PC peripheral player Logitech has motorized the computer mouse scroll wheel with two new models that ease scanning and scrolling through large computer documents, spreadsheets, pictures, lists and other data.
The Fremont, Calif.-based company said its new mice -- the MX Revolution for desktop PCs and the VX Revolution for notebooks -- would provide comfortable, efficient mouse control. New features include a "One-Touch" search function that allows a Web search of a word or phrase via one click of the mouse, and a second scroll wheel for zooming.
However, the biggest change in the new mice is the heavier, "hyper-fast" scrolling wheel, which Logitech described as "revolutionary." "By giving people the option of using a free-spinning scroll wheel, Logitech has addressed a source of pain for computer users, who previously had to continuously move their index finger to scroll through long documents," said Logitech Vice President of Marketing for Retail Pointing Devices Ashish Arora.
Logitech claims to have reinvented the scroll wheel with its new cordless laser mice, which are now available in the U.S. and Europe at US$99 for the MX and $79 for the VX. "Every application lends itself to different kinds of navigation, and with its sophisticated technology, the wheel can elegantly switch between the free-spin and click-to-click scrolling modes," Arora said.
Referring to research indicating average scrolling of 26 feet during a regular work day, Logitech said its new mice -- featuring its MicroGear Precision scroll wheel -- could spin through 10,000 lines of a Microsoft Excel document in seven seconds, a task that would take 500 spins of a conventional mouse wheel.