or tablet without any cables. As you can tell by the design, it is more artsy but is still a traditional mouse. You can still move around the screen – but you’ll also be able to do some touch gestures on the surface for Windows 8.
The Sculpt Touch Mouse is the one that actually looks like a mouse. However, while it has physical buttons, it has a touch scroll strip for the basic touch gestures like going left and right, or through applications and documents (or, as per the press release: “making it great for navigating the Windows 8 Start screen”) and Bluetooth support.
The Wedge Touch Mouse will retail for US$69.95 and the Sculpt Touch Mouse will retail for US$49.95. Both are coming soon to Australia – but Australian availability and pricing have not been confirmed by Microsoft Australia.
The new keyboards also share the Wedge and Sculpt names. The Wedge Mobile Keyboard (as seen at the very top of the post) is an ultra slim keyboard designed for a tablet. It includes hot keys, in-built media keys; and features a durable cover to protect scratches. It also features Bluetooth connectivity, and retails for US$79.95.
The Sculpt Mobile Keyboard also has a full keyboard, and Bluetooth connectivity, but features the “Comfort Curve” design to reduce the strain of typing and positions the hands to a more comfortable position. It will retail for $49.95.
Again, like the mice, no Australian availability or pricing have been released.