It’s OK, I think I can guess what you’re thinking, because laptop cooling products are hardly the most exciting gadgets ever invented. Even that picture is boring…

Exciting: maybe not. Essential: definitely.

Enter the TDD-9000 liquid cooling pad from Nexus Technology. It’s a soft velvet blanket filled with a patented gel-like liquid that has been designed to dissipate heat passively and noiselessly.

The company’s CEO, Michael van der Jagt, says that your lap will turn colder within ten seconds of putting the pad on to it. That’s the same effect it’ll have on your overheating notebook PC.

Independent tests found that a laptop rested on a regular surface reached 50?C after 40 minutes, whereas when placed on the cooling pad it reached just 36?C.

The cooling pad can be boosted by lifting it and shaking it every 20 minutes.

It’s arriving in the UK from mid-June, priced £23. Not only is that a pretty decent price but this solution doesn’t require any power from your laptop like many other products do. That means more battery life and performance for your laptop, too.

Yes, despite the fact that other manufacturers have been doing this kind of thing for years, Microsoft has decided that it should launch a notebook cooling base. And yes, that’s what it’s called.

No passivity here, mind, as the unit features a built-in fan and efficient cooling channel. It can be used on desks and laps and is angled for a more optimal typing angle, yet is only 1.16 inches think. As with most other similar stands, it’s USB powered, and it will come in white or black.

Added to which, Microsoft is revamping its Arc mouse by launching a special edition range. Special in that it offers a variety of new colours: frost white, eggplant purple, deep olive green and marine blue, in fact.

The mouse can be be folded down by almost half so it’s easier to use while on the move and when it’s flipped shut it turns off its power.

More colours are also coming to the Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000: Blue sapphire, red garnet, pink topaz, green emerald and purple amethyst. I can tell you’re excited.

The notebook stand will arrive in July for around $29.95. The Arc Mouse SE is available this month for around $49.95, as is the Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000 ($29.95).