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Mouse BOX

NES_player4LIFE

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The personal computer has seen significant decreases in size over the years. The switch from desktop to laptop was revolutionary and thesedays the majority of people carry around a personal computer in their pocket in the form of smartphone. Now, a Polish software and hardware developer has managed to cram a PC into a mouse, a peripheral that’s normally plugged in to a PC.

Dubbed the Mouse-Box, the device is the brain-child of Przemysław Strzelczyk who has previously worked as a software engineer at Nokia. The device doesn’t look any different from your normal mouse, but on the inside is the guts of a fully working PC. He’s been working with a small team of hardware and software engineers.

It contains a 1.4GHz ARM Cortex processor, 128 GB of flash storage, WiFi connectivity and of course a micro HDMI connection so that you can output the computer’s display. There’s also 2x USB 3.0 ports, an optional battery, accelerometer and gyroscope.

“From now on, you don’t need to buy a few devices to keep your computer always at hand. Mouse-Box uses the power of a mouse, an invariable component in a computer set for many years,” states the Mouse-Box site. “By virtue of placing a computer in a mouse, the two most powerful elements have been combined in one unity.”

The team confirmed that it is still in prototype phase, but they’re pretty confident and keen on its readiness to go commercial very soon and are seeking financial support to help it getting to the markets.

If you want to just use it as a normal mouse, then that’s fine too. You could take it into work and then switch between your work PC and the Mouse-Box with a button press. We love how the first demonstrated use in the promo vid is using your own computer where you’re not supposed to (see video below).

Given its specifications, it’s likely that the finished product would run a lightweight OS such as ChromeOS or Linux, but no further details have been divulged just yet. Another unknown is the price, though the developers have gone on record as saying the Mouse-Box will be available cheaply and globally, funding permitting.

Check out the video below:


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Cyberman

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looks similiar to this device series.

Not sure how long it will operate, I noticed it used an accerometer instead of the ultra high speed camera used on optical mice these days. That isn't great for accurate movement, unless you compensate with a lot more complex software (which is likely what they did).

Flexing a high speed data cable (HDMI) isn't the brightest thing to do. Think of it this way if the cable is rated for 100k flexes, how many cycles does a typical mouse go through?
(HDMI is just digital data these days.)

The POP processor (Package On a Package) wouldn't look like the video shows. It would ahve the DRAM on top of the processor. You can also get flash in the same package as well. Very compact.
Anyhow the board is as they said "visualization" in the video :D (love the use of a volt meter yes 0.818V ... on what who knows but hey!) I even sow boards with DIP sockets in it (haven't seen anything using dips in 10 years). I doubt that is their actual work area, no antistatic mats grounding loops and the tools are redumentary for smt (the iron in their is only good for through hole) unless they are tacking wires on the board all the time (which is freaking difficult on 0201 and 0402 parts). Think 0.5x0.25mm and 1x0.5 mm dots, and you get the idea.

My guess is it has a limited application use. I would prefer a simpler modular computing system instead of a integrated one.

Cyb
 

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