HP's Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse

HP launched on Friday an industry-first Wi-Fi mouse for laptop users that may eliminate the frustrations often encountered with other wireless mice and Bluetooth mice. If you don't want to give up a valuable USB port for the mouse dongle or find Bluetooth a bit of a pain to set up (and reconnect), the $50 mouse may be worth the investment to you.

Both Bluetooth and regular Wi-Fi mice have their downsides. With Bluetooth, you'll need to go through some hoops to pair the mouse to your laptop, a process that's sometimes finicky. Many laptops also don't come with Bluetooth installed, unlike ubiquitous Wi-Fi. The HP Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse connects quickly to the PC's built-in Wi-Fi receiver and doesn't require you to constantly pair it again with your laptop. HP says the mouse also boasts up to nine months of battery life, twice that of comparable Bluetooth mice.

There are other wireless mice suitable for mobile users, but the HP Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse has one particular advantage: it doesn't require a USB dongle. Since many laptops only offer two or three USB ports, the Wi-Fi Mobile mouse enables you to save those valuable ports for other accessories. Apparently the mouse doesn't interfere with your Wi-Fi networking, so no worries about having to choose between your mouse and your Internet connection.

Besides the dongle-less connectivity, you'll find typical mouse features here: a scroll wheel, laser sensitivity, and programmable buttons. For those odd usage scenarios when you need to control your laptop from across the room, the mouse has a range of up to 30 feet..

A bit on the small side, the mouse fits in your palm and was designed for mobile use, so it may not be comfortable for all-day computing.Priced at $50 (Rs 2,400 approx), the Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse is currently available in the USA. Hopefully, it won't be too long before it hits the Indian market.

Source : HP's Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse

HP TouchSmart 610 Quad All-in-One PC

The HP TouchSmart 610 Quad is a blazing fast, beautifully designed all-in-one PC. When we reviewed the TouchSmart 610 Quad back in April, we gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. One of our few quibbles was its price, $1600 for the base model at launch. Now HP is taking $300 off the price, bringing the entry-level TouchSmart 610 Quad down to $1300--and it's throwing in a bunch of high-end goodies, like a free 8GB RAM upgrade and 1.5TB hard drive.

Source : HP TouchSmart 610 Quad All-in-One PC

HP Plans Cloud Music Locker for TouchPad Tablet

A series of leaked slides over at PreCentral suggest Hewlett-Packard is preparing an ambitious cloud music service for the upcoming TouchPad tablet.

 

If this service comes to fruition when the TouchPad lands in the hands of consumers in June, then HP would beat Apple and Google, who are also reportedly working on similar services.

According to the slides, which allegedly come straight from the horse's mouth and are marked as confidential, HP's cloud music service would store your media on remote servers and keep in sync on your device via a "smart algorithm," which would ensure your favorite tracks are always on the device.

PreCentral also says the HP cloud music service would allow you to stream music that you don't own yet, and users would be able to stream music to HP smartphones as well, but it is unknown how this would actually work. The technology behind HP's cloud music service is said to come from Melodeo, which was bought by HP last year, shortly after it bought Palm.

If HP manages to ready the cloud music service by the time, it would beat Apple and Google to the game. Both are also said to be preparing similar services. Amazon was the first major player to introduce a cloud music service with the release in March of its Amazon Cloud Player, which allows users to upload and access digital music collections from anywhere.

The HP TouchPad is due to arrive in June, with a 9.7-inch 1024 by 768 pixel display, 16GB or 32GB of storage, and a 1.3 megapixel Webcam. HP is yet to announce exact pricing for the TouchPad, but it is expected to match the iPad 2 at $499.

Source : HP Plans Cloud Music Locker for TouchPad Tablet