Microsoft Arc Touch mouse arrives

You may remember back at the beginning of last month that the Microsoft Hardware team put a teaser of a mystery device up on Twitter, with a cropped image which started speculation that it might be a picture of an MS tablet.

Although that rumour was quickly quashed with a tweet saying the team only makes keyboards, webcams and mice. And indeed, it turns out that the mystery product was a novel mouse, the details of which have just been revealed.

The Microsoft Arc Touch is a portable mouse which is constructed in a curved arc shape, which can be flattened completely so it can be easily stored in your laptop bag or pocket.

And the other element of its name, the Touch, refers to a touch strip which is placed where the mousewheel would normally be. This allows the user to scroll simply by flicking their finger along it. You can also tap the strip to stop the scrolling instantly.

Microsoft wrote on its hardware blog page: “From fidgeting with the mouse and popping it up from lying flat to the new scroll, this mouse is truly in a category all its own.”

You can see a picture of the innovative peripheral, and check out further details, at the official website. The bad news is that it won’t come cheap, with the price reportedly being set at £70. Ouch. Expect to see it on sale in November.