Swiftpoint Proves You Can Innovate on Mouse

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- No, not roses this Valentine's Day for that special Mr. or Mrs. Entrepreneur in your life. This year that hard-working small-businessperson of yours deserves a much more useful red gift: a portable peripheral called the Swiftpoint wireless laptop mouse ($92).

I'm gonna let you in on a little gadget secret: Computer peripherals most definitely live in the shallow end of the electronics pool. Major computer peripheral makers, including Belkin, Logitech(LOGI) and yes, even Microsoft(MSFT) -- which has a decent little line of keyboards and computer mice, by the by -- "innovate" mostly in measured (read: boring) steps. Keyboards get smaller and maybe easier to use. Pointing devices get a bit more efficient. And mouses, well, I guess they evolve to be less rodentlike.

How refreshing, then, that a small business, New Zealand-based Swiftpoint, has spent three full years(!) and, according to the product's inventor, Grant Odgers, dozens of design iterations to improve nothing less than the portable computing mouse. Most computer mouses for laptops are cramped, miserable disgraces impossible to do anything with except lose. But Odgers, whom I met last month at the International Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, bet big he could innovate where big makers could not. And I say more power to him.

He lent me a demo Swiftpoint wireless mouse, and I have been testing it ever since. My verdict? Mr. Odgers might just have the computer mouse that roars.

What you get
The Swiftpoint mouse is a heck of way to compute as you work on the go.

At first blush, there is serious gadget shock with the Swiftpoint. The unit is basically a bizarre-looking black-and-red, kidney-bean-shaped lozenge that's could fit in your child's palm. Down the middle, there's a chunky central ridge meant to fit between the thumb and the first few fingers on the user's right hand. On that ridge -- imagine this now -- there are two control knobs, essentially the right and left click buttons a la a standard mouse. On the side of this whole contraption is a tiny, yet beefy rotating control wheel. The thing looks more like something prescribed by a urologist than a computer peripheral. But the packaging, instruction and overall design make getting the hang of the mouse a breeze: Plug in the clever USB transceiver and the control software loads automatically. Than grab the ridge of the mouse between your thumb and forefinger, get a feel for where the control buttons and wheel are, and you're off.

As weird as this all sounds -- and is, frankly -- Odgers knew what he was doing: The ridge-mounted right and left click control buttons are easy to use, right where they should be under your forefingers. And the unit reduces the strain on your hands almost immediately. Love that. And with a bit of practice I could get the control wheel on the side of the mouse to control my work well. In fact, pointer accuracy was excellent. And the mouse can work on any surface -- a tabletop, fold-down tray, hotel bedspread, you name it.

After about a week, the Swiftpoint quickly became the default way I work on my laptop.

What you don't get
The Swiftpoint is not cheap, the USB connector will probably get lost and lefties are so out of luck. (Odgers says many left-handers compute right-handed as well. But if demand merits it, he said he will create a left-handed Swiftpoint.)

As nice as this mouse is, $92 is a lot of money. And, the unit relies on a USB connector that, once mounted, is supposed to be left in the slot forever. There is not storage solution for the connector. The problem there, of course, is that you are going to need that slot at some point -- and where does the connector go? Plus, I wondered if the thing would break; it was stored in my bag.

Bottom line
The Swiftpoint mouse is, without question, state of the art for small-business travel peripherals. It is svelte, efficient, well-built and will save strain on your hands. And while the cost is high, I like this product.

Go on, go out and get one for someone you love -- like yourself. Happy Valentine's Day.

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