Lenovo has a new proof-of-concept mouse and keyboard that can harvest mechanical energy to remove the need for external power. At first glance, they appear to be a standard mouse and keyboard set designed for gamers. Yet, their distinguishing feature lies in their dependence on manually generated mechanical energy, completely removing the necessity for charging.
The wireless keyboard comes in a TKL (enkeyless) form factor with a total of 68 keys, RGB lighting support, and a sleek metallic gray color. At first glance, the large circular dial on the top seems to look like a volume knob, but its actual job is to convert kinetic energy into battery charge.
Lenovo claims that just five minutes of spinning the dial can provide approximately 30 minutes of keyboard usage. That’s essentially 28 hours of spinning if you want to keep the keyboard powered up for an entire week. The keyboard also features a horizontal solar panel strip on the top, offering an alternative source of energy aside from its mechanical functionality.
The accompanying mouse is equally innovative. The distinctive ring-shaped crank at the bottom can be pulled up and wound to supply charge to the device’s battery. One minute of winding is purported to deliver approximately 30 minutes of charge.
Both the keyboard and mouse support Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, offering flexibility in usage. Lenovo further enhances the keyboard’s utility by including a detachable USB-C cable, offering users the option of a wired connection when needed.
As of now, we don’t have any information on whether the mouse can also charge via solar energy, but it seemingly includes a USB port for wired connectivity. It will also come with a Blue optical sensor boasting a 12,800 DPI (dots per linear inch).
Lenovo has not disclosed any additional specifications for these devices, and there is no confirmation on whether the mouse and keyboard combo will go into actual production given their experimental nature.
Besides its mechanical energy-harvesting mouse and keyboard combo, the company also introduced a host of new laptops at CES this year, notably the ThinkBook 14 i Gen 6+, which comes with its own external graphics solution, as well as the updated Lenovo Legion 9i gaming notebook, which is even more powerful than its predecessor.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.