Peripheral and accessory maker Logitech launched its NuLOOQ Navigator input device for Mac OS X users earlier this year, initially bundling in support for the media authoring applications in Adobe‘s Creative Suite 2. Now, Logitech is shipping the NuLOOQ Navigator for Windows XP users, and has expanded the range of applications to which the NuLOOQs’ unique control interface can be applied, which should delight media professionals and content creators everywhere who are desperate for input devices which function like their beloved video editing consoles and control surfaces.
The NuLOOQ Navigator is actually kind of hard to describe: it’s not a mouse, it’s not a keyboard, and it’s not intended to replace either of those devices on a user’s desktop. About the diameter of a tennis ball, the NuLOOQ Navigator features a movable rubber ring around the outside which can be spun clockwise and counter-clockwise for navigation purposes (think: scroll left, scroll right, zoom in, zoom out, shuttle forward and back, etc.) plus a touch-sensitive disk on top called the “tooltuner” which can be used to modify system or tool attributes on the fly. Users can use the NuLOOQ Navigator to simultaneously pan, zoom, and adjust (say) a brush size in Photoshop all in one step, with no mouse and no keyboard commands. The NuLOOQ Navigator automatically detects which application is in use (and loads command profiles accordingly), and the NuLOOQ Navigator can be customized for virtually any application—good news for folks who use professional audio and video production tools. The NuLOOQ automatically load profiles for Adobe Illustrator CS2, Adobe InDesign CS2, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, Adobe Premiere® Pro, Microsoft Word and Excel, iTunes and (on Mac OS X) iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and Safari.
The NuLOOQ Navigator carries a suggested retail price of $79.99. Current NuLOOQ Navigator or NuLOOQ Professional Series users will be able to download the Windows XP driver free of charge from Logitech’s Web site starting in mid-October.
