Mice & Keyboards by stefan @ 2010-12-27
The Swiftpoint Mouse is an innovative product with a pen-like grip, meant to completely replace the touchpad functions of most laptops. It's wireless and comes with a USB wireless adapter that also acts like a dock to recharge the product.
At first I would like to thank Swiftpoint for offering me a sample of their product for review.
"Swiftpoint is a New Zealand-based, technology company that seeks to improve people’s computer experiences by introducing novel, well-designed peripheral technology products. The company was renamed Swiftpoint, from Simtrix, in 2009 to reflect the company’s focus on its ingenious laptop mouse product, the Swiftpoint Mouse.
Over eight years ago software engineer and Swiftpoint founder Grant Odgers decided that his laptop's touchpad was preventing him from being a truly mobile computer user. Grant, like many others he discovered, found touchpads to be very inaccurate and inefficient substitutes for a mouse. However, if he wanted to be able to use his laptop away from a table or desk, there was really no other alternative. So Grant slipped on his inventor’s hat, convinced some friends and venture capitalists to invest in his ideas and began working on a concept for a small, portable mouse that could actually be used on your laptop surface itself.
In 2008, the company introduced two revolutionary mice concept designs, the “Swiftpoint Slider” and “Swiftpoint Triped”, at CEBIT in Hanover, Germany. The CEBIT unveiling attracted enormous attention, including coverage by international media and interviews with the BBC and CNN. With this strong interest for the Swiftpoint products, in particular for the Swiftpoint Mouse, a decision was made to channel resources into launching this flagship product.
Our focus is on improving efficiencies. We believe that the current options of computer laptop touchpads and mice do not provide the most efficient or convenient experience for users, and we are striving to change this with the Swiftpoint Mouse. It has been a long journey that has included some serious investment in research and design, the development and testing of multiple product concept variations and many rounds of user testing. The outcome of these efforts was the launch of the Swiftpoint Mouse in 2010 and we are so happy with it that we decided to make the claim that “it will change the way you use your laptop ... forever”.
The Swiftpoint Mouse is small and portable and feels very natural to use due to its pen-like grip. Requiring only the palmrest beside the laptop touchpad to operate, the Swiftpoint Mouse provides for laptop computer users freedom without compromise: The freedom to use their laptop to work and play, whenever and wherever they wish, while still maintaining the functionality and performance they want from a mouse."
Small size, easy to use
The Swiftpoint mouse is ideal for use in small spaces and can be used on your laptop’s palmrest. Left- and right-click buttons and a scroll wheel make the Swiftpoint mouse as easy-to-use as a traditional mouse.
Micro USB dock for charging and wireless operation
No cables required, the USB dock acts as a wireless receiver for up to 30 feet (10 meters) and charges a docked mouse. The dock secures the mouse to your laptop, so when you move, you only carry one thing.
Long life battery
A full charge (90 minutes) gives 2-4 weeks of normal use.
Battery status indicator
The mouse LED lets you know when it needs charging and when it’s ready to go again.
Customizable SmartTouchTM
The SmartTouchTM sensor ensures the mouse’s pointer stops moving when your finger is not detected on the finger grip. This optimizes power consumption and ensures the mouse pointer only moves when you want it to move.
Parking Accessory
A parking accessory comes with every Swiftpoint mouse. This thin adhesive film has a parking area that secures the mouse in place whilst typing. The parked mouse stays out of the way and is close at hand when you need it. You can cut the thin film to suit the size of your laptop. It is easy to apply and remove and won’t leave a sticky residue on your laptop.
The magnet used to park the mouse will not cause any damage to your laptop.
SlideScrollTM - scrolling, zooming and paging
Simply tilt the mouse and slide the scroll wheel along the mousing surface to quickly scroll through documents. You can also use SlideScroll to page through a document or zoom in for a closer look.
Plug-and-play simplicity
No software to install, the Swiftpoint mouse gets you started quickly, on any platform.
RapidChargeTM
Charging a flat battery for only 30 seconds lets you use the mouse for up to an hour.
1000dpi micro optical technology
For precise and accurate operation.
Customizable ‘up’ direction
Wherever you use the mouse, you can easily change the pointers ‘up’ direction to suit where you’re working.
Hardware requirements:
USB port
Supported operating systems:
Windows 7®
Windows Vista®
Windows® XP
Windows® 2000
Mac OS® 10.4 or higher
This interesting mouse from Swiftpoint is shipped in a rather little cardboard box; the front reveals us what the product looks like, along with the statement that this product will change the way we are using our laptop:
The top part of the box reveals even more information regarding the product:
On the back of the box, we can see the complete list of features listed, along with the package contents and system requirements:
Inside we can find besides the little mouse, the USB multifunctional adapter and a Multi-language User Guide:
The product is also shipped with a “parking accessory”, which prevents the mouse from slipping off while using our laptop when it is tilted; it also allows the mouse to be used on the palmrest of our laptop, in case this one has a high gloss surface:
On the back of the parking accessory, we can see the magnetized zone:
The User Guide that is included with the product instructs us how to operate it properly, but also how to perform special movements:
The USB adapter that is shipped with the mouse has multiple functions:
- because it is magnetized, we can fix the mouse on it while travelling
- while the mouse is on it and the laptop is turned on, the mouse will start charging
- it is a wireless dongle
On the back of the adapter, we can find its code name and some serial numbers:
The mouse itself has a very futuristic look; on top of it we can see two LEDs, one that is a battery indicator, the other one being a signal indicator:
On its left side, we can see a red thumb grip, along with the Swiftpoint logo:
On the opposite side we can find the middle finger grip, along with the scroll wheel:
The front holds the left-click button and near it we can also see the right click button; both buttons can be pressed with the same index finger:
The bottom of the mouse is protected with an adhesive film that has some instructions written on it:
On the back of the mouse, we can see its full name, its rating which is 5V, 150mA, but also the sensor and the place where the dongle will go, to charge the device:
While charging, the LED on the top of the device will blink and when the charge is completed, it will stay lit:
When the mouse is in use, the LED on the bottom will light up:
It took me a while to get used to the Swiftpoint mouse, considering that its shape is a lot different compared to most mice on the market; its pen-like grip seems to eliminate most of the common problems that exist at small normal-shaped mice designed for laptops/notebooks.
This mouse does also have some interesting features; for example, when holding the mouse tilted, we can zoom or scroll through long documents, without the need to touch the scroll wheel with our finger:
SmartTouch is another feature easy to activate and that does not need extra software; with it activated, we can disable the mouse during the times the finger is not detected on the finger grip. This feature lowers the power consumption and the mouse pointer is not moved unnecessary.
The micro USB dock is also a charger for the product so we do not have do use extra cables.
I have tried the mouse on a piece of paper, but also on cloth and it did not have any problems operating (the mouse pointer did not jump at all).
The mouse also comes with an optional parking accessory; this is a thin adhesive film which has a parking area that secures the mouse in place whilst typing; I would recommend using the parking accessory on larger sized laptops (17''+), because they have also bigger palm rests.
While this product can be used without problems in office environment, in games I would recommend normal-sized mice, because of their larger base and extra buttons.
The price for the Swiftpoint Mouse has been lowered recently to €59.00. It's still not a cheap product, but a very original one.
I would like to thank again to Swiftpoint for offering me a sample of this innovative product for review!