You might already have heard that Microsoft moving away from laser technology with its new Blue Track technology, but we've managed to find out a lot more details about this new upcoming technology. Blue Track is, as the name suggests, using a blue LED, but it has been combined with a wide angle lens which is meant to offer the best in mouse tracking technology, no matter the surface.

This allows the mouse to sample an area aproximately four times bigger than other LED or laser mice, which means that it can be used on surfaces that have previously not been suitable, such as stone, rough wood and even rugs or carpet.

But enough marketing spiel, it really sounds like Microsoft might be onto something here and we're sure they'll charge some premium licensing fees if the competition wants to be able to offer the same kind of technology. It will be interesting to see what Logitech's response to this new mouse technology will be.

For starters, Microsoft will have two new mice from the outset with more models to follow; and from what we can tell, both of the new models should be on sale by October 15th in Europe. The two models are the Explorer mouse and Explorer mini mouse, with the second model going after the notebook users, while the first one being a standard wireless desktop mouse.

Both models can have the receiver clipped onto the bottom, although the Explorer mouse appears to have a charging dock, judging by the two connectors at the bottom which is common on Microsoft's rechargeable mice. The Explorer mini mouse has a replaceable battery underneath a small hatch in the bottom. Microsoft also seems to have gone for a slightly different mouse wheel, but apart from that the mice are fairly normal in terms of button layout. Due to the ergonomic shape, southpaws need not apply.

Price-wise, you're looking at around €45-50 for the Explorer mini mouse, or around £35 in the U.K. The Explorer mouse is a bit more at €60-65, or about £50 in the UK, although we're sure you can shop around for slightly better prices.

In related news, we've also got the pricing on the upcoming Arc mouse from Microsoft, which sadly doesn't feature the Blue Track technology, but it should retail for around €50 or £35.

For more details, head over the Microsoft hardware and if you can access the U.S. site, then you should be able to see a short teaser trailer for the announcement of the Blue Track mice which is set to be on the 9th of September.

Here are a few pictures of the Explorer mini mouse and the Explorer mouse for your viewing pleasure