Technknowledge

As we move toward 2010, there is little question that mobile devices and smartphones will continue to have a huge impact on the market. Research firm Nielsen predicts that smartphones will dominate market share by the end of 2011, with the iPhone and Android-based phones taking the lead spots by a wide margin over traditional cell phones.

As devices mature, Wi-Fi connections become more ubiquitous, and 3G networks become more reliable, consumers will start looking for new ways to use their smartphones as replacements for other larger devices, such as PCs and TVs. One area that has been called out for growth is mobile video and TV, as well as streaming movies directly to a mobile device.

mSpot CEO and co-founder Daren Tsui made the case to me recently that full-length streaming movies will be important to consumers in 2010 because people want entertainment on the go and on demand. Research suggests that the adoption curve will be lead by young males 18- to 24-years-old and parents with young children looking to keep kids distracted.

Not surprisingly, mobile carriers are very supportive of mobile movies. According to Tsui, mSpot has been powering mobile movies on the Sprint wireless network for three years and is currently working with other carriers to bring the service to their user base. Realistically, carriers will always be happy about services they can offer and charge for, but the real question is if they could handle an influx of users sucking down huge amounts of bandwidth.

The obvious obstacle to be overcome is the strength of the data network. Streaming full-length movies to a phone is data-intensive, and therefore relies heavily on a strong, consistently reliable network. Assuming WiFi is available, this is a non-issue, but, as an example, AT&T's 3G network has struggled with the data usage of iPhone users and you can just imagine what will happen when millions of people start streaming movies.

Anecdotally, I can tell you that my wife and I bring an iPod Touch out with us to entertain my 2.5-year-old with various games and movies. Pocket-size mobile devices, iPod or otherwise, can be great learning tools as well as distractions when things are going sideways or when you just want to go to a restaurant and not chase a kid around. That said, my iPhone/AT&T network experience has been so spotty that I would likely opt to keep the content local, though in an ideal world new content could be downloaded in the background.

Assuming bandwidth is not an issue there are many possibilities for mobile content to take the place of traditional PCs or print media but in the near term mobile content will be only as good as its data connection.

The latest mouse in Logitech's seemingly endless line of input devices is the Wireless Mouse M505, an AU$89.95 portable pointer with an attractive design that comes in three colours: black, grey and red. It's also one of the first devices to feature Logitech's Unifying technology, which allows you to connect up to six other compatible Logitech devices, including keyboards and mice, to the same mini-USB transceiver. The technology promises to free up USB ports for other devices, but it also means you're marrying into the Logitech family.
No thumb buttons

The M505 is similar in size and shape to the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000. It fits comfortably in both hands and there are slotted grooves in the clicker area for your fingers. The scroll wheel in the centre of the two buttons is notched (as opposed to smooth), which allows for more precise scrolling through long web pages or documents. The wheel is clickable as well, bumping the total number of buttons up to three. Unlike the 4000, however, the mouse is missing the thumb buttons that we've grown accustomed to using as a shortcut for the back button in our web browser.

Underneath the mouse, you'll find the laser tracking unit, an on/off switch for preserving battery life in transit, and a release for the battery cover on top of the palm rest. The laser performed well in our accuracy tests, but we prefer the 4000's BlueTrack technology, which lets you use the mouse on many surfaces that a laser just can't handle, including carpets and other rough and reflective textures.

The mouse runs on two AA batteries that are included in the package. It doesn't support rechargeable batteries, but Logitech says the two alkaline batteries will power the mouse for 15 months with help from the "smart sleep" mode that automatically switches on during periods of prolonged inactivity, consuming less power.

The tiny Unifying receiver can be housed on the underside of the mouse when not in use.

The mouse's USB transceiver is both an innovative selling point and the reason why this mouse is so expensive. If you're completely dedicated to the Logitech brand of peripherals, you'll be happy to hear about the company's brand-new Unifying receiver. This new technology lets you connect up to six compatible mice and keyboards to a single USB plug. Each device comes with its own Unifying receiver, meaning that you can conceivably leave them all plugged into several different computers at home and work. It also frees up USB ports formerly occupied by keyboards and mice. If you ever do need to take it out, the half-height USB receiver fits into its own compartment underneath the mouse for convenient storage.

Logitech doesn't include any third-party software in the bundle, but it does offer SetPoint for Windows and Mac, which enables side-to-side scrolling, as well as extra customisable functionality for the middle button.
Conclusion

The Logitech Wireless Mouse M505 is accurate and comfortable but, forAU $89.95, we're disappointed by the lack of thumb buttons. If you're looking for a no-fuss wireless mouse to throw into a laptop bag, we'd recommend the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 instead. It offers many of the same features and more for AU$20 less.

The Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 doesn't leave much room for complaint. It fits comfortably in your hand and works on almost any surface, thanks to Microsoft's BlueTrack sensor technology. It would make a useful addition to your mobile arsenal.

The Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 is Microsoft's latest travel mouse. It offers many of the same features as the Explorer Mini Mouse, but costs less. This AU$69.95 device also uses BlueTrack sensing technology, which lets you use it accurately on a variety of surfaces that a normal laser mouse can't handle. Although less ergonomic, the 4000 fixes several of the Mini's flaws, including the omission of a power-saving off switch and the right-hand-only design.
Plug-and-play design

The 4000's plug-and-play hardware design makes it easy to pair it with a host computer. A small USB-powered wireless transceiver pops out from its hiding spot in the undercarriage, which also houses the power switch, as well as a slot for an AA battery. While we normally prefer rechargeable mice, Microsoft claims the mouse will work flawlessly for up to 10 months on a single battery. The top of the mouse also houses a small red LED that alerts you when battery power is low. Microsoft offers the mouse in five colours: blue, pink, green, black and white.

Microsoft includes its IntelliPoint 7 software for both PC and Mac. You'll find settings for button assignments, and scroll and click speed, as well as help files, in an easy-to-use program. If you don't have the CD with you while you're travelling, you can still use the mouse with your computer's internal settings — no external drivers are required.

One of our major complaints with the Mini was its right-hand-only design — its contours made it uncomfortable for lefties to use. Thankfully, the 4000 is symmetrically shaped, making it equally easy for left-handed users to scroll and click the four buttons. The entire mouse is covered with soft textured plastic for extra grip.

The scroll wheel sits between the two main buttons and moves from side to side, as well as up and down. There's one minor tactile difference between the two scroll modes: horizontal scrolling with the dial results in a tangible click as each page moves, but up and down scrolling is completely smooth, with no tactile feedback. We prefer the ratcheting feel of a click wheel for scrolling through individual pages. The smooth dial that Microsoft incorporates into its mice feels awkward. The scroll button itself is preset to activate the new Windows Vista Flip 3D overlay, in which you can quickly view all of your open windows in a digitally organised stack. As with most mice, you can reassign all the buttons with the IntelliPoint software.
Versatile and convenient

At just 103mm long and 61mm wide, the 4000 tucks easily into a laptop case or bag. The wireless transceiver can supposedly deliver an uninterrupted connection up to 9m away. The promise of cable-free trips is definitely a plus for mobile professionals and travelling Web surfers.

The technical highlight of the 4000 is Microsoft's proprietary BlueTrack technology, which combines the precision of laser tracking with the wide coverage of a standard optical mouse. The 4000 scrolls beautifully on virtually any surface, with the exception of clear glass and mirrored surfaces. This versatility should come as a relief for jet-setters who don't want to lug a mouse pad around with their hardware.
Conclusion

The Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 is a very capable travel mouse that's well worthy of our recommendation. Convenient, versatile and reasonably priced, it doesn't leave much room for complaint.

HP's ProBooks are non-extravagant business-orientated machines with additional diagnostic tools built in for the benefit of system administrators. This 4310s model is a perfectly serviceable machine for almost all everyday tasks; however, it will struggle to run 3D games or do any heavy-duty media creation work.

The machine runs a Core 2 Duo T6570, which contains two CPU cores running at 2.1GHz each. Complementing this is 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, wireless N networking, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, VGA and HDMI outputs, ExpressCard 34 and audio ports, SD card reader and a modem of questionable utility.

This laptop is not hugely expandable. There is no FireWire connector, no port replicator or docking port and no PCMCIA slot. All this is fine, provided you're the kind of user who won't miss the extra external connectivity.

The upshot of its modest configuration is good battery life. Even with the screen brightness at maximum, it took over three and a half hours to drain the battery from full while decoding MPEG-2 video. We repeated the test in HD using the vastly more computationally intensive VC-1 codec, and saw the battery life drop to a very respectable hour and 50 minutes.

The 1366x768 display has reasonable horizontal visibility, but the image washed out faster than you'd expect when you tilt the monitor off-axis. This isn't so much a problem with text, but images and video will appear washed out and inverted when you look at the screen from steep angles. Despite the LCD having quite a bit of flex, the notebook's construction is solid.

At the top right of the keyboard are a series of touch-sensitive hotkeys for volume controls, wireless and a HP launcher. We found the volume up and down buttons unresponsive, and occasionally the wireless would turn itself off without us touching it.

On the software side, a subtly HP branded copy of the 32-bit version of Windows XP Professional comes preloaded. Many of the recent patches to keep it stable, however, do not. XP Service Pack 3 had not been installed. IT managers will like the diagnostic tools built into the hardware that are accessible by interrupting the boot sequence.

A 60-day trial of Microsoft Office is included, as is a 60-day trial of Mcafee Total Protection Service. It's an antivirus suite with extra programs that notify you of phishing attacks in Internet Explorer. This continued to function when we upgraded Internet Explorer from version 6 to 8; however, the software added itself as a space hogging toolbar. It functions with minimal extra effort under Firefox, but does not work at all under Google's Chrome browser.

There are HP branded software helpers scattered throughout the operating system, many of which are unnecessary. After installing our benchmarking applications and several Adobe products to test real-world usage, we found the machine could not finish its restart cycle, although this problem disappeared after several Windows updates. During our battery life tests, we hit a blue screen.

If you find that the price is right and you are only planning on doing menial tasks, you could do a lot worse than the HP ProBook.