Asus reveals what it meant with its "it'll move you" teaser at Computex 2013-- the VivoMouse, an unusually shaped wireless mouse with a circular desktop touchpad grafted on top.

Supposedly a "world first," the VivoMouse supports both Windows 7 and 8 with the touchpad handling both gesture and traditional mouse button duties.

The wedge-shaped design also allows one-handed handheld remote use, as demoed at Computex with the newly announced VivoPC model. Designed for living room applications, the Continue reading...

University of Illinois researchers create tiny lithium-ion batteries able to out-power even the most powerful capacitators-- batteries few millimetres in size able to recharge mobile devices "in the blink of an eye."

The key to the batteries' power is a redesigned cathode and anode structure. While standard li-on batteries consist of a solid lithium salt cathode and a graphite cathode, the University of Illinois battery uses a nickel-tin anode and manganese oxide cathode with a 3-dimensional internal microstructure.

The result is porous electrodes with a massive surface area allowing for more chemical reactions to take place, which results in a massive boost to power output and charging.

The first battery using the technology is a button-sized number the researchers claim combines the power output of supercapacitators and the energy storage of fuel cells.

The wearables market still be pie in the sky for now, but that is not stopping vendors-- The Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft is also working on "designs for a touch-enabled watch device."

According to anonymous executives Microsoft is shipping smartwatch components while R&D staff talk designs with suppliers at the company's Redmond, Washington HQ.

Microsoft, perhaps obviously, declines to comment.

The news story makes Microsoft the 5th big vendor to take on wearables-- once the "Apple making a smartwatch" rumours started flying similar stories involving Samsung, Google and LG soon followed.

So far only Samsung confirms its intentions, via Bloomberg interview with mobile business VP Lee Young Hee. Lee says "we've been preparing [a] watch product for so long... We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”

What's your definition of a low risk, high margin business?

How about a Coupon System that offers retailers the widest range of high quality protection films for their customers who buy or own mobile devices?

Crocfol Germany saves their retailers from any inventory risk through a Coupon system that offers the customer a protective film specific to their model of mobile phone. The customer redeems the Coupon online and Crocfol mails the order from Germany.

So there's never the cost of inventory: the reseller simply displays and sells the 6 different Coupons available.

That's important in a product range where you need 3400+ different films to match the different displays on a variety of devices from mobiles to laptops and touch pads that need protection.

Tobii announces the next generation of eye trackers-- the PCEye Go and PCEye Pro, allowing users to control all PC functions using only their eyes.

The devices connect to either laptops or desktop PCs via USB and are ideal for customers with communication and rehabilitative disabilities wanting to surf the web, play games, use environmental controls and even work on spreadsheets and documents.

The PCEye Go is the smaller option, designed for laptop and smaller display use. The PCEye Pro is optimised Continue reading...

Logitech unites all PC gaming peripheral offerings under a single name-- Logitech G, a "new approach" to gaming complete with 6 redesigned mice and keyboards and 2 new headsets.

Apparently the work of "engineers compelled to test scientific theories," Logitech G devices feature finger-print resistant coatings on heavy contact zones, hydrophobic coatings on palm areas, Delta zero sensor technology and buttons able to take up to 20 million toggles.

"When science wins-– gamers win,” the company PR claims.

Lilliputian Systems claims it has a solution to your customers' mobile device power troubles-- the Nectar, a plug-less personal power device able to power devices for up to 2 weeks.

Compatible with all USB 2.0 devices, the Nectar does not require access to a power socket to operate. Instead it uses "Power Pods," charge cartridges based on thin-film Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology.

Charge cartridges are hot-swappable and recyclable but not user rechargeable, meaning one needs to have Continue reading...

AudioQuest has a proposal to improve on the poor quality audio PC sound cards tend to produce-- the DragonFly, a USB Digital-Audio Converter (DAC) the size of a flash drive.

Designed to feed headphones or speakers (via 3.5mm jack), the DragonFly carries a 24-bit ESS Sabre DAC chip, 2 clocks and the Streamlength asynchronous USB data transfer protocol to ensure optimal, jitter-free digital-to-analog PC audio conversion.

The DAC chip circuitry is direct-coupled through the analog output section, Continue reading...