Apple has unveiled a multi-touch peripheral – with the Magic Trackpad working with a whole range of gestures.
Apple's latest peripheral will give desktop users the chance to use its now familiar multi-touch technology, and the company's description suggests that it could even replace the familiar mouse for some.
"Use it in place of a mouse or in conjunction with one," says Apple's product page.
Full set of gestures
"The new Magic Trackpad is the first Multi-Touch trackpad designed to work with your Mac desktop computer, adds Apple.
"It uses the same Multi-Touch technology you love on the MacBook Pro. And it supports a full set of gestures, giving you a whole new way to control and interact with what's on your screen.
"Swiping through pages online feels just like flipping through pages in a book or magazine. And inertial scrolling makes moving up and down a page more natural than ever."
Bluetooth
The Magic Trackpad connects to the Mac via Bluetooth wireless technology, and the 'range of gestures' supported includes pinch zoom, rotate and the aforementioned inertial zoom.
In truth, most will probably use the trackpad alongside a mouse rather than instead of one.
But following the Magic Mouse and with touchscreens becoming more prevalent – the trusty old traditional mouse is certainly being challenged.
Your comments (10) Click to add a new comment
tfawcett
July 28th 2010
10. I spoke too soon; apparently they have Windows drivers for the magic pad. What about the mouse Apple?
Alert a moderator
tfawcett
July 28th 2010
9. bradavon: In case you consider it, don't wait for Apple to bring out Windows drivers for this. They haven't released a package for the magic mouse yet - I had to find a port of the bootcamp drivers to get it working on my PC. Even then most of the functionality is gone.
Alert a moderator
modjo30
July 28th 2010
8. What a pointless peripheral that i'm sure the Apple fans will still buy as they're that stupid, as for response times, this will be so much slower than a mouse, i have an iphone which i love but you can't compare the touch on an iphone to a touch pad on a mac, just doesn't work, i hate the touch pads on laptops, so inaccurate, you need one hand to use a mouse and if you want the speed, you need 2 hands to use a touch pad on a laptop so i think they've gone backwards with this one
Alert a moderator
d4lien
July 27th 2010
7. I personally don't like the current trackpads on laptops and Mac Books so what chance do I have?
Although Swype on the Samsung Galaxy S is amazing.
Alert a moderator
rad51
July 27th 2010
6. Magic? How?
Well i guess judging by the tech literacy of your average mac fan it might seem like magic, like the strange little people in the box in the corner of the room.
Alert a moderator
bradavon
July 27th 2010
5. Has anyone released something similar to this or the Magic Mouse for Windows? I'd be interested to give one ago but not until there's a Windows version.
Alert a moderator
fitterthanmost
July 27th 2010
4. 'the trusty old traditional mouse is certainly being challenged.'
Having used an iphone for two years now an also a MacBook pro it seems weird moving a mouse around and almost primative lol, I always wondered why they never had this product out sooner,
I'll definately be investing in this I can't wait!
Alert a moderator
psyfur
July 27th 2010
3. i can't wait to game with this bad boy! my responses times will be off the hook.
*Another p.o.s from apple*
Alert a moderator
optimaximal
July 27th 2010
2. 'the trusty old traditional mouse is certainly being challenged.'
No, it really isn't.
Alert a moderator
calcio
July 27th 2010
1. Mouse ftw
Alert a moderator
Tell us what you think
You need to Log in or register to post comments