To me, Microsoft and peripherals always seemed like strange bedfellows. Having said that, keyboards and mice are always a matter of personal taste and I do know a number of geeks who are absolutely in love with everything from the company’s Sidewinder gaming devices to their desktop mice and keyboards. So that tells you that those guys and gals in Redmond must be doing something right in the hardware department. Continuing that tradition, they’re introducing what looks to be a pretty innovative device: the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000. Unfortunately, it doesn’t remember the birthdays of your loved ones; rather, it comes with 1GB of flash storage packed into the USB receiver. That’s pretty genius if you think about it–it prevents road warriors from carrying two devices with them (a flash drive and mouse receiver) and allows you to perform two functions while using only one USB port. What’s more, the mouse supports both 2.4Ghz wireless and Bluetooth; you can switch between the two by simply flipping a switch on the bottom of the device. The Memory Mouse 8000 will ship in October for $99.

For more on Microsoft’s new mice:
– see this Crave article