Apple pop-socket with an optical sensor turns your iPhone into a Magic Mouse!

It’s a pretty great idea in theory, and ties well into Apple‘s ecosystem of creating products that support each other and add to the collective experience. It’s also something fresh that would set Apple apart in the hardware space. Meet the Magic Mouse Mini, a concept created by Yongbin Kim who gave the smartphone pop-socket the ultimate upgrade by also fitting an optical sensor into it!

The Magic Mouse Mini looks and feels like your regular pop-socket. It attaches to the back of your phone, giving you a pop-out grip that you can firmly hold onto between your index and middle finger as you use your phone or click selfies. Given how large and slippery smartphones are nowadays (further factoring in the iPhone’s curved edges). However, a switch on the side turns the pop-out grip into something vastly more functional. Switch the device on, and the optical sensor above the Apple logo powers on, turning your iPhone into a magic mouse!

The iPhone and the socket at the back work in tandem to replicate the Magic Mouse experience. The optical sensor on the socket helps with cursor-tracking, while the iPhone’s touchscreen shoulders the responsibility of providing the control surface, allowing you to left-click, right-click, pinch, zoom, scroll, and do a variety of other gestures, just like you would on a Magic Mouse.

I’d surmise the Magic Mouse Mini concept would work remarkably well with iMacs and MacBooks, but would even probably do a pretty good job with iPads too! It’s a small, clever addon that helps your phone (by allowing you to grip it better), and helps your MacOS devices too, by giving you a Magic Mouse experience without having to shell out a hundred bucks for a new Magic Mouse. And yes, the presence of a socket on the back of your phone could give it an uneven surface, causing the mouse to potentially rock back and forth while you’re using it… but think of this less as a practicality and usability issue, and more as a clever way of turning an existing piece of hardware (your iPhone) into something absolutely new! After all, it’s just a concept, no?

Designer: Yongbin Kim

Batman Engagement Ring: If Batman Ever Proposes to Catwoman

Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle have been dancing around their relationship for as long as I can remember. I think it’s about time that Batman got down on one knee and asked Catwoman for her hand in marriage. Sure, there was that time when Catwoman gave up her life of crime and married Batman back in 1955, but that took place in an alternate reality on “Earth-Two,” so that doesn’t really count.

Seriously, put a ring on it, Bats. I’ve even already picked one out for you.

Among their various wares, Canadian jewelry shop Geeky Rings sells this sweet Batman-inspired engagement ring. This particular ring is made of gold with a bunch of bats flying around the band and holding up a ruby red gemstone at its center. The ring can be special ordered in other gemstone colors, as well as in white or a rose gold and silver combo, and an 18K gold version. If you’re looking for something that captures the “dark” aspect of The Dark Knight even better, they also sell a murdered-out black version.

Prices for the Batman engagement ring start around $550 and go up to $930 depending on the materials used. That’s chump change for the Wayne family, so you’ve got no excuse, Bruce.

Now, I wonder if this is the ring that Peter Parker gave Mary Jane back when they got married in the 1980s.

Here’s everything Google announced at its Pixel 5 event

Between pre-release leaks and information Google shared ahead of today, there weren’t many surprises at the company’s Launch Night event. We knew the Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, 2020 Chromecast and Nest Audio were coming, but that didn’t make seeing Google...