It only appears as a footnote in the release but a footnote says a million words (or dollars?). Logitech, the world’s leading manufacturer of computer mice, today introduced its MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse, a laser mouse that works on the desk and in the air, powered by Hillcrest’s Freespace accelerometer-based technology. It’s already being compared at sites like Gizmodo and Engadget to the WiiMote but we think that comparison won’t work well until the WiiMote has a fully packaged PC offering.

We had the chance to play for a very short time with an MX Air a couple of months ago when it was all in a “hush-hush, you can’t talk about it” mode. It’s very sleek to view and hold. Our first impression was that it reminded us of the photon torpedo that carried radiation-doomed Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It’s light and the accuracy is dead-on. We focused on the transition period from desktop to leanback mode where the mechanical transition time was not noticeable but you do have to change the orientation of your grip on the remote if you really want to hold it as a remote. One of the more distinctive inventions on the product – something that is more like the way you control volume on your Logitech DiNovo keyboard – is that in place of a traditional scroll wheel, Secret Diary of a Call Girl ipod the MX Air mouse has a touch-sensitive scroll panel. A swipe of the finger across the surface enables the inertial scrolling mechanism, which adjusts its speed according to the speed of the finger swipe. “Media functions such as Play/Pause, Volume/Mute, Back and Select can be easily accessed in the air by pressing the large, orange backlighted buttons with the thumb,” Logitech says. It takes a little getting used to, but the sound effects are very cool. It’s fun to just play with it for the sound effects. Everything else is platinum Logitech. We hear it’s shipping in August to normal Logitech outlets. Its suggested retail price in the U.S. is $149.99. We’ll have a full review when we can get our hands on one from Logitech PR.

This is a pretty huge win for Hillcrest. The startup has been talking for a while about their licensing deals but have either not been able or willing to talk about them publicly. At NXTComm 2007, Cisco was talking about how its Scientific Atlanta boxes sport Hillcrest now, and Logitech’s product makes it more than a one contract company it appears.

This move continues the trend toward motion control applications in general. Logitech’s release talks about its use of Freespace: “To enable effortless in-air navigation, the new mouse combines three important technologies – Freespace(TM) motion-control, gesture command and wireless – so people can point, select and play media files with just a flick of the wrist.” Yup, that’s why we started this site.

More from the release: “Freespace motion control technology is designed to provide accurate, responsive navigation without the limitations encountered by previous in-air pointing devices. This patented technology is based on a combination of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) sensors, DSP (digital signal processing) technology and RF (radio frequency) wireless technology. These combined technologies allow a user to hold the mouse in any orientation, point in any direction, and enjoy effortless, intuitive cursor control. Additionally, sophisticated algorithms distinguish between intentional and unintentional hand movements – effectively canceling the slight involuntary tremors everyone experiences when holding a device in the air.”

“Gesture-based commands add a new level of sophistication to the MX Air mouse. To change the volume, people press and hold the volume button and simply gesture – to the right to increase volume, or to the left to decrease it. For music applications, a small circular motion to the right activates the skip track command, while a circle to the left repeats the song.”

Logitech has the renowned Harmony product line that is extremely popular with the home theater crowd and it remains to be seen if they will outfit those devices with Freespace as well.

As for the MX Air product, they eschewed Bluetooth for this one. The Air mouse uses Logitech’s 2.4 GHz Digital Cordless technology, which offers a range of up to 30 feet (10 meters).

Logitech’s canned quotes from the release:

“The MX Air mouse offers a radically new way for people to control their PC entertainment,” said Rory Dooley, Logitech senior vice president and general manager of the Control Devices business unit. “It’s for anyone who has listened to music on their PC and been frustrated by having to return to the desk to change songs or volume. It’s for people who want to share vacation photos with friends and family without being tied to the desk. It’s for any of the millions of people using the Internet to browse and watch videos on sites such as YouTube or Grouper. And it’s for people with a living-room computer or media PC who want to navigate their media content on their terms.