May 19 - 9:40am EDT   Microsoft grew its lineup of BlueTrack-based devices today with two new mice as well as the first combo kit with the technology. The Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000 is the first of the blue laser mice to include a mini USB transceiver and is particularly suited to notebooks, as owners can use the mouse on almost any flat surface while keeping the 2.4GHz RF adapter plugged into a portable while it's stowed away in a bag. The five-button mouse lasts for up to 10 months on its batteries and has a proper power switch to prevent the mouse from waking its host computer. [full story]

February 24 - 10:45am EST   Microsoft on Tuesday announced its SideWinder X8 wireless gaming mouse introduced in the fall will be shipping this week. The peripheral is Microsoft's most advanced with a BlueTrack blue LED sensorand has a tracking range of between 250dpi to 4,000dpi while also updating at 13,000 frames per second and covering distances of up to 120 inches per second. [full story]

September 10 - 1:50pm EDT   Microsoft today finished off a set of peripheral announcements with one final update to the SideWinder gaming series. The X8 wireless mouse is considered by the company to be one of the quickest and most precise mice yet through a combination of technologies. It uses the same BlueTrack blue LED sensing as the new Explorer mice to properly track over more surfaces but also boosts the sensitivity to as much as 4,000DPI, twice as much as the corded SideWinder X5 and enough to match faster gaming or those with very large displays. [full story]

September 9 - 2:00pm EDT   Microsoft this morning confirmed some rumors with the launch of its first-ever BlueTrack mice. The Explorer and notebook-sized Explorer Mini both use a blue light and optical sensor that generates a larger, starker relief of the mousing surface than either red-light optical or laser, allowing the mice to not only improve their accuracy but to work on uneven or low-contrast surfaces that would confuse normal mice, such as carpet. [full story]