Targus's Mice for Macs First to Have 4-Way Touch Scrolling

Targus has been making peripherals since before sliced bread was invented, but as part of its first line of notebook accessories specifically designed for Macs it's come up with two mice that are the only ones to have four-way touch scroll controls for Macs. They're ergonomic, and both have 1200 dpi sensitivity: the wireless version uses 2.4GHz RF tech, with a micro-receiver that slots into a USB hub or the mouse base for traveling, and the laser mouse connects over Bluetooth. Both are out now, the wireless mouse for $50, and the Bluetooth one for $70. Press release below, alongside news about the Bluetooth presenter that's in the same line. More »

Fingernail-Watching Cam Makes Everything A Touchpad

Scientists in the UK have thought differently about touchpad designs: their system peeks at your fingertips to see what you're touching. It can sense when you're pushing on something and how hard, so everything —even a 3D uneven surface— could be made into a touchpad. Quite why they chose to demo this with a purring rock we're not sure. But we like it. More »

Apple Applies for Patent for Pressure-Sensitive Touchscreens

Aiming to go beyond just sensing the location of your finger on its touchpads and touchscreens, Apple has applied for a patent for a "Force Imaging Input and Device System," which amounts to a spring-like device underneath the touchscreen or touchpad. The pressure-sensitive "force detector" layer would create a separate set of data, or image, that could add another dimension to interacting with Apple's phones, media players, laptops and displays. After the jump, see a full-sized diagram of the idea. More »

Nokia Bringing Tactile Feedback To Touchscreen Phones

The technology that makes phones like the LG Prada wiggle is now coming to Nokia phones. A new partnership with developer Immersion opens the doors for Nokia phones to get tactile feedback from touchscreen interfaces using VibeTonz software, so typing on the virtual keyboard feels more like using the real thing. More »

Microsoft Surface Confirmed: Touch-Sensitive, $10k, Minority Report Table

Project Milan is in fact a touch-sensitive table as you guys speculated and we reported earlier. Dubbed "Surface" and five years in the making, it's set to establish a paradigm of what Microsoft calls "surface computers" which use touch as the sole method of input. More »

Siren V MP3 Player Looks Good, Works Okay

Siren, formally Rio (the founding fathers of the MP3 player, in my opinion), has announced a couple MP3 players at CES this year including the very beautiful Siren V. The outside of this player is the first metal-in-plastic player that has touch sensitive buttons. Upon tapping magical blue buttons light up and can be pressed. It will be available up to 8GB in size and is a pretty mediocre MP3 player from the inside, but at least it looks awesome on the outside. –Travis Hudson

Indium Touch-Sensitive Flashlight

Designed much like the flashlights the Star Trek crew used on The Next Generation—except more hubcappy—the Indium flashlight is both neat and neat looking. The six LEDs are controled by a touch-sensitive switch that can switch the lights to full, half, and strobe mode. More »

Maxfield's Really Pretty Max-Sin Touch Digital Audio Player

Illuminated, red touch-sensitive buttons are apparently "in" right now, and Maxfield's is joining the party with its Max-Sin Touch, a portable digital audio player that looks suspiciously like M-Cody's M-20. Capable of playing MP3, WMA (DRM'd or not) and Ogg Vorbis files, the Max-Sin Touch is based around 1GB of flash memory. (A 512MB version is also available is you're a penny pincher.) You can transfer music files to it from your Mac or PC over a USB 1.1 or 2.0 connection. More »

Is That a Keyboard in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Glad to See Me?

Until we can have screens that roll up and fit into our pockets, this smart fabric portable keyboard will have to do. Developed by Brit company Eleksen Ltd., it's a 2.4-ounce Bluetooth keyboard made out of a special touch-sensitive cloth material that s water repellent—not that you would really be wanting to use it in the rain or anything. Its electronics are tucked inside a plastic housing with an LED that shows you when it's communicating with your PDA, cell phone, or any other Bluetooth-capable device. The company says its "full laptop-sized," which probably means it's too small, but it s certainly a lot bigger than typing on that CrackBerry with your thumbs. No pricing yet. More »