Hands on BlueTrack

If Microsoft is to be believed, the future is blue. The company's new BlueTrack system isn't exactly a full-on revolution in mouse tech, but it's a nice step forward in the world of optical mice, an industry which has rapidly been approaching commodity, and arguably disposable, status. I've been trying out BlueTrack mice for several weeks now and you can color me impressed. Here's how the technology works: a BlueTrack mouse is still an infrared mouse like you're probably used to, but it shines a blue light on the mousing surface in addition to the IR beam. Why blue? According to Microsoft, the blue light improves contrast on the mousing surface and increases the amount of light reflected back into the mouse sensor. Since a mouse is basically taking thousands of pictures per second in order to determine its position and figure... [read full story]