Seven Logitech products have received the prestigious CES Innovations Honoree Award for excellence in design and engineering. The award-winning products include:

Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX

Logitech Harmony 900

Logitech Squeezebox Radio

Logitech Squeezebox Touch

Ultimate Ears 700

Logitech Flight System G940

Logitech Wireless Guitar Controllers

Digital Trends gave our G500 Gaming Mouse an 8/10 and said they prefer it to our G9x Laser Mouse because it “delivers nearly all the same features, and it’s a better fit for our hands.” The Future of Things reviewed out Darkfield Technology, which allows you to use your mouse virtually anywhere you want — including clear glass. This technology is included in a handful of our mice, including the Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX, which Everything USB reviewed and said “the overall product execution leaves little to be desired.”

Also, CNET UK tried out the Logitech Squeezebox Radio and gave it a 9.1/10 and said it’s “one of the best Internet-radio streamers currently on the market.”

Check out more coverage below:

• Logitech Anywhere MX Wireless Mouse Review – Everything USB
• Logitech Squeezebox Radio Review – CNET
• Logitech unveils Autumn product line – ITP.net
• Logitech WiLife: Big Brother on a Baby Budget – Concrave
• Logitech G500 Review – Digital Trends
• ‘Darkfield’ Lasers Let Mice Track on Glass – thefutureofthings.com
• Logitech’s new Harmony IR repeater – EngadgetHD
• Logitech G330 Gaming Headset Review – ConnectReviews

Q: What is the advantage of playing RACE On with the Logitech G27 Racing Wheel? How do you use the RPM indicator LEDs?

A: The G27 lets you experience every feedback from the game so that weight transfer, grip and subtle hints from the track surface are felt with realism. With proper feedback, like on the G27, you’re able to react quickly to what the car is doing and get totally immersed in the game. The RPM LEDs are a nice addition to the G27 – we use these in RACE On as an indicator of the optimal timing to shift up. During speed build-up, the LEDs are used as any RPM light, and on optimal gear shift timing the LEDs will start blinking, indicating time to shift up.

Q: Describe your favorite feature of the game or a feature that gives it more depth than other similar games?

A: Easy to drive, hard to master. Anyone can drive a car, but it becomes interesting when you start pushing the car to its limits. We have used this philosophy during the development of our games, and it comes out very strong. You can pick up and play our games, but to be the fastest you will need to push the car to its limits. This make it very exciting to play.

Q: When you and your dev team find yourselves running on empty, what is your fuel of choice?

A: Pizza and a huge amount of sweet candy mixed with some red bull have dragged us through the crunch periods. Besides that, the team spirit and motivation to keep our high standards has helped us through many long and hard crunch periods. But every time it was worth it!

For the full interview, go to: www.facebook.com/logitechgaming

As a follow-up to our G11 gaming keyboard, we bring you the Logitech Gaming Keyboard G110. “Dare I call it sexy? It’s sleek, clean, and thin. Logitech has finally made a gaming keyboard that can easily blend into a work environment,” says CrunchGear. The G110 is full of cool personalized features, such as customizable backlighting, which Gearlog enjoys: “I love the customizable backlighting on the G110: you can make it red, blue, or any shade of purple…that’s something I’d love in my regular keyboard.”

Also announced, for all of you stuck on your laptops with sore backs and necks, the Notebook Kit MK605 is here to relieve your discomfort. CrunchGear says, “Logitech has the right idea here.”

Please check out more coverage below!

• Logitech G110 Gaming Keyboard Has More Purple Lights Than a Discoteque – Gizmodo
• Logitech outs the G110 gaming keyboard – CrunchGear
• Logitech Announces Gaming Keyboard G110 – Gearlog
• Logitech Announces Gaming Keyboard G110 – Maximum PC
• Logitech G110 gaming keyboard adds many macros, many purples – CNET
• Logitech Unveils Notebook Kit MK605 – I4U
• Logitech offers new Notebook Kit MK605 just in time for Windows 7 – SlashGear
• Logitech Kit Delivers Laptop Comfort – Gearlog
• The Logitech MK605 Notebook kit is a one-stop-shop – CrunchGear
• Logitech Notebook Kit MK605 Turns Laptops Into Quasi-Desktops – Gizmodo

Personalization

Customizable backlighting: We put in red and blue backlighting LEDs and give you control in the Profiler software over how they are mixed together, so your G110’s backlighting can be red, blue, or pretty much any shade of purple you can imagine.

12 programmable G-keys and three M-keys: Give you the power to assign up to 36 single keystrokes, multi-key macros, or intricate LUA scripts. And, using the MR key, you can configure macros on the fly. The Profiler software also allows you to configure each M-key mode to have a different color backlighting, so you can know at a glance what mode you’re in.

Automatic game detection: Lets you create separate custom G-key programming profiles for every game you play.

Game mode switch: Easily disable the Windows and Context Menu keys, so that accidentally pressing them doesn’t kick you out of your game.

Connectivity

Integrated headset support: Works with any standard headphones or headset with 3.5mm plugs, like the Gaming Headset G330, and turns them into a high-quality USB audio device.

Hi-Speed USB 2.0 hub port: Plug your flash drive or favorite gaming mouse into this convenient low-power port.

One USB cable: Unlike other gaming keyboards with these features, the G110 gives you convenient audio jacks and a USB hub port without a tangled mess of cables at the back of your computer. All you need is one available USB port.

Mac and PC software included: Whether you’re a Mac or a PC, we’ve got you covered.

The Gaming Keyboard G110 will retail for $79.99.  It will be available in North America starting in late November, and in Europe in January.

We also brought you another set of tips and tricks post on the Flight System G940 from our Global Product Marketing Manager, Mark Starrett, so be sure to check that out!

View more coverage below:

• Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse Review – CNET UK
• Logitech G27 Racing Wheel Review – I4U
• Logitech M555b Review – Notebook Review
• Home devices open a new world of music – Philly.com
• Logitech Squeezebox Radio review – Engadget

When did you come up with the idea for DiRT 2?
DiRT 2 was a natural extension of DiRT, which in itself was developed to capture the new spirit of rally and off-road racing we were seeing around the world. At the time this was being popularized by the likes of Ken Block, Travis Pastrana and indeed Colin McRae himself.

When did you begin working on it?
We began working on DiRT 2 as soon as we finished developing GRID, which was July 2008.

Tell me a little about DiRT 2 and what makes it different than other driving games.
DiRT 2 is not just about being a racing driver, it’s about living a lifestyle. DiRT 2 celebrates the culture of contemporary off-road motorsport and features an exciting line-up of fresh rally talent. It’s about traveling the world in your RV, hitting off-road festivals and building your reputation as a driver. Along the way you’ll build friendships with these stars of the modern off-road world and these relationships help you move up the ladder. We hope that this approach will take the DiRT experience to new audiences.

What’s the advantage of playing DiRT 2 with Logitech G27 Racing Wheel?
The G27 racing wheel allows all the depth and subtleties of the game’s handling to be felt, giving the player increased control. The player is able to react quickly and smoothly to all bumps and surprises typically encountered when racing off-road, including a proper feel of each surface transition. The sheer strength of the G27’s force-feedback system combined with the need to make rapid corrections as you navigate hostile terrain mean that the combination of DiRT 2 and G27 can give you a real workout! Naturally we allow the player to tune this to their preference.

What type force feedback effects are used with the Logitech force feedback wheel? And how do these enhance game play?
Force feedback effects are used for everything from large scale effects such as individual surface forces, collisions and damage feedback, through to more subtle effects such as skidding and car setup adjustments. Tyre-to-surface interaction is key to the driving experience in DiRT 2 and we’ve made some huge steps forward in the modeling of this interaction to deliver a realistic handling feel. Force feedback allows us to further capitalize on this by giving us means to communicate shifting of weight, grip levels and traction loss to the player.

Can you tell us more about your multiplayer support?
We’ve listened to feedback from our community here and we’re very proud of the multiplayer feature set in DiRT2. First of all, we support full 8-player multiplayer in all the disciplines that are available offline. Second, we allow players to set up whatever type of online event they wish – any car, any track, any game mode. Finally, we’ve wrapped all of this up with some really cool community features which we hope will make it even more fun to compete online – you can compare any of your stats with those of your friends at the press of a button, there are leaderboards for all events (complete with downloadable ghost cars) and we run regular tournaments into which players will be automatically entered and from which they can win additional in-game prizes. Multiplayer was an area we really needed to improve on over the original DiRT, and I think we’ve done that and then some.

What’s your favorite nuanced feature of the game, perhaps something that gives it more depth than some similar games?
The online tournaments in DiRT 2 are a fun feature. We wanted to provide a competitive online aspect to DiRT 2 that players of all ability levels could enjoy, and even participate in while playing offline in the DiRT Tour. Each tournament will pick up on a particular aspect of driving (such as jumps, lap times, highest speeds etc) and automatically enter you onto the tournament leaderboard based on your strongest performance. You’ll be competing with players worldwide to see your name in lights on the DiRT 2 website and also for the chance to win exclusive prizes.

Can you provide our readers with a gameplay tip? Something that will improve their experience?
Be gentle with the throttle and steering to get the most out of the car. With time you can learn when to be aggressive, but if you want the best times, you need to learn to drive smoothly.

You have a long history in gaming and developing for various platforms. What was it like making this game?
For DiRT 2 we were working with a mature and robust engine that has been refined through our experiences with DiRT and GRID. This meant we had more time to add lots of fun little touches and polish to the game, as well as pushing current hardware to breaking point. Great fun for the development team!

The DiRT name carries an obvious heritage from early successes. Are there any gameplay or game design similarities?
All of our games change with time to suit the changing tastes of our gamers, but you’ll still find lots of point-to-point racing in DiRT 2, along with the usual excellent physics and damage modeling.

When and where can folks buy DiRT 2?
All formats apart from PC are available to buy now, with the DX9 and upgraded DX11 PC version following in early December.

What else is your crew at working on?
We’ve just started work on another racing title, but that’s as much as I can say at this stage!