Kensington just announced 2 new input devices. The SlimBlade™ Bluetooth® Presenter Mouse ($59.99) is a Bluetooth enabled laser mouse with presentation buttons.

The second new mouse is the Ci95m Wireless Mouse with Nano Receiver ($39.99). This mouse features a rubberized exterior and a tiny RF receiver that is so small, it can be plugged into your notebook, and stay there when you stow your machine.

Both products are available for pre-order now and come with an impressive 5 year warranty. Sorry for the silly title, but even Google couldn’t deliver a reliable answer to my question.

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In the world of external mice for a laptop, there is a very fine line between too bulky to justify making room for in the laptop bag and too small to be functional.  The MoGo mouse clearly is the slimest and lightest option on the market, and I’ve been using one for about a year now, so I’ve grown accustomed to its lighter than air feel.  Still, there are times when I want something a bit more substantive to use, particularly when I’m deskbound for a few days at a time.  And thanks to Kensington, I have found a winner: the Ci75m Wireless Notebook Mouse.

The Ci75m stands 0.65″ off the desk.  It is huge compared to the MoGo while folded up, but it is actually the same height as the MoGo when active.  And you can actually put weight on the Ci75m without worrying about accidentally closing it and disconnecting.  It also includes a clickable scroll wheel which is very nice to have.

Like most of the wireless mice on the market it uses a proprietary wireless transmitter rather than BlueTooth.  This is a pet peeve of mine and I cannot figure out how the cost of producing a dedicated transmitter is less than buying a BlueTooth chipset, but that is the only reason I can come up with for why vendors continue in this direction.  The wireless is reliable and I’ve had no range issues nor have I had reception issues of any sort.  At least the dongle stores in the bottom of the device without adding to the size at all.  The wireless runs on a pair of AAA batteries, so easy to replace as necessary, though I haven’t managed to wear mine out yet after a relatively busy week of use.

One unique feature that the Ci75m has is the ability to work in a wired mode, in addition to wireless.  The USB receiver has both the radio in it as well as a Mini-USB connector to receive the cable from the mouse.  As soon as you go wired the radio shuts off.  This is great for working on an airplane, assuming you can find room to use an external mouse.  The cable is just over two feet long, providing plenty of range of motion.  And in an impressive feat of industrial design, the cable remains stored inside the device while not in use, wrapped up around the outside of the body with the plug safely secured.  The top is secured via magnets, so even an incessant fidgeter like me cannot break the plastic catch that is holding the top onto the base.

I love the form-factor of this device, especially compared to the many “travel” mice that seem to be shaped more like a racquetball than anything particularly ergonomic.  And I’m willing to cut them some slack on the proprietary wireless connection since the same dongle also adds the wired support for the mouse.  Overall, the Ci75m is a keeper.  I still like my MoGo for ulta-portability, but this is a great compromise, especially for those with big hands who are worried about “crushing” the little MoGo.

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If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, then you’ll know that I love power. Being able to charge my gadgets anywhere in the world, far away from an outlet has become an obsession, and it’s been years since I found myself stranded anywhere without the juice to power my stuff.

So, today I’ll show you another gadget that can help you do the same; it’s the Kensington Portable Power Pack for Mobile Devices (I’ll just refer to it as the Power Pack).

The Power Pack is a small (85g/3oz) Lithium-Polymer battery pack with a USB output port. It has a capacity of 1800mAh, which on average should be enough for the following:

• iPod/Zune/Creative MP3 player : + 55 hours (of audio playback)
• iPod Video (5G/Classic) : + 14 hours (of video playback)
• Mobile Phone : + 5 hours of talk time / up to 4 days of standby time
• Smartphone (Blackberry/Palm/HTC) : + 5 hours of talk time / up to 2 days of standby time
• PDA (Palm/HP/Dell) : + 5 hours of use (when turned on)
• Portable gaming device (PSP, Game Boy/DS) : + 5 hours of play time

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The Kensington "Travel Plug Adapter with USB Charger" is a foreign plug adapter with a USB device charger.

The device is packaged in a plastic blister container, but thankfully Kensington understand that most travelers won’t have a saw with them, so the rear of the package is perforated and I was able to open it in under 10 seconds (and without losing a thumb in the process).

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