One of Microsoft‘s not-so-secret dirty little secrets is that, as a software company, it’s been in the hardware business for over a quarter century, making mice and other input devices long before the company ventured into digital media territory with the Xbox and Zune. And some of the Redmond giant’s hardware products have garnered a fair bit of respect, including the Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000, which is currently the top-selling notebook mouse in the United States.
Now, Microsoft is looking to capitalize on that popularity, offering the new Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 Special Edition, which essentially just like the original 3000 except on the outside, where users will now be able to choose between five new colors: "dragon fruit" (dark pink), "pomegranate" (red), "milk chocolate" (brown), "aloe" (green), and "creme brulee" (khaki).
(No, we have no idea why Microsoft keeps thinking brown is a good idea either.)
"Buying a tech product these days is a declaration of personal style, and these special edition mice allow consumers to make the ultimate statement," said Microsoft Hardware’s product marketing manager Sean Butterworth, in a statement."The Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 has always been a fan favorite, and these color updates will keep it in the forefront for years to come."
The Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 300 offers 1,000 dpi optical tracking, rubber side grips, and a USB wireless receiver that snaps into the bottom of the mouse for on-the-go storage. The devices will operate for up to six months on a single battery.
The new colored mice—minus "creme brulee"—will be available in Best Buy in May, with the full line widely available in June. The mice carry a suggested retail price of $29.95.
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.