SwissGear Shows First Full Laptop Accessories Line

By John Laposky On Oct 8 2007 - 6:00am

TINTON FALLS, N.J. — SwissGear has rolled out its first full line of notebook accessory products, two months after its debut in the category.

The venerable brand, most famous for its Swiss Army Knife, has been licensed by Avenues, based here, which is putting the well-known cross logo on computer peripherals designed for the mobile consumer, including mobile mouse designs, USB hubs, notebook cooling pads and presenters.

Shipping this month are three new wireless optical mouse models. The Maliblu tops the line. It is a five-button wireless Bluetooth mouse housed in an ergonomic blue plastic shell with chrome accents and a rubber tread grip. It features a precision optical sensor for better tracking with less hand movement, according to Donna Silbert, Avenue's marketing and product development VP. Five buttons offer one-click navigation shortcuts, including left, right, center scroll, Internet backward and Internet forward. It runs on one included AA battery and has a low-battery-power indicator. The mouse weighs 3.4 ounces and retails for $59.99.

The Avanti is a wireless optical mobile mouse designed for multimedia control. It works with 2.4GHz wireless technology and ships with a storable USB receiver that snaps into the bottom of the mouse and boasts a multimedia button interface that SwissGear calls the "dashboard." The metallic-finished dashboard provides instant shortcut key access to popular applications such as email, Internet, media player, play, pause, stop, volume up and down, track forward and back, and Internet forward and back. It runs on two included AA batteries and has a low-power indicator. It's available in red and blue with rubber tread grip in ergonomic right- and left-handed designs. It weighs 3.1 ounces and retails for $49.99.

The Pantera II is a five-button wireless optical mobile mouse weighing in at 1.7 ounces. It ships with a storable USB receiver and works with 27 MHz wireless technology. It is available in red, blue and metallic pink finishes and includes a single AA battery and low-power indicator. Suggested retail is $24.99 for the red and blue models and $29.99 for the pink.

The metallic pink finish appears across the line in an attempt, according to Silbert, to appeal to the female consumer. "When we first looked into the category, we saw very few products designed for women," said Silbert. "We saw an opportunity to differentiate ourselves by designing products and marketing them specifically to female professionals. We think the pink models really stand out."

The pink finish, along with more traditional silver and black, appears in the company's multimedia wireless mobile presenters and wireless mobile presenters. The slim-line, 2.6-ounce remote control-like multimedia presenters feature quick-access to commonly used presentation functions such as start/pause, forward/back, back screen, track forward/back and mouse control. A volume up/down and play/pause function controls multimedia presentations. They also feature an integrated laser pointer. 433MHz wireless technology provides a range of 100 feet. The slightly smaller 2-ounce wireless mobile presenters feature a similar feature set without the multimedia shortcuts. The multimedia presenter retails for $59.99 and the wireless mobile presenter is $39.99.

Also new from SwissGear is a notebook cooler, a twin-fan driven notebook PC lap pad that prevents overheating and protects a user from ambient heat by dispelling air at a rate of 19 cubic feet per minute. It features a collapsible drawer to adjust to laptops from 14 inches to 17 inches and when completely collapsed, allow for easy storage in a computer bag. A USB cable draws power from a notebook's USB port. A storage compartment for the cable is built in. It also includes an on/off switch and non-skid rubber tear drops and arch designs to prevent laptop slippage. It is available in black with red trim or pink with white trim at a suggested retails of $34.99 for the black model and $39.99 for the pink.

The line also includes two USB 2.0 hubs, a seven-port travel hub and an ultra mini four-port hub. The seven-port model features three USB ports in a docking base station with a removable four-port travel mini hub. The four-port mini hub comes with a 360-degree rotating connector. It features Bus fault detection and recovery and a USB extension cable. It comes in black and retails for $49.99.

The ultra mini fort-port hub also has a 360-degree connector and ships with a USB power cable for $29.99.

Avenues also offers a full line of SwissGear computer bags, cases, backpacks and camera bags.