“The mysterious new device was listed Monday on the FCC’s website,” Lane reports. “The hardware was connected to a MacBook via Bluetooth, and no mention of Wi-Fi or cellular data wireless radios was made in the filings.”
“On page 45 of the FCC documents, the device is referred to as a ‘Bluetooth Trackpad’ created by Apple,” Lane reports. “he only other hint included in the filing is that it is a rectangular shaped device, and its FCC/IC label location will be located on its bottom side.”
Lane reports, “Rumors of a multi-touch standalone trackpad style device, dubbed the ‘Magic Trackpad,’ first surfaced about the time the FCC was testing this unknown device last year. The name became known in February, when Apple applied for ownership of the trademark.”
Read more in the full article, which includes an alleged photo of the hardware, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
Screenshot or it didn’t happen.
It’s about time to do away with the mouse all together.
Yes, the Magic Trackpad. That will work great with a Mac mini under my HDTV. Could work with my AppleTV too. Maybe with apps on those future Apple products as part of the home entertainment center hub we were promised several years ago by Apple.
Would be a great way to view media stored on that BILLION DOLLAR SERVER FARM in the Carolina’s that no one talks about. Do you think someone will ask during the quarterly report’s Q and A or will they only ask about the iPhone 4 antenna?
Bye, bye iPod wheel…
It makes perfect sense that Apple would make the large “glass trackpad” from MacBooks into a stand-alone input device. But I don’t think the mouse is going away anytime soon. For me, a mouse (even a cheap one) is more precise, natural, and efficient than any trackpad.
Jersey_Trader:
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….That BILLION DOLLAR SERVER FARM is a secret…
I’ve been waiting for Apple to release such a trackpad. My mouse (pre-Magic) has given me a lot of trouble with scrolling. Took it in to the Apple Store while it was still under warranty (came with iMac ’08) and they cleaned the ball. After a while it stopped working altogether.
I think a trackpad built in to the bluetooth keyboard would be a great addition.
I bought my MBP in December 2006. I have not used a mouse since.
Have to say, Apple’s mice really sucked, but with the Magic Mouse they really hit the nail on the head. This thing is awesome.
As for the bluetooth trackpad… who knows. My best guess is some kind of AppleTV interface.
What was the controller on the arm rest of the Captain Pickard’s chair in STNG? The multi-purpose configurable TrackPad, of course.
Forget trying to aim the stupid remote correctly to change channel or control other media center machines. All should just work from a pad you put wherever you sit in the house.
People keep trying to copy Apple’s ideas and play catch up, when they should just watch more Star Trek.
(Couch potatoes get to be even less active.)
I remember somebody posting pictures of a “Bluetooth keyboard” by Apple around the release of the iPad.
Sounds kewl.
If only Bluetooth was reliable. I personally still consider it betaware that should never have been let out of the gate. Crappy bandwidth. Crappy connection consistency.
It’s been 3 years since the last form factor revision for the iMac. I would say goodbye to the mouse for a pre Christmas all new iMac
Magic Trackpad sounds too lame and long. I’d expect it to be more of Magic Pad..
It’s about time. The mouse won’t go away, but the trackpad will certainly be handy, particularly for people who have hooked a mini to a television.
Unfortunately, all television menus are still button-controlled, and there’s no intrinsic way for the device to be controlled by a buttonless trackpad – there’s no cursor for location control.
On the other hand, if Apple finally came up with their long-rumored internet-enabled TV, a bluetooth trackpad and a cursor-driven interface would be the most logical way to control it.
At the farthest logical level of evolution would be the Apple television with full hybrid functionality (basically, what the mini does when hooked to a large screen TV, but still capable of receiving other input – cable, satellite, etc., as seamlessly as current televisions do – Front Row interface with a live TV selection and still having trackpad control).