Meet Apple's Amazing Magic Mouse

Multi-touch mouse doesn't need scroll wheel or buttons to do what you want.

ByABC News
December 7, 2009, 2:48 PM

Dec. 8, 2009— -- When you're at a computer, there is little you use more than a mouse, so it is strange that it's taken this long to design the extraordinary Magic Mouse from Apple.

The Magic Mouse is the world's first "multi-touch" mouse, which means that when you swipe your fingers across the mouse's surface, it knows what you want it to do.

There isn't a scroll wheel. There are no mechanical buttons. Instead, the device consists of a very sleek, glassy white surface, with all the buttons and parts hidden, er, magically, inside.

The Magic Mouse also keeps a very low profile. Its top is only about an inch off of the table. Still, it fits very comfortably in the hand.

Apple learned that most people enjoy holding their input devices, such as mice, between their thumbs and last two fingers, allowing them to cup the surface of the small gadget when moving it.

You can scroll up, down, left and right with one finger, swipe through Web pages and photos with two, and click, or double-click (right or left), anywhere.

The brains of the operation are deep inside the Magic Mouse. And the device knows exactly what you want to do. It won't confuse a scroll with a swipe. It even knows when you're just resting your hand on it.

Apple introduced gestures to the trackpad in its laptop line a couple years ago (and part of the iPhone's success can be credited to the multi-touch display). The company is now bringing that technology to the mouse.

Let's say you have a Web browser open and want to go back three pages. Just swipe the mouse's surface with two fingers, from right to left, to go back. No need to move the mouse and click on the arrows.

Magic Mouse works wirelessly (no cables or adapters needed) up to 33 feet away from the computer. It runs for several months on two AA batteries (included).