mighty mouse posts

The US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application that hints at the future of Apple's Magic Mouse. It describes three new sensors and a triple-axis gyroscope to detect the roll, pitch, and yaw of the mouse. This means that a user could tilt the mouse from side to side to produce a horizontal scroll, a vertical scroll or to tilt a graphic. Additionally, the mouse described in the patent has a convex underside to make all that tilting easier.

You can see the full application and even more images here. Of course, Apple patents many technologies that never see production.

The Magic Mouse became the first multi-touch mouse when it was released last year, replacing the Mighty Mouse and its temperamental scroll wheel. We'll have to wait and see if this even more magical mouse gets produced.

[Via MacDailyNews]

No doubt the company wants the mouse to be mighty, but it's unlikely the Cupertino-company will call it "Mighty Mouse" this time around.

Man & Machine, which specializes in making computer peripherals for the medical industry, has won the trademark on the term "Mighty Mouse" from the United States Patent and Trademark Office as it pertains to tech, though CBS still holds the mark for the cartoon mouse who comes in singing to save the day.

In its press release announcing the win, Man & Machine doesn't mention any other "Mighty Mouse" maker, though it does note, "Others have used the name Mighty Mouse for their computer mice and have sought registration of that trademark, but now the United States government has spoken."

The big question now: what will Apple call their new, touchy-feely pointer and clicker? While I'm partial to "Danger Mouse" (both the musician and the British cartoon), Apple does have friends at another mouse-house. Then again, with the touch sensitivity likely to be touted, shouldn't there be some tie-in with Lenny and George and a mouse you can pet?

[via TechCrunch]

Engadget's Nilay Patel adds some legal analysis here.

"Twenty five years after introducing the world to mouse-based computing, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is now hoping to deliver significant advances to the input device by applying the company's extensive research and development in multitouch technologies," AppleInsider reports.

In other words, "new mouse."

I own the often maligned Mighty Mouse, both wired and wireless. We have an on-again, off-again relationship. On one side, I like the feel of the thing. The extra weight added by the Bluetooth model's batteries is especially nice, as is the smooth surface. It travels well in my bag, absorbing bumps and jolts without complaint.

The little trackball nubbin is another issue. It requires more cleaning than I'd like to perform, and makes me wish for an old ADB mouse. Popping the ball out and cleaning the rollers was a quick and simple job. I've used the Mighty Mouse paper trick -- rub the ball on a sheet of paper or a few seconds -- with mixed results.

AppleInsider reports that the current model is back ordered across retailers, and that its replacement won't be white plastic, will ditch the trackball and feature "...expanded touch sensitive housing and 'multipoint touch detection mechanism' technologies."

The new mouse could ship with the rumored iMac update.

[Via Gizmodo]

It's time once again for Ask TUAW! For this round we take questions about cleaning a malfunctioning Mighty Mouse, opening files and applications with the return key, expanding a Boot Camp partition, finding alternatives to Adobe Acrobat, caring for your notebook battery, and more

As always, your suggestions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!

A firm named Man and Machine is suing both Apple and CBS for trademark infringement for using the Mighty Mouse name to describe a computer input device. Man and Machine makes hygenic water- and chemical-resistant keyboards and mice for hospitals and laboratories.

Man and Machine claims CBS (who owns the cartoon property, which may or may not be pictured) did not have the legal authority to license the name to Apple. Man and Machine holds a trademark for use of the Mighty Mouse name in conjunction with an interface controller. It claims it first used the term in 2004, but only filed for the trademark in December 2007. CBS's trademark (which covers Apple's device) was filed in July 2007, indicating its first use was in 2005 (when the Mighty Mouse came out).

Thus the tension. It's unclear if Man and Machine licensed the Mighty Mouse name (as Apple did) and whether or not that will influence the outcome.

[via 9-to-5 Mac]

I recently purchased a wireless Mighty Mouse. Several users have complained of a sticky roller ball, and I was concerned until I was shown this step-by-step, illustrated take-apart. You'll only need an X-acto knife, a tiny screwdriver and some patience to remove the ball, clean it off and reassemble your mouse. Perfect!

I've bookmarked this one for future reference.

Thanks, Grant!

Last week, Mike did a great job with Ask TUAW and we had a bumper crop of questions. We won't be able to get to all of them this week, but we'll be looking at a number of different issues including: shifting times in iPhoto, getting a Mac and HDTV to work well together, comparing the 24" iMac to the Power Mac G5 in gaming, setting recurring events in iCal, backing up, customizing Mighty Mouse tracking, and getting Gmail in Mail.app.

Remember: everyone's welcome to post questions for Ask TUAW; we're happy to help! Just leave questions for next week in the comments. Now let's get to it.

MightyMonitor is a cool little widget for users of the wireless Mighty Mouse or Apple Wireless Keyboard. It gives you a fuel gauge for the batteries in the aforementioned peripherals. I assume it is just reporting the same battery level information you can get in the Bluetooth tab of the Keyboard & Mouse Preference Pane, but it does keep it front and center, so you know when it's time for a new set of batteries.

Unfortunately, I have neither a wireless Mighty Mouse nor an Apple Wireless Keyboard on this machine, so the widget (as you can see on the right), isn't doing much. For for those of you who do, however, MightyMonitor is a free download from MacUpdate.


[Via PowerPage]

Benjamin Fourmond, a fearless modder describes converting his eBay Mighty Mouse into a more vintage look on his website. He opened up his mouse, extracted the inner electronics and, with a few modifications to the vintage housing, managed to insert it into an old ADB style mouse. Fortunately for his sake, the internal electronic boards were approximately the same size, although he did need to drill into the housing to allow access to the new scroll ball. In the end, with the help of an ADB to USB connector, he made the Frankenmouse work.

Recently, TUAW discussed how to clean your apple keyboard. Today, we focus on delinting your Mighty Mouse. Without taking it apart.

Brendan Fenn, photographer and clean aficionado, has discovered a new way to clean the Mighty Mouse scroll ball that goes beyond the conventional dust free cloth and rubbing alcohol methods. He's figured out that a very thin strip of scotch tape, carefully looped under the scroll ball provides effective mouse ball rehabilitation when more traditional techniques do not work.

Complete instructions and pictures are available at his site.

I know there are some serious haxie haters out there, but for those who heart haxies, you'll be happy to know that Unsanity recently updated 2 of their most popular apps, ShapeShifter and Mighty Mouse. Both are now Universal Binary and sport a few bug fixes and new features.

ShapeShifter is a very cool "GUI tweaker" that enables you to change virtually everything about the appearance of OS X with various themes (of which there are a great many to choose from). Version 2.4 adds support for windows with a "Unified" toolbar, and includes several bug fixes and speed improvements. ShapeShifter now requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Mighty Mouse is for customizing your cursor - all your cursors - on the fly and with ease. The interface is drag & drop and copy & paste. Doesn't get much easier than that. You can add animations, change cursor sizes and even create your own custom cursors. Version 1.3 requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later and includes a more streamlined interface and a handful of bug fixes.

More detailed info about each can be found on Unsanity's blog.

I've had keyboards and mice on my mind for the last few days so I thought I'd see what you all are using. To get the poll rolling I asked a few of my colleagues here at TUAW HQ to chime in, too.

David Chartier:
iMac - Apple Pro Keyboard with a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 4.0. Most comfortable.mouse.ever. Sometimes I whip out the Mighty Mouse for multimedia/time-based work though.
MacBook - built in keyboard and usually the touchpad, though I bring along the Mighty Mouse from my iMac mainly because it packs in a bag easily.

Alex Wollenschlaeger:
I use the keyboard on my 12" PowerBook (one of the main reasons I got another PowerBook over a MacBook) and a Microsoft optical mouse. I've used other mice in the past and I've always come back to Microsoft ones. They just feel right. I carry it around with me everywhere because I don't like trackpads too much. Though the new scrolling feature goes a long way to rectifying that.

Scott McNulty:
I use the built-in in stuff on my MacBook. On my iMac I have Apple's included keyboard and a Logitech S 530 Laser mouse.

Dan Lurie:
When I'm not out and about with my PowerBook, it sits on an iCurve at my desk and I use the standard white Apple keyboard and Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer (which I love, but I need to get in a wireless
version). I'm actually in the market for a new keyboard due some wrist pain I've been having, so I've been looking at the GoldTouch Mac from KeyOvation.

As for me? On my home and office desktops I use the Matias OS X keyboard. The symbols are great for me since I always forget where they are. The extra control key and the caps-lock key being out of my way is a blessing and I really love the action on it. I'm a big fan of tactile keys - and this one is quieter than a typical tactile keyboard, which makes hubby happy, but it's still "clicky" enough to make me happy. My mouse is a 5-button, rockin' tilt-scroll Microsoft Wireless Intellimouse Explorer, which I would be lost without. When I'm on the PowerBook I generally stick with the built-in keyboard and trackpad since I'm typically on-the-go and it's just easier that way.

Hmmm... 4 out of 5 bloggers agree that what Microsoft lacks in the OS department they make up for with their mice, which rule. We don't agree on much around here so that's about as resounding of an endorsement as you're going to get from us.

Now it's your turn -- What mouse and keyboard are you using with your Mac(s) these days?

If you're old enough to remember the fiasco that was the Apple III, you may know what I'm talking about. The Apple III was supposed to be Apple's business computer. It flopped, in part because Steve Jobs demanded no fans were to be used in cooling the beast. The result? The machine would overheat, loosen the solder used to hold chips in place, and the machines became legendary for their craptacular performance. The fix by Apple was to hold the machine a few inches off the table, and let it go, making gravity jam those chips back into place. Nice huh?

Well Apple's done it again with the so-called "Mighty" mouse. Their 3 or 4-button wonder is great, as long as you don't get hooked on using the little scrollball. Never mind the fact that you can't move in X and Y directions at the same time (as you can using 2-finger trackpad scrolling)-- the trackball is a piece of junk. I mean, the build quality is nice (just like those Apple III's had heavy-duty aluminum chassis), but after about a month of frequent use, the thing gets jammed with gunk, making it largely unusable. And yes, I wash my hands regularly...

Apple's fix? Here's the parallel to Apple III: the fix sucks. You can't remove the ball, so you really never can get inside the mouse to properly clean it out. Apple's own KB on cleaning the Mighty mouse says, "hold the mouse upside-down and roll the ball vigorously while cleaning it to help dislodge any particles that may have collected on the internal hardware." You know, I'm getting tired of doing this every week, just to use a mouse. Apple's innovation is legendary, but sadly, they have lately been innovating new annoyances. From 3rd-gen iPod batteries, to breaking iTunes 7 to locking up the Finder, Apple's having a run of small but glaring mistakes in their otherwise newly-untarnished reputation. Or maybe I expect too much in the age of commoditized computing?

John Gruber linked the blog of Mike Rohde, a visual designer who discovered a slick scrolling trick built into Mac OS X: with a standard scrolling mouse, you can hold the shift key in most apps to scroll horizontally. Mike cites his day job apps like Photoshop and Illustrator, but this seems to work in NetNewsWire, Firefox and iTunes as well. I'm not sure if this is a 10.4 Tiger-only thing (anyone care to share?), but it's a handy little trick for those who aren't exactly enamored with the Mighty Mouse.

Riddle me this: what uses more power when it is stationary as opposed to when it is in use? Apple's new wireless Mighty Mouse.

Ram Sripracha noticed that the Mighty Mouse features a LED which provides the user with some feedback. When the mouse isn't paired with a computer the LED flashes, a fairly standard Bluetooth peripheral convention. It gets a little more interesting when the Mighty Mouse is paired with a machine, the LED stays on when the Mighty Mouse isn't being moved but turns off once you move it.

Multimeter in hand, Ram figured out that the mouse was drawing more power when it was stationary and less when it was in use. So hee did what any good hacker would do: disabled the LED to save power and posted instructions on how to do it for the rest of us.

I am certain this voids your warranty so crack open your Mighty Mouse at your own risk.

[via Hack A Day]