Gaming peripherals specialist SteelSeries has released teaser images of a new mouse that offers an interesting extra: a small secondary display surface.

While the company's teaser images, posted to microblogging service Twitter yesterday ahead of a full announcement next week, aren't exactly clear, they certainly show a mouse-shaped object. An updated picture posted shortly after shows a close-up of what appears to be a small display at the base of the upper surface.

If it is a display, it's a low-resolution one: individual pixels are visible, with each taking the form of a single-colour circle. Judging by the sample image, which is the SteelSeries logo, the display measures just 32 pixels wide by 32 pixels tall.

Assuming it's not just a stylised light-up logo, that's an interesting measurement: most operating systems use icons measuring 32x32 pixels and multiples thereof. As a result, it seems likely the secondary display is designed for icon use.

But what purpose could it serve? The most likely explanation would be if it is part of a mouse featuring a macro mode: by showing the icon of the software with which the mouse is currently configured to communicate, gamers will be able to see at a glance whether the mouse is correctly set up for their individual game.

This seems much more likely than the display being fully user-configurable: given its positioning, the display will be hidden beneath the user's hand when the mouse is in use. As a result, it would have to be used for something that is only required ahead of time.

SteelSeries, naturally, is keeping quiet about the device ahead of its official announcement next week. The company has, however, described it alternately as 'something [aw]some,' and '[raw]some something.'

Keyboards with integrated OLED displays are old hat, and with Razer's Blade laptop even trackpads are getting in on the act - but a mouse that doubles as a display is certainly something new. We look forward to next week's announcement with bated breath.