US Patent 7629960 Input device with joystick mode and pointing mode

An input device having a pointing mode and a joystick mode is disclosed. The input device includes a housing, a tracking assembly, and at least one actuator. In some aspects of the invention, a controller is located within the housing to receive input from the tracking assembly and the actuator, and the controller transmits a pointing device recognition signal and a joystick device recognition signal to a host upon connection of the input device to the host. In another aspect of the invention, the actuator may be utilized to switch between a repeat and center mode, wherein the input device repeats a joystick signal when in the pointing mode and the hold mode. Additional aspects of the present invention relate to systems, methods, and computer-readable media with computer executable instructions.