Logitech diNovo Media Desktop

Logitech's second bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo, but with a detachable numeric key pad.

With Bluetooth enabled PDA’s and cell phones become increasingly more prevalent; there have not been that many Bluetooth enabled components for your desktop computer. Some may say that Bluetooth is a dieing technology, but hardware manufacturers continue to release new products that are Bluetooth enabled, displaying that there is at least some demand for the technology.  Enter Logitech.  Logitech has a shipping Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo, the Logitech Cordless Desktop MX for Bluetooth. Logitech has now taken the Bluetooth enabled keyboard and mouse concept a step further by introducing their titanium looking Logitech diNovo Media Desktop.

The diNovo Media Desktop has some unique features.  The keyboard is touted as being ultra-flat with a Zero Degree Tilt design.  There is no definition of what Zero Degree Tilt design means, so we are left to our imagination.  From our best guess this keyboard has, like the name says, no tilt to it.  The keyboard also has boot support so that you may access the motherboard BIOS along with using your keyboard in the OS Safe Mode.  The keyboard comes with programmable web navigation buttons and enhanced function keys that allow access to images, music, documents and other useful commands.

One of the stand-out components of this keyboard and mouse combo is the detached numeric keypad.  Logitech calls this component the MediaPad.  The MediaPad acts as a remote media controller. You can use it to navigate your music, video clips and photos along with launching them into an appropriate application.  You can view the playback status away from your computer and also switch playback, making the MediaPad a remote control for your media on your PC.  The MediaPad also does email and instant messaging notification.  Along with the media features, the keypad can be utilized as a smart calculator or you may use the built in clock it to keep track of what the current date and time is.

The mouse used in the diNovo is the already shipping MX 900 cordless optical mouse.  The MX 900 utilizes an award winning optical engine that has high resolution and frame rate resulting in a smooth and accurate experience.  The mouse has several command buttons to it enabling easy web navigation via Logitech’s Cruise Control system, which combines two buttons with a scroll wheel along with two thumb buttons that can be used for back/forward buttons.  There is also a button to enable fast application switching.  The key feature for the mouse is not the navigation buttons however.  The mouse’s base station is a rapid charge base station and also is the diNovo’s Bluetooth wireless hub, allowing users to synch their calendars, email addresses and other information from the PDA to their PC.  The diNovo? can have up to 7 Bluetooth devices connected to the hub with a range of up to 30 feet.  There is support for a plethora of devices, including Bluetooth printers, headsets and cell phones.  One thing to note, application compatibility for the MediaPad is limited to Outlook Express, Windows Messenger 4.7, MSN Instant Messenger 5.0 and 6.0, and Windows Media Player 9.  Logitech plans on including support for more applications in the future.

The sleek, slim design of the diNovo is sure to garner some attention and gain some enthusiastic fans.  Although somewhat expensive at $249.95 suggested retail price, the diNovo looks like a promising step in the right direction for Bluetooth components on the PC.

For more information, visit Logitech’s website.