Microsoft readying a multi-touch Arc mouse?

A new product listing for what is being called the "Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse" has prompted speculation that the software giant may be whipping up a rival to Apple's Magic Mouse. The device is listed with the product code RVF-00003 and has an MSRP of around $70 (the same as Apple's device), according to Long Zheng of istartedsomething. Zheng also notes that Microsoft registered the domain "arctouchmouse.com" in March, which is currently redirecting to Bing – a common practice for the company's placeholder sites.

You may recall a project from late 2009 that Microsoft was calling Mouse 2.0. As part of that research, the company was working on designs for a prototype multitouch mouse – one of which is pictured above. That specific unit featured a curved design similar to the existing Arc models, and it used FTIR to track multiple contact points. There's no telling if this is what's coming to market, but any new multitouch peripheral from Microsoft could bring some attention to development for native Windows touch applications, and we can't complain about that.

HP Mini 110, 210 HD quietly upgraded with new Atom CPUs

HP has quietly updated a couple of its netbooks today, adding newer Intel Atom chips and more. Both the HP Mini 110 and Mini 210 HD have received the 1.66GHz Atom N455 and the 1.83GHz N475 as processor options. Interestingly, the Mini 110 seems to be equipped with 1GB of DDR2 system memory (you can swap it for a 2GB stick on your own) instead of taking advantage of the new Atom's DDR3 support, while the Mini HD 210 lists 1GB or 2GB of DDR3 RAM.

The Mini 110 starts at $280 and has a 10.1-inch 1024x600 LED-backlit display, 160GB or 250GB of storage, a webcam and mic, wireless n, optional mobile broadband, a three or six-cell battery, Windows XP SP3 or Windows 7 Starter. At a pricier $330 base, the Mini 210 HD adds a Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator, a 1366x768 display, an embedded GPS module with HP Navigator software, Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit, and more colors.

Apple: iPhone 4 calculates bars wrong, fix on the way

Apple's iPhone 4 launch last month has been touted as the single most successful launch in the company's history, with 1.7 million units shipped in just three days. But beyond the numbers the release itself has been marred by a series of issues with the device's wireless reception, which can significantly degrade depending on how users hold the phone. Despite numerous reports, and videos demonstrating the problem, Apple has maintained that there is no problem.

In a series of informal email exchanges with customers, CEO Steve Jobs further exacerbated the matter by telling them to "Just avoid holding it that way" and asking a disgruntled iPhone 4 owner to calm down, claiming "It is just a phone. Not worth it." (Update: Apple denied the latter email was sent by Jobs, but it does seem to have originated from his account. BGR has the details.) Now, with a class action lawsuit pending, Apple has come forward with a formal statement. Their answer? It's not a hardware design issue, just a problem with the algorithm used to calculate bars of reception.

According to Apple, all phones suffer from a certain amount of signal loss when gripped in certain ways. The problem is some iPhones were displaying more bars than they should have, and in fact the attenuation users are seeing is likely because the signal strength in a given area isn't very strong to begin with. In essence the firmware "fix" they are promising will change the way bars are represented to report signal more accurately.

That, however, doesn't explain the related performance problems like dropped calls some users have encountered and how they seem to disappear when using a bumper case or by simply avoid touching the dead spot on its left bottom corner. It looks like we'll have to wait "a few weeks" to see if the update does anything more than just make the signal bars more accurate. Apple also said that customers can return undamaged iPhones within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.