The Yoga Mouse: More than Meets the Eye

Dec 30, 2016

That’s not a mouse; it’s a transformer! I never would have seen this coming: an innovative mouse. The Yoga Mouse is not the most comfortable or complete mouse available. But it solves a problem that professionals have: a compact mouse that also improves your presentation capability. The good old desire for device consolidation! The Yoga Mouse addresses this with two distinct modes: traditional mouse, and presentation mode. There is also one other surprise up its sleeve.

 

If you’re looking for a killer mouse that is smooth, energetic and accurate enough for playing Overwatch, this is not the mouse for you. The Yoga Mouse is targeted at professional users who stand up to give presentations in PowerPoint and also travel enough to need a more compact mouse. And there is that one other surprise….we’ll get there soon.

The Yoga Mouse is targeted at professional users who not stand up to give presentations in PowerPoint and also travel enough to need a more compact mouse.

Yoga Mouse: Transform!

I’m a big fan of this feature. My job is spend half of my time listening and the other half talking. I’m in listen mode while in town, and speaking mode while I travel around the country. I like to travel with my Surface Pro 3, which has a single USB port. I still use that middling Surface 3 keyboard, so I use a Razer Orochi over Bluetooth 90% of the time with a Logitech presenter device that uses a USB adapter in the single USB port that is available. Let’s be real: I usually forget the presenter. It’s one of those tools that I miss when I need it, but I rarely think of it as a necessary travel tool. When I was in college I designed a device that had a touch-sensitive trackpad on it that could be used for scrolling. Although the computer mouse rarely sees a meaningful upgrade, Lenovo one-up’d my 2004 design with a touch-sensitive presentation pad for controlling a multitude of applications such as PowerPoint and name your own media playback application.

The Surprise

It has Bluetooth! This is important because it’s uncommon. While most laptops support Bluetooth devices, most mice require a USB dongle to be plugged in. USB ports are becoming a rarity, and by 2020 they’ll likely fully be replaced by USB C, which is not backwards compatible with USB 3.x and 2.0. Meanwhile, the technology that has fueled the development of the computer mouse for the past ten years hasn’t changed. That killer Razer Death Adder and Logitech G602 will become obsolete, not due to it’s innards, but rather the development of thinner laptops and the speed and power of USB C. It’s a shame that more mice aren’t Bluetooth capable. Anyway, if you’re a professional with a Surface Pro, you have 1 USB port. If you own any other Ultrabook, you likely have 1-2. Since a mouse is pretty much required for extended computer use, you likely would prefer to use your available ports for limited-use components such as an external storage device or high-quality headset. Have no fear: there is a USB adapter tucked inside the mouse.

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