Griffin PowerMate
Encyclopedia
Input device
In computing, an input device is any peripheral used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance...
produced by Griffin Technology
Griffin Technology
Griffin Technology is a privately held U.S. company founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1992 by Paul Griffin. The company designs and manufactures computer peripherals, consumer electronics, and accessories, the first products being primarily video adapters, in particular those to enable the...
for computers equipped with USB ports. It is a multifunction knob which can be rotated or depressed. These actions can be programmed to invoke specific responses from a range of computer applications.
The PowerMate is also equipped with a blue LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
on the underside which can be programmed to flash, pulse or remain illuminated at various intensities in response to input from the attached computer http://store.griffintechnology.com/desktop/powermate.
Example setup
The PowerMate can be set up such that the clockwise/counter-clockwise rotation of the input device causes scrolling up and down of a web page in a web browserWeb browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
when it is in focus on the desktop, or the system audio volume when it is not. The status LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
on the underside of the PowerMate could be set up as an indicator of resource usage, i.e. CPU usage, when the input device is not in use, and when in use the LED could be set to indicate volume level by LED brightness.
The configuration software allows for custom configuration for each software application. A video editing
Video editing software
Video editing software, is application software which handles the post-production video editing of digital video sequences on a computer non-linear editing systems...
program can use the PowerMate to scroll through the timeline. Or it can be configured to scroll through your browser page history and push to refresh. It would also work well for breakout
Breakout clone
A Breakout clone is a sub-class of the "bat-and-ball" genre introduced with the Magnavox Odyssey's Tennis and Atari's Pong...
-style games.
System compatibility
The Griffin PowerMate is compatible with LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Mac OS 9
Mac OS 9
Mac OS 9 is the final major release of Apple's Mac OS before the launch of Mac OS X. Introduced on October 23, 1999, Apple positioned it as "The Best Internet Operating System Ever," highlighting Sherlock 2's Internet search capabilities, integration with Apple's free online services known as...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Windows 98SE, Me
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
, 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
.