Logitech presses the right keys

 

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Posted on 6 Jul 2001 at 10:40

Peripherals manufacturer Logitech revealed its upcoming range of products at a press event this morning.

The main event seemed to be keyboards, with low profile, flat (rather than the tiered key set up) units. In addition to the Internet shortcut keys offering such niceties as one touch access to email and your favourite shares, shopping sites and the like, are two new 'zones'.

The left-hand edge boasts the iNav module: a mousewheel, a 'back' (browser) button and a 'go' button. The latter launches a window for you to type in a URL and takes you straight there, rather than having to launch a browser, load the homepage and then type from there. Revolutionary? Perhaps not, but it felt natural to use and saves time. In the top middle is a Multimedia centre that launches your media players, with buttons for volume, play, stop, fast forward, etc. The USB/PS2 version is £24.99, but the Cordless Desktop Optical (shown) comes complete with a cordless optical mouse for £99.99.

Once set-top boxes become more prevalent, and the likes of Sony's PS2 offers Internet access, then a cordless keyboard stylish enough not to look out of place in your living room may open up a huge new market. Logitech already has a good relationship with Sony and intimated that this could be a possibility.

Also on show was the GT Force Feedback wheel being bundled with the PS2 and GT3. The 100,000 units offered in Japan sold out in 72 hours, and we were equally impressed, with each car having specific force feedback characteristics. We were told that other PS2 games will come in for the Logitech treatment, but as the drivers have to be built in to the game from the start, we were unable to get details of any specific titles.

Other new products included an impressive QuickCam Pro 3000 (£80 - available August) featuring an in-built mic and a true video VGA CCD. We saw it in action and the results at 640x480 were sharp and smooth. It's Mac-compatible too.

There is also the MouseMan Traveller (£39.99), which is a tiny, sleek brushed aluminium mouse for notebooks and a VoIP headset that switches between your standard phone and PC - it's out in October and we'll let you know more about it as soon as we get our hands on one.

Finally, there were plenty of joysticks and gamepads entering the lineup and of course much was made of Logitech's acquisition of Labtec, with new speaker sets on the launch pad.

For more information, point your browser at Logitech.com.

Author: Matt Whipp