Asus just announced its newest mouse design, the Asus Fragrance Mouse. It’s fragrant because there’s scented oil inside of it. That’s it. Go home. After 50 years, we’ve reached the pinnacle of PC mouse perfection.
Okay, fine, I guess I should write a little bit about it. The mouse part of the Fragrance Mouse MD101 is pretty basic, with two primary buttons, a scroll wheel, and a 2,400 DPI sensor. No thumb buttons or gamer extras. You get dual-mode wireless with Bluetooth and a 2.4GHz USB dongle that stows away in the body, right next to the single AA battery. It comes in pink and white colors, with a little swoopy indent in the plastic that makes me think of a Glade air freshener. I wonder why.
Asus
The big selling point is, of course, the fact that there’s an internal compartment for “aromatic oils.” This compartment can be removed from the mouse, hand-washed, and filled with different scents. The Asus press release (spotted by Digital Trends) doesn’t mention anything about an internal heater or diffuser, so I assume the oils just evaporate at room temperature, possibly aided by the heat from your hand. There’s no mention of any oil included in the box, so you’ll have to fill it on your own.
Asus hasn’t said when the mouse will launch, where, or for how much. But it is launching, somewhere, at some point, presumably in exchange for currency. I’m here for it, and I only hope that Asus follows up this bold design choice with a keyboard that can also tenderize meat. It’ll probably smell afterward, too.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.