Think about it: everyone is buying laptops and tablets and smartphones. When is the last time you got excited about a new scanner? Most people don’t even have the full office setup anymore, even though it may still be necessary. If they need to print or scan something, they simply run out to the neighborhood office supply store. A lot of households have ditched the huge computer desk, desktop computer, printer and scanner and replaced it with a neat little laptop on a small stand.

So for someone like me, who uses their scanner a lot, whether it’s for pictures or documents, this little gadget can come in handy. The LG Smartscan mouse looks pretty normal at first glance. However, if you flip it over, you’ll notice a rectangular screen that it uses to “read” documents. A “Scan” button on the side of the mouse enables you to simply swipe the mouse over the image to capture it as a file.

Now the fun part may be the process of scanning the image. This Smartscan mouse can handle documents as large as a size A3. While holding the “Scan” button, you sweep the mouse back and forth over the document, filling in the spaces that you missed the first time around. It’s sort of like painting the document or photo onto your computer.

Although this sounds kind of neat, one would wonder if the image would actually come out like it’s supposed to look or if it is distorted because of the swiping motions. However, the technology in the mouse automatically keeps track of where the mouse is on the image and shows you the process in real-time as you scan the image into your computer.

It is then possible to save the newly scanned file in several different document or image formats. The LG Smartscan mouse also includes a handy drag and drop feature to quickly add the picture to an album or insert the scanned text into a document. This truly innovative device is sure to save time and tons of space on your desktop!