Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse - The curve has been included as an art.

Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse - The curve has been included as an art.

A mouse? What's next, a fax machine?
Very droll. The Arc Touch actually deserves a bit more respect than you've allowed it. That humped back Isn't just for show; It collapses to make it easier to carry alongside your laptop. In fact, as peripherals go, this one's in the Premier League. If you're wearing a hat, take it off. If you're not, put one on and then take it off again.


Is that It?
Of course not. Pop It up and you'll activate the three touch-sensitive buttons and capacitive "touch strip'', a kind of virtual scrollwheel that reacts to how you move your finger. Flick It to scroll speedily through docs and websites, or stroke it precisely for accurate navigation. It even has haptic feedback, to give you a little rumble while you read.

Nice. But that must eat through AAAs...
The act of flattening it also turns the Arc Touch off, so you shouldn't ever dig it out of your laptop bag to find its battery has run flat. Its tiny transceiver tucks up neatly Inside when not In use to quash any worries you have about losing it or a squirrel mistaking it for a space-age nut. Next month: the external modem that origamis into a Filofax.