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Logitech NuLOOQ Tooldial and Navigator
A tiny accessory with a ton of time-saving, shortcut-making potential (and a horrible name).
Logitech is known for making all sorts of devices that provide computer input and output. Mice, joysticks, keyboards, speakers and remote controls all have made Logitech one of the better known names in computer accessories. What they're not known for, however, is the creation of a new product type-that sort of out-of-the-box thinking is usually left for companies with famous CEOs with wardrobes from the Cap.
So it was a bit surprising when a friend at a Mac magazine tipped me off to a brand new product from Logitech that wasn't just a new mouse or pointer, but represented whole new class of device aimed squarely at the creative pro. A few days later we received an invite to try out the new gadget and software, dubbed the Logitech NuLOOQ tooldial and navigator. It's a terrific little time-saving, shortcut-making, life-enhancing device saddled with a name so bad as to make Edsel roll trippingly off the tongue.
NuLOOQ is difficult to describe (and believe me, harder to type) but in essence it's a combination of hardware and software that's designed to present a computer user (Mac only for now) with an on-screen menu of shortcuts that appear at the tip of one's mouse, saving long trips to tool palettes.
More confusingly, the hardware tool (NuLOOQ navigator) is sold bundled with the software (NuLOOQ tooldial). The software is also sold by itself, but doesn't do as much without the navigator device and the hardware tool performs some functions on its own without needing the tooldial software. Confused? Let's start again.
GET A GRIP
In order to understand the role of the new Logitech gear, it's important to paint a picture of a day in the life of a typical Photoshop user.
Hunched over a keyboard or a table (or a combination of the two), most users-especially those with large or multiple displays-spend enormous amounts of time moving their hands between their active artwork and the palettes, which lie docked on the sides of the screen. It's a lot of wasted motion, and even for those who are familiar with the key combinations, sometimes it's just easier to click...