Microsoft announces BlueTrack netbook mouse

New compact wireless 4000 to launch this summer

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22 June 2009 10:26 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

With a veritable ton of netbooks already sold, and 35 million due to be snapped up in 2009, Microsoft is looking to the diminutive laptop market for its latest mouse.

With Microsoft's "BlueTrack" technology, that claims to work on any surface apart from glass, the new Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 is described as a "perfectly portable mouse designed to go anywhere".

A compact offering, the new 4000 will be sold in a variety of bright colours and will go on sale in the States later this summer for under $40.

"Between netbooks, notebooks and smartphones, consumers are more mobile than ever with their computing", said Sean Butterworth, group product marketing manager at Microsoft.

"Our user research team extensively monitored the different locations and surfaces where people are using their computers, and BlueTrack Technology excels where consumers need it".

The new mouse is also durable and resistant to dust and dirt and gets a "tiny" nano transceiver that sticks out less than a centimetre from the USB port and stores inside the mouse when not in use.

The Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 will be available in the US in August with Amazon pre-orders from 24 June.